The Supreme Court on Friday expressed serious concern over the growing number of road accidents involving stray cattle and urged the Centre and State Governments to strengthen enforcement of existing laws while introducing a comprehensive mechanism to prevent such incidents and compensate victims.
Observing that bovine-related accidents are "not few and far between", the Court said stray cattle wandering on roads and highways pose a serious threat to both human and animal life. "They are not meant to be natural speed breakers, placed willy-nilly on the National Highways, roads and streets," a Bench of Justice Sanjay Karol and Justice N Kotiswar Singh remarked while deciding an appeal arising from the death of a man who was attacked by a stray bull in Punjab.
The Court noted that such incidents are commonplace across the country and referred to official statistics showing over 1,300 deaths annually in recent years due to animal attacks. It said the issue warrants a coordinated policy response from governments rather than being viewed as isolated incidents.
The Bench extensively examined the constitutional and statutory framework relating to animal welfare, including Article 48, Article 51A(g), the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act, 1960, the Cattle Trespass Act, 1871 and various State laws governing cattle preservation, gaushalas and animal shelters. It observed that although several States have enacted legislation to regulate stray cattle and establish shelters, effective implementation remains a challenge.
The Court identified the abandonment of cattle after they cease to be economically useful as one of the principal causes of the growing stray cattle menace. It observed that animals reared for a particular purpose are often let loose once their productivity declines, eventually ending up on roads and highways.
While acknowledging that many farmers and dairy owners struggle to feed all their animals, the Bench said those who choose to rear animals have a responsibility to care for them throughout their lives and ensure that abandoned or infirm cattle are transferred to authorised shelters instead of being left to roam freely. The Court remarked that in a "deeply flawed, human world", animals are abandoned after their utility diminishes, even as society simultaneously finds it offensive when they are used for food, describing this contradiction as one that has contributed to the present problem.
In order to ensure that the tagging, digitisation of records and smooth running of these shelters is duly undertaken, the authorities may depute a particular officer in every Corporation/Department who shall be the nodal officer for such purpose.
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