Like all other grandparents, my grandparents too wanted to take me to a circus. Where else would they show their grand-daughter all the wonder wild animals in civilization? I remember the first time I had been to a circus. It seemed so magical, almost imaginary. All those shiny costumes, those death defying stunts, those exotic parrots and those awe inspiring elephants! I particularly remember this giant brown bear dancing on its hind paws, it was so cute. It was even cuter when I came to know that bears in zoos have their jaws smashed, their teeth wrenched out, stashed in 4X4 feet cages, suffer from acute loneliness and have to live on a liquid diet because they can’t chew anything else. I have never been to a circus again.
So, what happens when animal activists protest and close down circuses, where will parents take their kids to see exotic wild animals? Well, there is always the very enjoyable, entertaining and educational Zoo. You get to see the biggest of elephants in the smallest cages, the naughtiest monkeys sans the trees and the loveliest cheetahs with nowhere to run. It’s nice to know that the monkeys aren’t fed so that they get excited when they see visitors who get them food. Zoos don’t really earn much, so ultimately the animals pay by living in inhumane conditions. The lovely birds have their wings clipped; herd animals are kept alone, closely confined with absolutely no opportunity of physical exercise. And what really happens when these cute babies grow up and aren’t so cute anymore .Well they are either sold to circuses, ‘game’ farms where hunters love chasing them and shooting them down or may be simply shoot down. This must truly be the best way to educate your child about animals.
So some people care, some don’t, but what shocked me the most was the budget 2007. The Finance Minister’s decision to allow drug and clinical testing on animals is definitely regressive. Foreign countries will now outsource their testing to India, where there are no laws whatsoever and easily available animals. So what if animals have their arteries sewed shut, their hearts damaged and exposed to noxious substances like cigarette smoke to see the effects. So what if new-born kittens have their eyes sewed shut for a year, or have toxins injected in their brains to blind them just to prove that lack of vision affects brain development. So what if the studies require to burn pigs over 40 percent of their bodies and then induced sepsis by pumping E.coli into their internal organs in order to test how treating the infection helps burn victims to recover, even though burn victims are already routinely given antibiotics to fight infections. But it’s all ok. I am sure this is good for the progress of the human race which is growing by a 100-fold every year anyways.
But really it must be alright to go for dinner dressed up complete with leather bag and shoes and have lamb chop as starters. Why would you care about how the animal looked before it turned into a handbag or how old was the lamb which is now your dinner. Leather comes from cows, kangaroos, alligators even cats and dogs! So you cant be sure where the hand-bag came from, could have even been a ‘fifthly’ mongrel. The meat and leather industry go hand in hand. Be assured the rest of your hand-bag is some-one else’s dinner. These unsuspecting animals are sold at illegal auctions crammed into trucks, driven over rutted roads; all while goring and trampling over each other. Until they reach the ancient slaughter houses where their feet are tied together and they are privileged enough to watch death come to others and wait for their chance- and then after the wait, their throats are slit. Enjoy your dinner!
Well if you are really shaken up after reading the article, the least you can do is thank god you are human, you are definitely better off. If you want to do something more, join the gang. Like humans, animals have interests that shouldn't be sacrificed or traded away just because it might benefit others. It doesn't matter whether they're cute, or useful to humans, or an endangered species, or whether any human cares about them at all. (After all, if finding someone likable or attractive was a prerequisite for hurting them, some of us would be in a lot of trouble. J) In this day and age, with virtually unlimited choices of food, clothing, and entertainment, we don't have to choose between human rights and animal rights. We can take care of ourselves and treat animals compassionately; or is that asking too much? Animal rights doesnt have be your issue. You don't have to carry signs outside McDonald's or go naked to protest fur if you don't want to. But neither should you automatically assume protecting animals is something that can't fit in your ideological package. You don’t have to be a Maneka Gandhi or a Anoushka Shankar to do your bit. How tough is it to buy imitation leather instead or may be check for animal-free tested cosmetics? Not very, considering that if everyone does their bit ,may be we’ll have a less cruel world some-day.
