Cat and Animal Protection Laws in Myanmar

burma cat temple
Cat at temple
photo by nkenji

The Cat and Animal Protection Laws in Myanmar are managed by The State Law and Order Restoration Council. The law is: The Animal Health and Development Law (The State Law and Order Restoration Council Law No. 17/93) –  The 12th Waxing Day of Tazaungmon, 1355 M.E. (25th November, 1993).

This Act repealed an early animal welfare Act, The Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act, 1930.
 
Under The Animal Health and Development Law (it is not called an Act) an animal is defined at clause 2(a) Animal means domestic animal bred by man or captured for a certain purpose. This expression also includes the semen, ovum or embryo of the animal.

The objective the Cat and Animal Protection Laws in Myanmar includes animal protection but is wider ranging than that. I focus on animal protection. It is a short simply written Act, more a framework than the detailed legislation that we are familiar with in the West. Legislation is normally intended to cover as many eventualities as possible. That is why it is sometimes almost unreadable. That is not the case with Burma law.

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At clause 3(f) the objective is: to protect animals by law from being ill-treated.

Clause 18 at Chapter VIII deals with animal cruelty. The chapter is headed, “Prevention of Cruelty to Animal” (singular).

18. The Director General –

(a) shall carry out educative measures to prevent man from willfully ill-treating the animal;

(b) may prescribe the maximum weight of load to be carried by or load to be drawn by a certain species of animal;

(c) shall carry out educative measures regarding the methods to observed by the public in respect of transporting, binding or keeping of animals;

(d) shall take measures for treatment of ill-treated animals at the Veterinary Centre established by the Department;

(e) shall prescribe the expenses payable by the owner of an animal or a person who has an animal in his possession for treatment, feeding and taking care of the animals at the Veterinary Centre.

The law is concerned with education. It is an enabling law giving the Director General powers as stated.

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Clause X deals with the offences:

25. Whoever commits any of the following acts in respect of the animal shall on conviction be punishable with fine which may extend to kyats 1,000:-

(a) causing to work cruelly or causing to carry or draw more than the prescribed weight;

(b) wilfully ill—treating;

(c) unnecessarily manning;

(d) wilfully keeping it without food and water;

(e) neglecting to give proper treatment and care though being sick or wounded;

(f) letting to stray in public place though being suffering from contagious disease or wounded.

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The Cat and Animal Protection Laws in Myanmar Sources: http://web.archive.org/web/20141209035438/http://www.blc-burma.org/

The Cat and Animal Protection Laws in Myanmar to Cats and the Law

Photo: published under a Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs creative commons License 

2 thoughts on “Cat and Animal Protection Laws in Myanmar”

  1. The author of the best comment will receive an Amazon gift of their choice at Christmas! Please comment as they can add to the article and pass on your valuable experience.
  2. punish fee is too less, it should be 50,000 kyats or100,000 kyats. thank you. I would you to implement this fee beause I have to sue about with animal.

    Reply

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