Pakistan bans animal testing and announces reforms

Pakistan has announced its first comprehensive animal welfare law, which provides for penalties for animal cruelty and prohibits tests and operations on live animals.

Salman Sufi, head of Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s strategic reforms division, said the law would first come into force in Islamabad, and the federal government would encourage the provinces to implement it. Pakistani animal welfare advocates had long called for changes to the law dating from the British era in order to combat animal cruelty and abuse through effective legislation and its enforcement.

The reforms include harsher penalties for animal cruelty offences. Perpetrators now face fines of Rs 15,000 ($ 73) and prison sentences. Citizens can report any act of animal cruelty via a hotline in the capital Islamabad.

Most importantly, tests and operations on live animals in veterinary schools and industrial facilities in the federal capital have been prohibited under the animal welfare law. In addition, uniform guidelines and regulations for pet markets would be announced, said Sufi, adding that violations could be punished with fines and businesses could be closed.

A comprehensive law for implementation at the national level is to be introduced in the next parliamentary session.

Animal welfare reforms:

• Ban on all experiments on live animals
• Reporting of animal cruelty by calling 1819 in Islamabad
• Ban on shooting and poisoning animals
• Regulations and standards for pet shops

PETA welcomes landmark reforms in Pakistan

Shalin Gala, Vice President of the global animal rights organization People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA), praised the country for introducing «groundbreaking reforms» that «will ban tests and surgeries on live animals for veterinary training and lead to a shift toward advanced, humane methods».

In an official statement, Gala said that PETA was pleased to have shared recommendations for improving veterinary education with the Pakistani Prime Minister's Department for Strategic Reforms. The organization stated that it would work with the government on further critical reforms in biomedical research and education that will both spare the lives of animals and benefit human patients.

PETA announced that they sent urgent letters to Pakistani officials calling for a ban on harmful and medically unnecessary veterinary training exercises.

The reforms were announced following widespread outrage in Pakistan over videos that went viral in May showing animals in extreme distress after allegedly being operated on by veterinary students. Animal lovers and rescue organizations in Islamabad also protested against the brutal and inhumane surgeries performed on dogs at veterinary universities, demanding swift government action against unethical practices.