Rejoice Animal Lovers! Haryana & Punjab High Court Declare All Animals To Be ‘Legal Persons’

We, as humans, have been torturous towards animals ever since the time of evolution. And it is no surprise that animal cruelty has reached a whole new level in the 21st century and is at its peak right now.

However, amidst all the injustice towards these speechless beings, the Punjab and Haryana High Court has made an announcement that will satisfy every animal lover in this world. According to The Indian Express, the court accorded the status of “legal person or entity” to animals in Haryana, granting them the “corresponding rights, duties and liabilities of a living person”.

However, the commendable decision isn’t the first time a state has passed an order for the betterment of animals. Last year, Uttarakhand High Court passed a similar order “to protect and promote greater welfare of animals”. Both these orders were penned down by Justice Rajiv Sharma, who transferred from Uttarakhand to the Punjab and Haryana High Court at Chandigarh last year.

Speaking about the same, Justice Sharma said that animals should enjoy the same rights as human do and cannot be treated as an ‘object’.

“The corporations, Hindu idols, holy scriptures, rivers have been declared legal entities and thus, in order to protect and promote greater welfare of animals including avian and aquatic, animals are required to be conferred with the status of legal entity/ legal person”.

The verdict reads that animals deserve nothing but justice and we rightfully agree!

“The animals should be healthy, comfortable, well nourished, safe, able to express innate behavior without pain, fear and distress. They are entitled to justice. The animals cannot be treated as objects or property.”

“All the citizens throughout the state of Haryana are hereby declared persons in loco parentis (meaning – in the place of a parent) as the human face for the welfare/protection of animals.”

The guidelines issued on Friday also mentioned that an animal cannot be forced to carry more than the prescribed load at any point in time. Considering the number of animals that die in road accidents, Sharma also mentioned that it is compulsory for cart owners to cover their animals in stripes of fluorescent reflectors while traveling at night.

Thank you, Rajiv Sharma. We, as animal lovers, will forever be grateful to you.