See if animals stuck in circuses need rehab, court tells authorities

Acting on a plea that said animals were starving due to the bankruptcy of circuses amid Covid-19, a bench of Justices Vipin Sanghi and Rajnish Bhatnagar asked the board to file a status report with regard to the survey.

The Delhi High Court on Tuesday directed the Animal Welfare Board (AWB) to carry out a nationwide survey to find out the number of animals in circuses unable to perform due to the Covid-19 pandemic, and consider rehabilitating them in the nearest zoos.

Circus Artists performing with birds during the special show of Asiad Circus at Shastri Park in New Delhi. (Sanchit Khanna/HT PHOTO)

Acting on a plea that said animals were starving due to the bankruptcy of circuses amid Covid-19, a bench of Justices Vipin Sanghi and Rajnish Bhatnagar asked the board to file a status report with regard to the survey. The court directed AWB to specifically ask circus officials if they were in a condition to maintain the animals or if they needed to be surrendered for rehabilitation in the nearest zoos.

The bench issued notices to the Ministry of Fisheries, Animal Husbandry and Dairying, Ministry of Environment and Forests, the Central Zoo Authority and the Animal Welfare Board of India, while directing them to reply on the plea within two weeks.

The court was hearing a plea by the Federation of Indian Animals Protection (FIAPO), a collection of organisation working for the protection of animal rights, which also challenges the constitutional validity of certain sections of the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act as they permit exhibition and training of animals in circus acts.

Senior advocate Dayan Krishnan, appearing for FIAPO, sought direction to the authorities to formulate an appropriate scheme for the rescue, rehabilitation and relocation of all animals rescued from circuses. He said there is an urgent need to ban animals from circuses and initiate their rehabilitation.

The plea said circuses with animals performing tricks often use wild animals, including elephants, hippos, and exotic birds. It said these animals are very often used without requisite paperwork, certifying their fitness.

It contended that the animals are chained and tied up for several hours each day, made to perform several shows without proper rest, trained using negative reinforcement with instruments such as metal rods, wooden sticks, whips and outdated and barbaric tools like hooks and spiked belts, the plea said.

The plea said on account of the Covid-19 pandemic, there have been numerous reports of animals being stranded as part of these circuses all over the country and being abandoned by their owners.

“This will lead to numerous animals perishing on account of starvation and unsanitary conditions. The intervention of this court is prayed to ensure that this entirely avoidable loss of life is averted. The urgency of this petition cannot be understated,” the petition said.

The court, however, declined to grant interim relief and a direction to the authorities to take custody of all animals from all circuses operating in India and make appropriate arrangements for their transfer and well-being.

It said it cannot pass any order like that without hearing all the parties and posted the matter for August 17.