Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act, 1960
13. Destruction of suffering animals. -
(1) Where the owner of an animal is convicted
of an offence under section 11, it shall be lawful for the court, if the court
is satisfied that it would be cruel to keep the animal alive, to direct that
the animal be destroyed and to assign the animal to any suitable person for
that purpose, and the person toe whom such animal is so assigned shall, as soon
as possible, destroy such animal or cause such animal to be destroyed in his
presence without unnecessary suffering, and any reasonable expense incurred in
destroying the animal may be ordered by the court to be recovered from the
owner as if it were a fine:
Provided that unless the owner assents thereto,
no order shall be made under this section except upon the evidence of a
veterinary officer in charge of the area.
(2) When any magistrate, commissioner of
police or district superintendent of police has reason to believe that an
offence under section 11 has been committed in respect of any animal, he may
direct the immediate destruction of the animal, if in his opinion, it would be
cruel to keep the animal alive.
(3) Any police officer above the rank of a constable
or any person authorized by the State Government in this behalf who finds nay
animal so diseased or so severely injured or in such a physical condition that
in his opinion it cannot be removed without cruelty, may, if the owner is
absent or refuses his consent to the destruction of the animal, forthwith
summon the veterinary officer in charge of the area in which the animal is
found, and if the veterinary officer certifies that the animal is mortally
injured or so severely injured or in such a physical condition that it would be
cruel to injured or in such a physical condition that it would be cruel to keep
it alive, the police officer or the person authorized, as the case may be, may,
after obtaining orders form a magistrate destroy the animal injured or cause it
to be destroyed.
(4) No appeal shall lie from any order of a
magistrate for the destruction of an animal.