Animals are currently not considered legal persons but as legal property to which people can have property rights. As a result, punishment for cruelty to animals in India is minimal. However, there are growing pleas for more rights for animals. Such is the case by Siddhartha K. Garg, alumnus of Erasmus School of Law, who works in Delhi, India, and is committed to animal welfare. In this article, he talks about how stray dogs are treated in India, his commitment to animal welfare and why he believes animals should be granted legal personality.
Garg says: "My interest in animal rights goes back a while; it started during my law studies." He indicates that when he got older, he started noticing more and more what people or animals go through, and his studies gave him an impulse to do something about it. Garg continues: "I just wanted to do something. If I could help even one animal, I would do it." This is also how he started helping animals.
India has a lot of stray dogs. "Stray dogs are regularly mistreated or even killed on purpose in India", Garg says. The alumnus wanted to stand up for the stray dogs and started feeding the dogs near his home. He points out his commitment grew: "Later, it was not just about giving food, but also providing medical and legal assistance in cruelty cases."
AngelTrust
As Garg became more involved in protecting stray dogs, he received more and more calls from people who were also involved in animal protection. This prompted him to found his own NGO called AngelTrust. The NGO is named after his first pet: an American Eskimo spitz named Angel. The NGO is dedicated to the welfare of stray animals in Delhi. Among other things, the NGO provides daily feeding and medical care for stray animals and advocates the adoption of animals from the shelter instead of buying them from breeders. In addition, the NGO deals with animal cruelty cases and has filed a Public Interest Litigation in the Supreme Court of India. A Public Interest Litigation is a legal proceeding in India where an individual or a group of individuals file a case in a court on behalf of the public interest. Its purpose is to protect or promote the interests of society, often in cases where injustices or wrongs affect the public.
Animals as legal persons in India
In recent years, as Garg became increasingly concerned with animal protection, he became convinced that animals should be considered legal entities. He explains that stray dogs, for instance, could be more easily protected if given legal personality since law enforcement would be easier by giving them legal personality or the status of a legal entity. An actual legal entity would then be harmed.
Currently, the fine in India for killing a dog is 50 Indian rupees, equivalent to 56 cents. According to Garg, this is no longer acceptable. He says that in India, filing a petition in the Supreme Court advocating for animals as legal persons has no chance (yet). However, Garg does have hope for the future, as slowly but surely changes can be seen in the field of animal welfare in India.
The Netherlands
In the Netherlands, animals are also seen as property and, therefore, do not fall into the category of legal persons. However, several animal welfare laws exist, such as Besluit houders van dieren and de Wet dieren. These rules set limits on what people are allowed to do to animals. However, the problem with the current animal welfare laws is that they can be interpreted broadly and are not strictly enforced. Therefore, these laws currently do not provide a good solution to protect animals properly. Like in India, parties in the Netherlands advocate for the fundamental rights of animals. However, granting these still seems to be a long way off. What seems more realistic at the moment is to include animal welfare as a state objective. In this way, the Dutch state could acknowledge responsibility for animal welfare.