Close on the heels of two medical students throwing a dog “Bhadra” from the terrace of a building in Chennai, another video of pet brutality has gone viral --- this one is more heinous, barbaric and inhumane – and while “Bhadra” was lucky enough to come out relatively unscathed out of the incident, these dogs weren’t so lucky --- three pups were put to fire by a few men in Hyderabad who did not breathe easy till the dogs actually died – when the pups realize that they were burning up, the men poked sticks to made sure they stood in their place.
While an incident like this will probably make us seethe in anger, it is not an isolated case --- all over the world, animals have been subjected to brutality of the worst order. If the annual dog-eating festival in China was not enough, seeing disturbing visuals of slaughter houses will probably make you feel depressed for days.
Sadistic pleasure which literally translates into someone who derives pleasure by seeing others in pain is present (mostly in very small quantities) in all of us. While sometimes, we like to see a person who has hurt us in pain or sometimes, seeing a rapist being hanged to death also gives us pleasure.
Animals are incapable of expressing themselves, except for the occasional bawl, cry or growl --- pretty much like an infant, an animal can’t tell you when he is in pain or is hungry. This is probably the reasons that we humans (if we can afford to call ourselves that), derive sadistic pleasure to see animals in pain, mostly doing things that they would never probably do to humans.
A major part of this problem is that animal welfare rules in India paint a sad picture --- the two medicos who threw Bhadra from the terrace got away with paying a bail of as little as Rs 50, until recently, when a higher court revoked the decision. Despite efforts by human rights activist and Union Cabinet minister Maneka Gandhi, animal brutality in India is on the rise. What we need are stricter laws --- anyone who attacks an animal should be treated as someone akin to attacking a human. Why should our lives be placed above these poor, innocent souls?
Apart from this, animal re-habilitation too needs to be put in place --- walk into any residential colony in the country and you will visit a walking zoo – the place could be swarmed with pigs, dogs, cows and even monkeys. These animals, apart from being vulnerable to attacks by humans, also pose a serious safety concern --- street dogs and pigs are harbingers of many diseases while monkeys are a nuisance everywhere. A successful rehabilitation program would at least give these animals a temporary shelter unless a more permanent home is found for them.
In the meanwhile, let’s respect the lives of those who are below us. Who knows when the tables might turn!
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