Animal Cruelty – A Disgrace in the name of Humanity

 

In a country where animals are considered as Gods, even the Gods would be ashamed of the current news and incidents that take place in India regarding animal cruelty. Day by day, more and more cases and instances of animal cruelty are surfacing in India.  It is very common for us to see people being ignorant and cruel in general, like throwing stones at dogs and cats, beating them with sticks, beating bulls or horses for transportation purposes, etc. But this is considered as ‘normal’ behavior of our society. Then, there are various instances where we question ourselves as humans and ask are we even worse than the animals?

For instance, in the last week, we all have heard about the pregnant elephant that died due to eating firecrackers through a pineapple. Now whether it was done by purpose or by accident is another question for debate. But, one thing we can confirm is, the elephant died. 

Another such incident came into notice when a firecracker was burst fed to cow which resulted in it blowing off her jaw. This was done purposely and action is being taken against the perpetrator.

We all have seen the viral video of a boy hanging a cat to death from ceiling just to make videos for a social platform. There was another video which graphically depicted heaps of dead stray dogs in a truck, in Telangana. 

Last year, a woman killed almost 8 puppies by smashing them on a boulder. There was another instance where a couple of students threw a dog from the terrace of building, just for fun. But this reaches further disgust with the instance of a man raping a stray dog. 

Even when the lockdown began, we saw and heard news about how pet owner left their pets on road due to the misconception that the virus can spread through them.

All these incidents spread like wildfire across social media. The whole country was disgusted and there was an enraging outcry from the citizens. But all this is just for a period of time. After that, silence. There is no action taken to ensure the safety of animals in a long run. Such instances not only point towards the disgusting nature of the man but they also reflect our inability to protect the silent animals that coexist with us. 

To try to bring this under control, the central government has passed a law called as “The Prevention of Cruelty Animals Act, 1960”. There is another law for the same cause “Wildlife Protection Act 1972”. But these laws are just like a joke because if the offender is booked under the first law, the person is asked to pay a fine that ranges from a mere amount of 25 rupees to 100 rupees. Also, no one really takes the trouble even reporting it officially. 

There are NGOs and organizations that are working towards spreading awareness and creating better surrounding for animals. But we as a society need to understand the fact that the animals too are living beings. Not all animals depend on us for survival, they have their survival instincts and know how to survive. We just need to make sure that we do not cause any harm to them. Because after all, humanity should not be limited to humans only.