Siddhanth Goel
Christ (Deemed to be University), Bengaluru
Introduction:
Human barbarity has transgressed all palpable contours of basic animal rights. Sheer conviction in one’s deeds and extreme sense of superiority have wrongfully persuaded humans to inflict destruction upon animals. According to the data given on Sentient Media, every day around 200 million animals are killed on land around the world just for food and 3 billion animals including wild are caught and fishes farmed. Taking into account all of these, 72 billion land animals and around 1.2 trillion aquatic animals are killed every year around the world. Some people argue that it is important for humans to kill them or else they will outnumber humans and we will have no place to stay. Isn’t it the same happening in the case of other living creatures? Aren’t all of them the creation of this nature? Then why this distinction and why this cruelty towards them?
In many parts of the world, animals are fostered to be slaughtered for serving on the plate of humans. But keeping this aside, there are many who are killed in road accidents, by torture or lack of food, water and shelter. Nobody keeps a count of such dying animals. This is because they are just mere animals, voiceless creatures. Poaching has been prevalent in India since the very beginning. In fact, it was considered a part of the tradition to celebrate something. But finally, the Indian government came with Section 11 of Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act, 1960 which sought to curb animal cruelty but all endeavors ended in vain. Despite the existence of this act, in parts of Tamil Nadu, Jharkhand and Kerala, animals’ sports are conducted frequently.
Hues of Animal Cruelty:
Animal cruelty can be of different types. To name some of them we have animal abuse, animal sports, animal testing, fur farms, animal hoarding, animal neglect and animal exploitation. When it comes to animal abuse, humans do it sometimes to take out their frustration and sometimes just for the sake of fun. It’s even seen that the people who are involved in domestic violence and human torture, inflict pain upon animals too. Even for any human invention, animals are the first ones on whom the trials are done. Laika, a mixed breed dog was launched on Soviet Union Sputnik 2 mission in 1975 and unfortunately, she never returned. Humans kill animals just to fulfil their gastronomic desire. In fact, in India, in the last 33 years, the majority of killings were done to fulfil the gastronomic desires of humans. Animals that were mostly killed were wild boars, spotted deer, sambhar and nilgai.
There are many reasons for a person to be cruel towards animals and it also shows the psychological condition of a person. When someone is feeling dominated or who is in someone’s control and wants to demonstrate his anger, sometimes they abuse animals. Also, some people are cruel to animals because of the way they were treated, the pain they went through and just to demonstrate their own personal rejection for society. Some people view animals as objects. They use them for monetary gains and sometimes to entertain themselves.
Impact of Pandemic:
During the time of the pandemic, not just women and migrant workers suffered but even animals suffered. Not all of them had something to eat. Not every one of them had shelter over their heads. They were dying on the streets because of hunger. Homeless people were inducing their emotional outburst on animals. A lot of them died and no one even bothered themselves to notice this and feed them let alone giving them shelter. Everyone kept a count of how many people are dying every day across the globe but no one noticed how many animals are dying every day.
Animals— The Best Companions:
But of course, everyone is not the same. If there are some who inflict pain then there are some who show love as well. Animals are considered to be one of the best companions of a human. They are said to understand humans better than other humans. For someone who is alone, animals are sometimes considered their best mate. Especially when it comes to dogs, they are called man’s best friend. Animals have taught humans a lot of things. The value of friendship, loyalty, love and how to be with someone till the last breath. They are the ones who taught us not to worry about the future or past and live in the present. Animals can actually feel you when no one can. They are not just animals but a human’s companion and even teacher.
Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act, 1960:
The Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act was legislated in 1960 in India, whereas cruelty towards animals is going on for a very long time and since 1960 it hasn’t been amended. Even if the case has been registered, no serious action is taken against it and a lot of cases are not registered only because after all, they are animals. Between 2012 and 2016, there were 24,000 cases registered and after that, the cases have increased alarmingly. Look at the recent case of the killing of a pregnant elephant in Kerala. Before that death of a police horse in 2016 and poisoning of 50 stray dogs in 2019 are just two of the worst cases of animal cruelty. Still, people get away with the crime they have done. So why and how these people get away for such cruel crimes? Here is the answer:
According to THE PREVENTION OF CRUELTY TO ANIMALS ACT, 1960, “If any person― (a) beats, kicks, over-rides, over-drives, over-loads, tortures or otherwise treats any animal so as to subject it to unnecessary pain or suffering or causes or, being the owner permits, any animal to be so treated; or (b) [employs in any work or labour or for any purpose any animal which, by reason of its age or any disease], infirmity, wound, sore or other cause, is unfit to be so employed or, being the owner, permits any such unfit animal to be so employed; is deemed to be punishable and in the case of a first offence, with fine which shall not be less than ten rupees but which may extend to fifty rupees and in the case of a second or subsequent offence committed within three years of the previous offence, with fine which shall not be less than twenty-five rupees but which may extend to one hundred rupees or with imprisonment for a term which may extend to three months, or with both.”
Conclusion:
With a law like this, how do we expect animal cruelty to decline? As a human, we have crossed all the limits to value others’ life. This proves how cruel and how greedy we are. It’s a known fact that they are not humans and they cannot speak our language and we don’t understand their language but they are living beings. Though they are known as voiceless creatures but even they have feelings. Though we can’t really talk to each other but we can understand each other. People around the world speak different languages and not everyone knows all the languages. We don’t understand all the languages, that doesn’t mean we mistreat them or kill them but instead, we try to understand them. If we don’t understand animals, it doesn’t mean we will be cruel towards them or we will kill them. Like us, they have equal rights on this planet to live peacefully. I agree that even humans don’t live in harmony but that’s the fight between humans and not with animals. This can be concluded by quoting Newton’s third law, “For every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction”.
REFERENCES:
https://www.opindia.com/2020/06/animal-cruelty-prevention-laws-india-pca-kerala-elephant-death/
