By Devansh Pandey
Disclaimer: The following article contains violent scenes and descriptions of animal abuse. Proceed at your own discretion.
Last week, all social media platforms were flooded with requests to ban dog meat in Nagaland. Why did this matter gain so much importance in such less time? Is the cruelty towards animals in our nation a new thing? Or did this matter gain so much importance because just a month ago a pregnant elephant had died due to someone feeding her a live firecracker? Or is it because humans did the same thing to a cow too? Or because these cases were brought up by the national media?
Source- ThePrint
But why am I talking about all this in a business column?
Isn’t this column meant for other important economic and business matters happening around the world?
The reason why I am bringing this topic up is because no one is exposing the illegal trade and breeding practices that are going on in our country and activists are being suppressed or attacked if they are trying to raise a voice against the practices.
WHY ARE ANIMALS BEING KILLED?
According to an Indian Research, in the past 32 years Indians Killed 65% wild animals for food and rest 35% for illegal practices and trade. Majority of the killings happening in Madhya Pradesh, Uttarakhand and Uttar Pradesh.
Forget the past 32 years, a recent study tells us that poaching or illegal killings have nearly doubled after the nationwide lockdown was imposed.
Everyone wants to earn money in today’s world without investing a single penny and since few people think that as there is no one protecting animals, they can kill them to earn easy money.
Elephants are hunted for their tusks which are used for decoration purposes. Tusks are used to make ivory, jewellery and were formerly used for making piano keys too. Although the Indian Wild Life Protection Act banned the domestic sale of ivory products in 1986, they are still hunted for illegally.
Tigers are hunted for their skin and fur and further, there are many other animals whose skins, teeth and horns are used to satisfy human greed.
The Horse cart rides which we enjoy, the horse cries due to spike bits inside his mouth. The animals used to transport goods are barely fed anything.
Many of You might have heard about the Festival Jalikattu which is celebrated in Tamil Nadu on the day of Pongal, where a bull with a bag of coins on his head is left out in the crowd to be chased by men.
And how can we forget the news which pops up every year at the time of Diwali about tying Firecrackers to Dogs.
Keeping the decorative facts aside, the recent pandemic has taught us well that there are people who consume some rare animals. There are festivals where dog meat is sold openly in such an open manner where some might even feel bad for them, but little care is given to this sentiment since some enjoy consuming it. But is that fine?
Most of you who thought that ‘Dog Meat’ was only sold in China should have a look at the poor animals tied in bags waiting in Nagaland to be sold for consumption.
Not only are animals being used for eating and decorative purposes but also for entertainment. There are videos on the net of a monkey tied by his hands and hanged from a tree and then beaten to death, a goat was sexually abused by a gang of men in our very own country, and to make a funny video- two boys tied a heavy stone to a dog and threw him into a river! And how can we forget the news which pops up every year during the time of Diwali about firecrackers being tied to the tails of dogs.
Aren’t we as humans crossing our lines by killing those poor lives who can’t even speak up for themselves?
It is a high time we as humans should unite and raise a voice against these monstrous killings whether we really love animals or not!
Just imagine how painful these experiences must be. Have humans lost their minds? What if the same thing was done to those people hurting these animals, then are we supposed to laugh at them suffering through the same pain?
BREEDERS ARE THE WINNERS AND ANIMALS THE LOSERS!
Does anyone think about what happens to the dogs after breeders are done with them? A dog is used so many times to earn profit with the puppies born but what after the dog is not able to contribute to the breeder’s earnings?
The dog is left to die in the worst conditions.
Breeders stop providing him food, shelter and throw him out of the premises. Is this the loyalty and behaviour a life would expect from another? Forget about the adult dogs, the puppies or kittens which are born with defects are termed useless by the breeders and are thrown away in plastic bags alive!
But who is feeding the greed of these breeders?
Sadly, it is us to be blamed and it is high time that we start adopting instead of buying.
Although breeding of imported breeds is banned, I don’t think Indian Dogs are bad.
Indian dogs are treated in such a bad manner that I, as an animal lover, feel bad for them. They are hit for reasons like sitting in front of your house or urinating on the tyres of your vehicles. I do not understand if one cannot feed an animal or keep an animal happy then why do you think you have the right of killing it or beating them up with stones and sticks. I don’t know how many of you must have noticed the fear in Dogs, they are so scared that if you bend down, they run away thinking they will be hit by stones.
Only when you start seeing them from a different perspective and you will notice the cuteness in them. No one is forcing you to feed an animal and spend your hard-earned money on something you do not care about, but nothing goes in showing them some love and affection, right?
I’m sure those who have pets will understand what I am trying to say.
WHAT TO DO NOW?
The cruelty against animals has reached its peak point and what are we doing for it? Sitting and enjoying the entertainment or getting angry seeing some of the videos of animal cruelty online?
I do not mean to say that my readers are the one to blame for stuff happening around the world, but can’t we raise a voice together against those doing it. Can’t we force the people to stop what they’ve been doing for so many years? Things like killing animals for entertainment and making them fight each other to earn through video streaming platforms is certainly something that should not be acceptable in today’s world.
Even after so much negativity present in today's world, there are some people leading their way as activists. I was shocked by the response from the public and how they led the way for the news about the elephant to national media.
There are organizations like People For Animals (PFA), People for Ethical Treatment of Animals(PETA), and many more small ones present to stand for the animals against animal abuse. They just have to be informed at the right time for the right action to be taken by the Government Officials.
If we don't raise our voice against something wrong together then there is no point expecting everything to stop on its own.
God, why such a big article for animals? They won't even be the ones reading it but yet, I wrote one. I just thought that this was a topic about which everyone should be informed, it isn’t something that we talk about every day or something which we raise a voice against very often.
Being an animal lover and a pet owner, I can understand the pain each and every animal goes through.
It's just that if you also try to understand the message they are conveying without words, you will start feeling for them.
I personally love how animals try their best to make us laugh without uttering a single word by displaying their mischief.
There are people who love animals and are ready to do anything for these lovely creatures and are trying to make a change in today’s world using trending platforms to reach out to many people at the same time, and one such amazing person according to me is Mr Divy Khatri (YouTube-The Himalayan Husky) who has made an army of people that stand for
animals proudly known as “The Himalayan Army.” Divy proudly calls himself "the father of A Siberian Husky (Ghost) and A Labrador (Max)" and his content is enjoyed by many. He is a great man and is working hard towards saving and feeding animals all over Uttarakhand. His aim is not just covering only Uttarakhand but the entire nation.
He is also aiming to spread his word and make everyone aware about animal rights through various social media platforms. He is also very active against those breeders who sell mountain breeds such as Husky, Malamutes and Samuskies at places which are very hot and it is very hard for these type of breeds to survive.
Overall he is working for a great cause.
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