For as long as men massacre animals, they will kill each other. Indeed, he who sows the seed of murder and pain cannot reap joy and love. - Pythagorus
While growing up I have always been
a person excessively emotionally attached to dogs. As I grew up, I realized
it’s a cruel world out there. Humans don’t care about humans; forget other
species. I saw pets getting abused, I saw street dogs and animals getting
maimed around me and on social media; for no reason at all. The web is filled
with videos of people abusing street dogs, beating them, teasing them just for
amusement and mere views. One of the most common forms of animal cruelty is the
abandonment of pets and domestic animals. As pet owners fail to understand and
control the behaviour of their pets when they go around chewing shoes and
furniture, barking or urinating in the wrong places. They give up hope and
abandon them.
Well, it is our responsibility to
spend some time with them and train them. It will take some patience and a lot
of love. But remember, just like we learn as we grow old, animals also learn as
they grow. Apart from pet abuse, every
day, countless cats, dogs and other animals suffer and die at the hands of the
very people who are supposed to care for and protect them. Physical violence,
emotional abuse and life-threatening neglect are daily realities for many
animals. Their only hope is that a kind person will speak up before it’s too
late.
People who abuse animals are cowards, they take their
issues out on the most defenceless victims available and their cruelty often
crosses species lines. Research in psychology and criminology shows that animal
abusers tend to repeat their crimes as well as commit similar offences against
members of their own species. This phenomenon is known to law-enforcement and
humane professionals as "the link". People who hurt animals don’t stop with animals. There
is an established link between cruelty to animals and violence towards humans. Studies have shown that
violent and aggressive criminals are more likely to have abused animals as
children than criminals who are considered non-aggressive. A survey of psychiatric patients who
had repeatedly tortured dogs and cats found that all of them had high levels of
aggression toward people as well.
The shocking number of animal cruelty cases reported every
day is just the tip of the iceberg. Most cases are never reported. Unlike
violent crimes against people, cases of animal abuse are not compiled by state
or central agencies, making it difficult to calculate just how common they are.
There’s no question that social media has benefited animal advocacy in
remarkable ways over the last decade. Activists and sometimes people like us are
using platforms such as Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube to organize
protests, promote veganism, distribute online petitions, announce campaign
updates, post news about animals ready for adoption, share animal rights
documentaries, and much more.
Here are some cases shared on social media, where people didn't even consider
animals to be living beings.
- A pregnant goat was gang-raped by 8 men in
Haryana.
29 July 2018: A pregnant goat that went
missing and was later found dead by the owner was stolen and abused by the
accused at a deserted house, following which the animal died. One of the
accused even met the owner of the goat and admitted that he had raped her and
said that he had a nice time.
- A female street dog was raped by a man inside
his home in Kolkata.
17 July 2018: A 35-year-old man was
arrested for allegedly having sex with a dog. The accused lured the dog into his house
and tied its mouth with a rope. A couple of men passing by saw the accused
luring the dog and sensed something wrong. After following him to his house,
they broke open a window and caught the man having sex with the dog.
- A man had unnatural sex with three cows in
Vadodara.
17 January 2018: A man in Vadodara who
worked as a labourer at a cow shed allegedly indulged in unnatural sex with
three cows. Later in the morning, the owner found that the legs of three cows
were tied with rope and one was lying dead.
- Eleven langurs were brutally killed and
dumped near a highway in Rajasthan.
12 January 2018: Eleven monkeys were found killed near
the National Highway-8, about 66 km from Jaipur, in Rajasthan. Forest officials
said they were beaten with sticks and then splashed with an abrasive chemical,
probably an acid.
- A cow was run over by a police vehicle in
Chhattisgarh.
26 July 2018: A police patrol vehicle
crushed a cow that was crossing the road. According to the eyewitnesses, the
cow's leg got stuck under its wheel. People gathered to save her but the cops
seemed determined to kill her. They ran over her again and again.
- A street dog was left to die when workers
poured hot tar on it while it was sleeping.
15 June 2018: A street dog was sleeping on the road when
the construction workers poured hot burning tar on it while they were fixing
the Fatehabad road at Phool Sayed crossing in Agra. It caused half of its body
to be buried alive and was then left to die.
- Telangana
municipality allegedly poisoned 100 street dogs.
24 June 2019: In
Siddipet, Telangana, reportedly about 100 dogs were killed by poisoning over
two days, some found dumped in a landfill. The act was allegedly carried out on
the orders of Siddipet municipality to bring the growing population of street
dogs under control.
Some steps taken in
the right direction
- The Indian Government is also considering a proposal
to enhance the penalty structure under the Prevention to Cruelty to Animals Act
1960 in a bid to revamp the animal welfare laws. The Indian Government may
direct its environment ministry, a ministry currently overlooking animal
welfare and prevention of cruelty to animals, to prepare a draft
amendment to the 1960 Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act
with a provision to increase the current penalty set at mere Rs
50 (less than a dollar) to inflation-adjusted amounts up to Rs
6,000 ($84).
According
to the current provisions, the Section 11 of the Act states that a
penalty of up to Rs 50 is to be levied against any person
or group of persons engaging in any act of cruelty
to animals. The definition of cruelty includes animal beating,
torturing, mutilating, kicking or starving. Activists believe that the
up to Rs 6000 penalty in the offing will serve as a credible
deterrent against acts of cruelty meted to animals
by humans.
- A German circus has stopped using real-life
animals in its performances and changed to holograms instead. Circus Roncalli,
which was founded in 1976, uses 3D holographic images to fill the whole arena
which is 32 meters (105ft) wide and 5 meters (16ft) deep. Clever special
effects produced by 11 different projectors mean the whole audience can see
elephants, horses and even a goldfish. The circus started out using real
animals but gradually phased them out, replacing them with the futuristic
technology instead. Founder Bernhard Paul, invested more than £400,000 to
perfect the light show. The decision to do so has been widely praised on social
media.
Animals and birds have legal rights, just as humans, declared the Punjab and Haryana High Court
in an exceptional judgement. It further declared citizens as the “guardians of
the animal kingdom” with a duty to ensure their welfare and protection. Justice
Rajiv Sharma, in his order, said, “All the animals have honour and dignity.
Every species has an inherent right to live and is required to be protected by
law. The rights and privacy of animals are to be respected and protected from
unlawful attacks. The Corporations, Hindu idols, holy scriptures, rivers have
been declared legal entities, and thus, to protect and promote greater welfare
of animals including avian and aquatic, animals are required to be conferred
with the status of legal entity/legal person. The animals should be healthy,
comfortable, well-nourished, safe, able to express innate behaviour without
pain, fear and distress. They are entitled to justice. The animals cannot be
treated as objects or property.”
Communities must recognize
that abuse to any living being is
unacceptable and endangers everyone. Teaching children
to empathize with other living beings from an early age, both in schools and by
leading through example, is hugely important. Kind parents who go out of their
way to help animals in need can inspire future generations to make compassionate
choices, and educational establishments also play an important role.
It’s easy to feel
despair when we hear about people who deliberately maim, torture or kill
animals. But just as cruelty and cowardice are the causes of such behaviour, so
courage and kindness are needed to combat it. It takes courage to speak
out if you suspect that an animal is being harmed. If you believe an animal is
in imminent danger, please contact your local police and/or immediately. When
the police are investigating incidents of cruelty, PETA often offers a reward
to encourage people to come forward with information.
One of the ways we can help and lend our voices to good
causes is by signing petitions. Such petitions are sent to people in powerful
positions that can make a change, especially when they see just how many people
stand behind the cause. We can demand change, justice, and stop tragedies by
speaking up and doing our part. I would
like to end this blog with the message next time you think about mistreating an
animal, remember animals can’t even communicate with us to complain. Don’t keep
the animals forcefully captive.
Love them and they will love us back.
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ReplyDeleteThis is hard to read, but somewhere this is all happening around us. Penalty of Rs 50 is noting but just a joke in the name of law! This is utterly shameful how some sexually frustrated men are even doing this inhuman activities. And the biggest irony of hinduism is " Gaye hamari mata hai" ! This is INCREDIBLE INDIA.
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