Animals aren’t meant to be kept in cages: Islamabad court

ISLAMABAD : Animals are not meant to be kept in cages or zoos, said Justice Athar Minallah, the chief justice of the Islamabad High Court, while hearing a contempt case against wildlife officials on Thursday. How would you feel if someone locked you up in a cage for even two hours, the judge asked. Men have no right to be cruel towards those who can’t speak for themselves, he said. Everyone comes to take credit but no one takes responsibility when animals die, the judge remarked. We have even heard some wildlife officials steal the food kept for animals, he said. The court said that it will first determine who is responsible for the deaths of two lions in Islamabad. The court has given time Climate Change Minister Malik Amin Aslam and State Minister for Climate Change Zartaj Gul to submit replies in the case. Two lions died while being transferred from Islamabad’s Marghazar Zoo to a farmhouse in Lahore, it was reported on July 30. The case was registered under Section 5 of the Animal Act 1990. The law punishes people for killing any animal in an unnecessarily cruel manner.  Those convicted under the law must pay a fine of Rs200 and can be imprisoned for up to six months. The FIR says that the caretakers beat the pair with sticks and lit a fire in their cage to knock them unconscious instead of using a tranquilizer. A video of the caretakers igniting a fire in the lion’s cage has been shared on social media too. The negligence of the Islamabad Wildlife Management Board is also being investigated in the case.