This document summarizes the key points of the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act in India. The Act aims to prevent unnecessary pain and suffering to animals and applies nationwide. It defines animals broadly and cruelty as inflicting unnecessary pain. It allows for experimentation on animals for medical research but requires oversight and control to ensure animals do not suffer avoidable pain. An appointed committee provides rules for humane experimentation and inspection and can prohibit experiments not following the rules. The Act establishes penalties for violations.

1. Prevention of Cruelty
to Animals Act

2. • In the living world, animals are most akin to the man & that
is why perhaps the feeling & sensations of animals have
been better appreciated by him.
• In almost all the progressive countries there are laws to save
the animals from infliction of unnecessary pain & suffering
or in other words to prevent the man from behaving cruelly
towards them.
• In India, too, there were a variety of such rules in different
parts of the country most of them being ineffective in
practice.
• To assess the effectiveness of the existing legislation on the
subject & with a view to consolidating various laws in to
one single Act.
• Govt. of India had appointed a committee an Act aimed at
preventing unnecessary pain & suffering to animals has
been passed.

3. • This Act is known as the ‘Prevention of Cruelty to Animals
Act’ & is applicable to all parts of the country.
• In the Act ‘Animals’ have been defined to include all
species of animals (except man) as well as all species of
birds.
• The term ‘cruelty’ has not been precisely defined but
roughly it means infliction of unnecessary pain or suffering.

4. Experimentation On Animals:-
• Experimentation on animals is a major tool on the
advancement of medical, pharmaceutical & biological
science.
• In the pharmaceutical field the animals are also used for the
production of sera, vaccines, hormones, enzymes etc.
• The animals which are used for the above purposes have to
be incised & dissected to different degrees & sometimes
have to be killed.
• From an aesthetic point of view, all these manipulations on
animals should be so effected that the animals do not suffer
any avoidable pains or injuries.
• To provide a legal cover to this aspect.

5. • This chapter provides for the constitution of a committee to
look after the various aspect of experimentation on animals,
that is, to supervise & control their use for experimentation
whereby they are saved the sufferance of avoidable pains.
• The committee is required to be constituted of the following
members:
1) 2 members each of the Indian council of medical research, Indian
council of agricultural research, & Council of scientific &
Industrial research nominated by the Central Government.
2) 2 members representing universities granting medical &
veterinary degrees nominated by the Central Government.
3) One member of the Lok Sabha & One Rajya Sabha to be elected
by the Houses respectively.
4) 5 Non-officials representing persons actively engaged in the
promotion of the animal welfare nominated by the Central
Government.

6. • The committee is required to ensure that all animals used
for scientific experiments are not subjected to unnecessary
pain or suffering before, during or after the experiments.
• The committee is authorized to make the rules to provide
for the following matters:
A. That where the experiments are performed by institutions, their
heads shall be responsible for furtherance of the objects of the
Act & where individuals run any experiment on animals they
shall be individually responsible for avoidance of cruelty to the
animals.
B. That the experiments, as far as possible, are performed while the
animals is under the influence of an anesthetic & if the recovery
of the animal involves serious suffering, it should be destroyed
while still unconscious.

7. C. That if it be possible to use a small animal for an experiment use
of a large animal should be avoided & where it be possible to
substitute the use of animals by devices such as models, films etc.,
such substitution should be made. Experiments on animals should
not be performed merely for acquiring manual skill.
D. That the animals intended to be used for experiments should be
properly looked after before & after the experiments & records of
experiments performed should be maintained.
Inspection:-
• The committee can authorise any of its officers or any
other person to inspect any place where experiments on
animals are performed & to check the records required to
be maintained under the Act.

8. Prohibition of experimentation:-
• If the committee is satisfied that any person or institution is
not carrying out experiments on animals in accordance with
the rules, it may prohibit experimentation on animals by
such individual or institution for definite period of time or
indefinitely or impose any special conditions for the
performance of experiments.
Penalties:-
• If any persons contravenes any conditions imposed by the
committee, he may be punished with a fine extending to
Rs.200.