KARACHI: Sharing concerns over growing incidents of cruelty to animal in society, speakers at a programme regretted that a draft bill on animal welfare prepared with the help of detailed deliberations of the stakeholders three years back is still pending with the provincial livestock department.

They were speaking at an event — A Call to Action for Animal Health — organised by Brooke-Pakistan (B-P), a non-profit welfare organisation helping working animals and the families that depend on them. It was held on Thursday at a local hotel.

Speaking at the programme, advocacy manager at B-P, Naeem Abbas, recalled how several stakeholders, including the livestock department, had built consensus on a draft bill on animal welfare in 2021-22.

“It’s a historic step taken to update the 135 years’ old animal cruelty act. Unfortunately, however, no progress could be seen on the bill in Sindh,” he said.

Pakistan has an average of one veterinarian per 100,000 animals, audience told

Referring to the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act of 1890 under which animal abuse is a punishable act, he said it was a federal law and that all the provinces needed to have their own legislation on that subject after the 18th Amendment.

“The draft bill is a comprehensive document that recommends realistic penalties on animal abuse, among other things,” Mr Abbas said, adding that a similar bill had been approved by the Khyber Pakhtunkhawa government whereas the Balochistan government had sent it to the law department for vetting.

“The livestock department in Sindh must take the lead, speed up the process and get the draft approved from the assembly. This is important to discourage people from the acts of animal abuse,” he said while referring to the incidents in Sindh in which people subjected a camel and donkey to severe brutality by cutting off their legs.

The programme saw the launch of a policy brief of AAH (Action for Animal Health), a coalition of organisations, experts, and advocates committed to securing the future of animal health and welfare in developing countries.

The document highlights gaps in the government animal health system and makes a list of recommendations for improvement.

Pakistan, it says, lacks a comprehensive disease surveillance system, effective community engagement in animal welfare, and needs to adopt one-health-approach under which it needs to develop collaboration between the human and animal health sectors.

Responding to these concerns, adviser to the chief minister on livestock and fisheries, Najmi Alam, promised to look into these matters, including the delay in the approval of the draft bill.

“This policy brief will help us develop evidence-based policies and programmes that can make a real difference to the lives of animals and people in Pakistan,” he said.

In his remarks, CEO B-P Dr Javaid Gondal said strong animal health services were essential to sustainable development. He briefed the audience on the organisation’s activities since 1991.

During the programme, it was pointed out that over eight million rural families were engaged in livestock production in Pakistan, from which they derived more than 35–40 per cent of their household income. However, Pakistan has an average of one veterinarian per 100,000 animals due to a lack of funding for animal health.

The animal health education curriculum needed to be focused more on preventive veterinary medicine, herd health, the speakers said while emphasising the need for regulating standard of education.

The chairman B-P board of trustee retired Brigadier Rashid Siddiqui and DG livestock Sindh Dr Hizbullah Bhutto also spoke.

Published in Dawn, September 6th, 2024