The Cabinet of Ministers on Monday approved an amendment to the Animals Act No. 29 of 1958 to expand the statutory definition of “animal” to include pigs, goats and sheep alongside cattle and buffaloes.
The amendment was tabled by the Minister of Agriculture, Livestock, Land and Irrigation. Policy approval for the change was granted at a Cabinet meeting on December 1, 2025, and the Legal Draftsman has since prepared a draft Amended Bill in all three languages. The Attorney General has cleared the draft.
The Cabinet has now approved publishing the draft Amendment Bill in the Government Gazette and submitting it to Parliament for concurrence.
The 1958 Act, which has governed offences relating to cattle and buffaloes for nearly seven decades, has not kept pace with the diversification of Sri Lanka’s livestock sector. Bringing pigs, goats and sheep within the Act’s interpretation section is expected to extend its enforcement provisions — covering cruelty, theft, transport and slaughter offences — to those species.
The amendment was one of three Cabinet decisions tabled on Monday that have surfaced via The Island, alongside an amendment to the State Mortgage and Investment Bank Law No. 13 of 1975 and the establishment of a trust to manage the Jaffna Thiruvalluvar Cultural Centre. The weekly post-Cabinet press briefing was cancelled because both designated government spokesmen were abroad.
