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For declaring that caging birds is illegal and ordering freedom for 494 birds and other animals seized from bird-sellers by police, the Gujarat High Court judge, Justice M.R. Shah, has been selected by the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) India for the prestigious Compassionate Action Award.
Justice Shah's words echoed those of English poet William Blake, who in the late 1700s famously wrote that a bird in a cage “[p]uts all heaven in a rage”, PETA India's Chief Functionary Poorva Joshipura said in a statement here on Wednesday.
The bird-sellers had petitioned the court requesting return of the animals to them after police confiscated parrots, doves, love birds and munias as well as rabbits and dogs.
On May 12, Justice Shah said that keeping the birds caged was in violation of both the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act and the Wildlife Protection Act and ordered that the birds be set free.
Birds' Fundamental right
The birds had been kept in small cages, their tail feathers had been cut and their wings taped to prevent them from flying.
“Everybody is talking about fundamental rights of the citizen, such as, right to live freely, right to food, right to move freely etc. A day has come to think about the rights of the birds and animals…” the judge observed. By ordering that the birds be freed, Justice Shah made a powerful statement that violations of laws aimed at protecting animals must be strongly enforced.
“We are calling on police and courts across India to set a zero-tolerance policy for anyone who cages birds and thereby denies these animals their precious and most fundamental right to be able to fly,” Joshipura said.
Birds are captured by poachers, packed into small boxes and transported on trains.
An estimated 60 per cent of them die in transit, usually from broken wings and legs, thirst, hunger or stress.
Baby birds are caught in traps and nets, which often results in injury or death, she added.
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