Lahore High Court Hears Landmark Animal Rights Cases in Pakistan
In a significant milestone for animal rights and environmental law in Pakistan, the Lahore High Court’s Rawalpindi Bench today heard two precedent-setting public interest petitions, both spearheaded by leading legal advocate Altamush Saeed. Saeed is the Founding Managing Partner of Environmental and Animal Rights Consultants Pakistan (EARC), the nation’s first specialized law firm and think tank for animal and environmental issues.
Case 1: Illegal Dog Culling Challenged
The first case, Anila Umair v. Municipal Corporation Islamabad, et al., is a contempt petition targeting authorities in Punjab and Islamabad for continuing the illegal culling of stray dogs. This comes despite multiple binding decisions by the Lahore High Court that prohibit such actions and mandate the adoption of the humane Trap-Neuter-Vaccinate-Return (TNVR) method.
Saeed strongly condemned the inhumane killings, stating, “These actions not only violate court orders — they violate our collective humanity.” He urged the court to take punitive action against the violators and reaffirm TNVR as the sole ethical and effective approach to managing stray dog populations and controlling rabies.
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Case 2: Rescue of Blind Bear from Murree Zoo
The second case, Anam Zeb v. DG Wildlife Pakistan, focuses on the rescue of a blind bear currently held in squalid conditions at Bansra Gali Zoo in Murree. Previously housed at Lahore’s Jallo Safari Park, the bear is reportedly malnourished, neglected, and denied basic care, in direct violation of legal and international welfare standards.
Calling the bear’s confinement a symbol of institutional neglect, Saeed appealed to the court for the animal’s immediate transfer to a specialized sanctuary. “Every living being deserves protection, dignity, and care,” he emphasized.
A Growing Movement for Interspecies Justice
These petitions are part of a broader legal movement inspired by earlier landmark rulings, including the celebrated Kaavan case by Justice Athar Minallah and the Punjab Animal Birth Control Policy 2021, shaped under the guidance of Justices Ayesha Malik and Jawad Hassan. These decisions have increasingly acknowledged animals as sentient beings entitled to constitutional protections.
“These are not isolated cases,” Saeed said. “They reflect a legal transformation in which animals are beginning to be seen not as property, but as individuals with rights to justice and humane treatment.”
The hearings have drawn widespread attention at both national and international levels, signaling a pivotal shift in Pakistan’s legal landscape towards the integration of animal protection into mainstream constitutional and environmental law.
