After receiving an appeal from Mercy For Animals India Foundation to prohibit the use, manufacturer, and sale of gestation and farrowing crates for pregnant and nursing pigs, the deputy secretary of Mizoram’s animal husbandry department has confirmed a statewide ban on such crates in compliance with the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act, 1960.
Mercy For Animals India Foundation is running a nationwide campaign seeking a ban on gestation and farrowing crates. So far, after appeals from Mercy For Animals India Foundation, the governments of Delhi, Manipur, Gujarat, Uttar Pradesh, and Uttarakhand have issued directives banning the use, manufacture, and sale of gestation and farrowing crates. Recently, on behalf of Mercy For Animals, Bollywood star and animal lover John Abraham sent a letter to Shri Parshottam Rupala, minister of fisheries, animal husbandry, and dairying, urging a nationwide ban on gestation and farrowing crates.
A right-to-information response furnished by the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) National Research Centre on Pigs states that gestation and farrowing crates severely restrict movement and hence violate Section 11(1)(e) of the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act. ICAR referred to a demi-official letter dated January 2014 to all veterinary universities and the National Research Centre on Pigs advising against the use of gestation crates in universities or research facilities. ICAR also cited the Directorate of Animal Husbandry, Punjab, which had issued directives to district officers to ensure that no gestation crates are used in the state.
Urge the government to ban gestation and farrowing crates used to confine pigs.
