Unchecked mating of native breeds risks disease spread: HC

Madurai: When indigenous bovine breeds are used for natural mating indiscriminately for commercial purposes by farmers on a continuous basis, it can cause serious health deterioration across the entire population, Madras high court has observed. The court made the observation while taking into account the fact that the main objective of the Tamil Nadu Bovine Breeding Act, 2019, is to prevent the transmission of disease resulting from unregulated mating, and dismissed a plea challenging various provisions of the Act.A division bench of justice N Sathish Kumar and justice M Jothiraman was hearing a public interest litigation filed in 2020 by S Venkatesh. The petitioner stated that the Act was brought without any scientific study. Section 12(10) of the said Act mandates that animals that are declared/certified ‘unfit' for breeding shall be eliminated by the farmer. Further, Section 12 of the Act also mandates that the state will regulate natural mating and breeding of animals, including bovines, under the guise of breeding only fit animals approved by the state alone. This, in essence, is an attempt to circumvent the provisions of law to benefit corporations and destroy individual holding of animals of their livelihood. The provisions are violative of the Constitution, Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act, 1960, Biological Diversity Act, 2002, and the Environment (Protection) Act, 1986.However, the state submitted that the Act was based on scientific reasoning, inclusive, and supports breed preservation, conservation, and ensures a healthy livestock population, which live in harmony with human beings. A division bench of justice N Sathish Kumar and justice M Jothiraman observed that allowing continuous mating without any restrictions would also lead to serious consequences, such as the spread of diseases and deterioration in the health of animals. The introduction of regulations in the form of testing animals prior to such mating through natural service, particularly in respect of indigenous breeds, would not violate the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act, 1960.The judges observed that much emphasis has been placed on sub-section (10) of Section 12 of the said Act, which provides that a male bovine declared unfit for breeding or infected with disease shall be eliminated by the farmer in such manner as may be prescribed. It is relevant to note that the word ‘elimination' does not mean the destruction or killing of the animal, but merely the removal of such a bull from continuous mating. The main objective is to prevent the transmission of disease resulting from unregulated mating. Therefore, the state, in its wisdom, has introduced regulations imposing certain restrictions, particularly requiring the testing of bulls before their use in natural service, and also mandating the production of three certificates, namely breeding soundness certificate, disease-free certificate, and vaccination certificate from a veterinarian. Such restrictions, do not violate any provisions of the law or the Constitution. In fact, it would protect the health of both the bulls and cows, the judges observed, and dismissed the petition.