KOLKATA: A Kolkata filmmaker's documentary on the struggle to get street dogs legal protection and implement harsher penalties for animal cruelty will be screened in Nandan on June 4. The documentary 'Nirbaak' has already been screened in other film festivals.
The filmmaker, Om Chanda, said that the May 19 Supreme Court order, which allowed stray dogs to be fed in residential areas, gives some legal safeguards. "But this does not help much to change the way people view street dogs. There remains a perpetual wedge between dog lovers and those who abuse or do not take animal rights seriously. Animal welfare activists frequently make PILs in courts, but it is a very slow process to bring about palpable changes. My main goal with this documentary is to show people the dog's perspective."
Chanda added, "I will be happy if this film can impact the spectators in such a way that they are moved enough to support the rights of street dogs."
The film chronicles various rallies and protests that took place in Kolkata in the past few years against the injustice meted out to street dogs. Among other animal activists, the film features Prantik Chatterjee, director of animal shelter, Addicted to Life Foundation, and one of the most prominent advocates of legal protection for street dogs.
Chatterjee reminisced his involvement in creating mass protests after 16 puppies and their mother were found dead after being allegedly attacked by two nurses of NRS Medical college. "According to the Cruelty to Animals Act 1960, section 428 of the IPC states that the person who kills or abuses an animal will have to serve a sentence of merely three months if proven guilty or can be bailed with a fine of Rs 10," Chatterjee said.
Animal lover and Jadavpur University professor, Rimi Chatterjee, who is currently supervising a PhD student's thesis on human-animal relations, said, "The British rulers made these laws, keeping in mind the animal's commercial value that means any harm to the animal is a monetary loss for the owner. I am disturbed with many people suggesting that Indian cities are backward because we have not followed the Western model of euthanising and sterilising strays. The Western way cannot be an ideal for us. The argument for sterilising street dogs to clean up the streets is appalling to me. We need complete structural changes in our philosophy in dealing with the natural world," she said.
