The Animal Welfare Board of India and Humane Society International are speaking out to prohibit foreign direct investment for the rearing of animals in cages, crates or other forms of intensive confinement that violate the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act of 1960.
The organizations sent letters to the Minister of Commerce & Industry in response to a new government policy encouraging 100% FDI for the rearing of animals under intensive farming systems. Internationally, the animal agribusiness sector is known for intensive systems that confine egg laying hens, breeding sows and other farm animals in cages and crates that prevent them from walking, fully stretching their limbs and performing many other important natural behaviors. The AWBI letter states that India’s PCA Act specifically forbids the confinement of “any animals in any cage or receptacle which does not measure sufficiently in height, length and breadth to permit the animal a reasonable opportunity for movement.”
