CHATURANGA PRADEEP SAMARAWICKRAMA 
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Social media helps control animal cruelty, says AWC official
Colombo, June 12 (Daily Mirror) - Sharing videos of animal abuse on social media has made people more aware and careful about how they treat animals, an official from the Animal Welfare Coalition (AWC) said.
Charuka Wickremesekera, an executive member of the AWC, said that social media has become a powerful tool in the fight against animal cruelty in the country.
“People now think several times before harming animals after seeing these videos online,” he added.
He also explained that social media helps people report animal abuse incidents more easily. In the past, there may have been many cases of animal cruelty, but there were no proper organisations where people could complain. Now, many animal welfare groups receive a large number of complaints from the public.
According to the AWC, they receive at least one complaint every day about animal cruelty. However, Wickremesekera pointed out that Sri Lanka’s laws against animal abuse are very old and too weak.
“The current laws are based on the Animal Cruelty Act of 1907. The fines start from just Rs. 100, and only a few minor changes have been made since then,” he said.
Although the Sri Lanka Police are doing their best to act against animal cruelty, there are not enough strong laws to properly punish offenders or raise public awareness through legal action.
Wickremesekera stressed the need to quickly pass the Animal Welfare Bill and other related laws to stop animal abuse in Sri Lanka.
“It’s time to improve the legal system and protect animals better,” he said.
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