Equine Welfare in Nepal: a far-off dream
The concept of animal welfare is not a new one in the face of the world, but lies as a neglected issue in Nepal. The first and foremost underlying problem is the lack of an animal welfare legislation/act which has been adopted and implemented in many of the countries around the world. The animal welfare issue does not hold any strong foundation in the many animal /livestock related acts or are introduced just for the sake of mention, without any real impact on the actual scenario. “The Muluki Ain” (General code), dictates some amount of animal welfare which is biased towards the cattle group due the country’s religious Hindu roots. The section on quadruped [1] is strict towards the killing, selling and exporting of cow/ox, and in…show more content… Such an act will escape any consequence or criminal charges [2]. The acts on quadrupeds in the Muluki Ain has also been recasted by the ‘Animal Slaughtering and Meat Inspection Act 2055 (1999)’ [3]. This act also mentions some animal welfare considerations prior to slaughter. The ‘Animal Health and Livestock services Act 2055 (1999)’, vaguely points towards animal welfare under the clause ‘Prevention from Cruelty to Animal’ [4]. The clause states that Government of Nepal may constitute a committee for the prevention of cruelty to animals and the functions, duties and power shall be as specified. The ‘Ethical Guidelines for the Care and use of Animals in Health Research in Nepal’ [5] applied by Nepal Health Research Council promotes minimizing discomfort, illness and pain to animals. Also states that procedure subjecting animals to pain, stress, privation or death should be used only when an acceptable alternative procedure is unavailable, urging the researcher to minimize the trauma to animals. The Local Governance Act [6] of the municipalities even allows them to poison stray dogs. There is a saying, ‘the greatness of a nation and its moral progress can be