Animal abuse is a matter that I feel always gets pushed aside. Animal abuse happens more frequently than most people know. Animal abuse can be deliberate or by just simply neglecting to take care of an animal. There are several types of animal cruelties that have been going on recently. There is the spearing of dolphins in Japan. The dolphins are herded into the shore and then slaughtered. They are usually speared and left to bleed out on the shores. The process is slow and agonizing. There is also the poaching of wild animals in different parts of the world. The one you most hear about is the slaughtering of elephants and rhino’s for their horns. They hunt the animals down just to get their tusks/ horns to sell in markets. They don’t hunt the animals for food, clothes, and other necessities that most laws let people hunt for. These people like the hunt and the money that ivory brings them. There has also been huge controversy of people posting pictures of themselves with animals that they have just slaughtered. They slaughter tigers, lions, and cheetah’s People usually slaughter these animals for their fur. Most of these animals’ numbers are dwindling. Some like the tiger are going extinct.
Some of the biggest areas of animal cruelty come from pets. Pet abuse can happen in several different ways. Dog fighting is a sport for people’s entertainment and for profit. Puppy mills are dog-breeding facilities where profits are placed above the well being of the animals. Hoarding animals is also abuse. Many care takers take on more pets than they can handle which often leads to neglect. Other forms of abuse for animals are factory farms are often inhumane ways in which companies raise large quantities of animals for food. Horse slaughter is also a big problem. Horses have been slaughtered for a person’s entertainment. Cock fighting and greyhound racing are also forms of animal abuse.
Animal testing is also a huge problem in our country. They use animals to test medicines, make up, psychological disorders and how they can impact humans. Harry Harlow used monkeys to test how important contact and comfort are. The monkeys were separated from their mothers shortly after birth. They were kept in a cage with a wire monkey that held food and a wire monkey that was covered in a soft blanket. Most of the monkeys chose to stay with the cloth-covered monkey instead of going to the other wire monkey to get food. The monkeys could not function normally with other monkeys and by themselves. They had to be terminated after the study was over.
Most people don’t understand that animals experience the same types of psychological abuse that humans do. Animals need to be cared for and treated right. They are not things we can take our anger out on or be killed for fun. There are several ways in which you can stop abuse and can prevent the abuse from happening. If you follow my blogs during the semester you will know how to prevent, stop, find out some of the abuse that is going on in the world to animals.
Brief Analysis of Animal Abuse in India
- 19,028 cases of animal brutality were recorded in Mumbai in a span of 5 years (2011-2016). Although, not even a single arrest was made.
- On May 18th, 2018 almost about 100 dead bodies of dogs were found in the forest area in Kongara, Hyderabad.
- A pregnant goat was gang raped by 8 men in Gurgaon, Haryana on July 29th 2018 and was later declared dead.
- In August 2017, a man was held accused for raping a young female puppy to death.
- In January, 2018 a man in Vadodara allegedly raped 3 cows in Vadodara. A case was filed under section 295A of the IPC which defines deliberate and malicious acts done intentionally to insult the religious feelings of any religious class.
Laws implemented for Animal Abuse
In the Constitution of India, 1949
Article 48 talks about improvement of agriculture and animal husbandry. It provides guidelines for the state to organize agriculture and animal husbandry based on new modern and scientific methods and to get rid of the old traditional ones. It prohibits the practice of animal slaughtering and imposes a complete ban on the slaughtering of cows, calves, milch and draught cattle.
Article 48A talks about the protection of the environment and wildlife. It directs the state to protect and improve the condition of the environment, safeguard and preserve the forests and wildlife of the country.
Article 51A lays down the 11 fundamental duties that were added in the Constitution by the 42nd Amendment act, 1976. Article 51A(g) specifies that it is the utmost duty of every citizen to protect and preserve the natural environment which includes the wild life, forests, lakes, rivers etc. It also lays that the citizens must have feelings of compassion and love towards the animals.
Conclusion
For most of the people worldwide, meat is considered as a go-to meal, be it breakfast, lunch or dinner. What most of the people don’t realize is how and from where all the meat and chicken in the world is coming from. Animal cruelty is a very sensitive and serious issue. Pain is felt by each and every living organism, be it humans or animals. The brutal action against the innocent creatures is rarely acknowledged and very few people feel the urge of raising their voice against animal cruelty. Therefore, by the way of this paper, I tried to focus on the types of animal cruelty, the depraved customs and traditions which are practiced across the world. People should know that all lives matter, be it humans or animals. It can be seen how humans misuse their power and lack the feelings of love and compassion towards the animals. Animals do not have any rights of their own, they do not have a voice to protect themselves from cruelty, thus they go through unspeakable sufferings daily. Just as humans, even animals deserve to lead a happy and painless life. As humans, it is our duty to speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves.
