“The greatness of a nation and its moral progress can be judged by the way its animals are treated. I hold that the more helpless a creature, the more entitled it is to protection by man from the cruelty of man. I abhor vivisection with my whole soul. All the scientific discoveries stained with innocent blood I count as of no consequence.” - Mahatma Gandhi
‘Animals’ and ‘rights’ appear to be similar to ‘humans’ and ‘rights’, but the reality is different. The words ‘animals’ and ‘rights’ has been treated as the two opposite words by the majority of the humankind for centuries. For humans, animals have only one duty that is to satisfy the human desires in all forms.
In this article I will try to share various perspectives of animal cruelty and my experience with it living in India. I still remember those days when I was a child. People got pleasure while throwing stones at cats and dogs, in fact at that time the conditions of stray animals were worse than homeless people with minimum human rights. Some people then used to enjoy the cry of those stray dogs and cats; made those painful cries as the ringtone on their mobiles. It made a great impact on my life and tried to turn the tide.
While reading this article you will also witness my journey from just an ordinary man with no knowledge on animal rights, to a dog lover and lastly fighting for making a better place of co-existence for both humans and animals.
Now it’s time to take you towards the era of 1990s through my words. At this time, my favourite cartoon was “Tom and Jerry”. I used to fear dogs and cats for so many decades. But you know it was already inside, as whenever I read the comics of “Tintin” where Tintin and snowy (in bengali “kuttus”) share a special bond with each other. Each of them never left the other, wherever the circumstances. But it did not change my fear. I used to chase them and make them fear with water, so that I can stop their entry near my premises.
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After a few years, I went to high school and there were some narrow lanes nearby where homeless dogs used to roam here and there- maybe for food, shelter and for a bit of affection. Some of them were frustrated as they were neglected, abandoned for so long. Most of them died without any medical attention, hunger and the number could be more than 95% on those days. There were neither voter or not the issues of election, so the conditions were getting worse for them day after day.
It was I think June, 2010- exactly 14 years ago- when I could not save one puppy due to lack of awareness and health infrastructure. After one year from this incident, I have entered into the best law campus of my era. All was going well until it was my fourth semester.
I found a shocking provision in our animal law in India Section11 (a) to (o) of The Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act, 1960. 1
The offender (in the case of a first offence) will have to pay fine which shall extend to 50 rupees (current 0.60 US$) and if it is the case of second offence or subsequent offence committed within 3 years of the previous offence, he will be fined with not less than 25 rupees(current 0.30 US$) but which may extend to 100 rupees (the maximum fine is currently 1.20 US$) or with the imprisonment for a term which may extend to 3 months or with both. Also, in the case of a second offence, the offender’s vehicle is confiscated, and he will never be allowed to keep an animal again. Add more to this context, maximum crimes against animals are ignored as they are non-cognizable and easily bailable. But at that time, the whole world was witnessing social media not just as a revolution but also as a tool for constructing public opinion and networking.
Then in August 2014, Kalu came to our life. He was born at the roadside, soon after his adoption he was abandoned at the different road by that family. He was thrashed, bitten with several sticks, life was very difficult like other dogs living in the street. He was roaming here and there and my father took him to our home. If I start writing my autobiography, he will be a whole chapter. In his lifetime, there was a lack of veterinary health infrastructure and lack of good along with compassionate doctors. In fact, a few years ago, one or two medicine shops were there within a radius of 10 to 15 miles.
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Forget animal rights and awareness, we are still far away from giving animals the basic needs in India. In fact, the humans have not stopped by dividing humans into several castes, religions and colours ; while they have affinity for foreign breed. This animal breeding is rarely regulated by the procedure established by law.
Those animals were abandoned after it felt sick or for any other excuses, like it is just a mere doll, not a living creature. If dogs and cats are facing this, what are the conditions of other animals? There are so many issues that needs to be addressed, but the first thing first is that people need to be aware of animal cruelty.
Humans needs to know that they are not owning this world, and that animals deserve to live as humans. For this, I believe that teaching animal rights should start from primary school. If we can do this, we can implement solutions for every subject, one by one, and finally ensure a peaceful co-existence between humans and animals.