By incorporating newer provisions such as jail term and fines for killing and showing acts of cruelty to animals – the Cabinet has approved the final draft of the  “Animal Welfare Bill, 2016” the day before yesterday. The approval came in the regular weekly meeting of the Cabinet held at the Bangladesh Secretariat in the Prime Minister’s presence. While briefing reporters, the Cabinet Secretary stated that the draft law has been proposed to upgrade and address the weaknesses and flaws in the existing colonial era “Cruelty Act of 1920”.
However, a positive feature in the draft law is that the definition of animal has been clarified in it - adding that all vertebrate except human being, domestic animals and pet animals would also come under the boundaries of the new law. The previous law certainly had limitations in defining animals under specific categories. Nevertheless, the amendment of the animal welfare law was long overdue in a country where torturing and killing animals is not a new phenomenon. Three of the key features of the new law will likely decrease the rate of killing and persecuting animals in Bangladesh. First, anyone involved in the offences like killing an animal or injuring it intentionally will serve a maximum two years of jail or will be fined Tk 50,000 or perhaps both. Second, any member of the police holding the post of sub-inspector can file a case against any person for committing such offenses, and third, re-production of pet animals and their methods of management will  have to be animal-friendly and registered with the concerned department.
Concerning the provision of filing cases, our opinion is that the police will have to be more pro-active, caring and humane in this regard. Given the current set of responsibilities and excessive workloads of our inspectors and sub-inspectors, it may not always be possible to avail their services for filing cases. Since sergeants and constables are more involved in field level duties, they have more opportunities for monitoring unwarranted killings and persecutions of animals. An option for consideration is that, they too could be given some degree of authority for deterring killing and cruel acts shown to animals in our cities and towns. Community policing also may help. Additionally, we expect to see a stringent legal condition for safeguarding wild animals and migratory birds in the new welfare bill.       
Though a commendable move to protect and prevent our animals from being needlessly killed or tortured – but similar to many existing good laws – the law will have to be effectively implemented after the parliament finally passes it. Without implementation, a law is merely a legal provision in papers – nothing more.