Animal Rights!

Dec 10 - Animal Rights Day - Animal abuse awareness

Animals often suffer horrendous amounts of abuse and neglect and they have no one to complain to, no authorities to go to. Organizations like Adopt a Dog Sri Lanka and Embark do fight for animal rights and try to win for dogs the love and safety they deserve. However, most organizations focus on dogs and cats, and thus many other animals continue being victims of their cruel masters.

What is animal cruelty? What are their rights? Do animals need rights?

What makes us, humans, different from animals? Is it the ability to talk? Or our intelligence? There have been many heroic acts by animals, and these are clear indications of their intelligence or at least understanding of the world. Animals feel, and they love. They may not read books, or start wars, but like humans, they are life and they matter.

However, people turn a blind eye to the plight of animals. They are used as lab rats, and for doctors-in-training to practice their surgical skills on. Farm animals aren’t better off, as they are often branded, which is painful and are also undernourished and unloved. Animals like cattle are often forced to work long tiring hours in fields and are given nothing in return.

Animals are also used for performances in circuses, zoos and amusement parks. The seal who balances a ball on its snout, or the chimpanzee in costume doing various tricks was trained to amuse audiences. They had no say in the matter, and the decision to entertain was made by another. Animals used for performances are given very little freedom and are rarely treated well. Once they are unable to perform, the animals are discarded mercilessly.

Street animals are also ill-treated. Recently, there were many protests when street dogs were locked up in a building so they won’t be seen by foreign delegates visiting the country. After the conference was over, the dogs were not released to their ‘homes’ and were not taken care of. Many animal lovers and organizations collected funds to save these street dogs, although there scars still remain.

Pets are also often neglected and abused. They are either caged or tied to a leash. They never get to run around and are fed scraps that aren’t enough to survive. They have no strength to howl or bark and their rib cages press against their skin. Their owners don’t bathe them or care for them. The pets they once swore to love, now wait impatiently, until death saves them from their misery. Where is that love and kindness humans boast about and yet, never actually show? Why are these animals abused, harassed and neglected? Are they not deserving of the same amount of love they show us?

“I take more care of my dog than my own daughter, because I know my child can look for food when hungry and can find water when thirsty. My dog though, he’s helpless and so I must take care of him,” an animal lover once said. There are people who share his beliefs and who fight for the rights of animals. They raise a voice against animal cruelty and urge authorities to take action against abusive owners. It is because of such people, who dedicate their lives for animals that days like International Animal Rights Day are commemorated.

International Animal Rights Day, which falls on December 10, is important in Sri Lanka. Due to the influence of certain cultures, cows are given a god-like status and they are also important as we rely on them for milk. Elephants were used in combat and also to transport goods and people. Who reminds us of the Sinhala and Tamil New Year in April and who wakes us up early in the morn? Thus since very early days, animals have been very much part of our lives. Yet today, we show little regard for them and animals are not loved, and their rights aren’t respected.
Thus we must all stand against animal cruelty and fight for animal rights, for as Mahatma Gandhi said, “The greatness of a nation and its moral progress can be judged by the way its animals are treated.”

Dec 10 - Animal Rights Day - Animal abuse awareness - See more at: http://www.nation.lk/edition/fine/item/23373-dec-10-animal-rights-day-animal-abuse-awareness.html#sthash.L7BvffLy.dpuf