ANIMAL ABUSE

by Suvankar Das

 

In literal terms, abuse means to inflict someone with pain, harm or violence, especially regularly or frequently, therefore, animal cruelty is known as the malpractice of treating animals with cruel, violence, unethical and depraved behavior. Subjecting animals to an environment where they feel scared, unprotected and terrorized is called animal cruelty. People believe that they have a right on the lives of the animals and they can treat them in any way they want to. Everyday countless animals are being succumbed to inhumanity, torture and brutality. Animals are creatures who are capable of showing love and affection, taking care of their health and nutrition is the duty of every human. The cases of animal brutality are increasing day by day and the reason for these killings go unexplained. People kill and mutilate animals just for their personal satisfaction or fun.

The recent brutal killing of a 15-year-old pregnant elephant in Kerala has created world-wide controversy. On May 12th, the pregnant elephant left the Silent Valley Rain-forest and entered into a nearby village looking for food. The accused, Wilson, offered the elephant a coconut filled with explosives. As she chomped on it, the fruit exploded in her mouth, leading to severe injuries. The explosion in her mouth led to the breaking of her jaw and deep internal injuries. For the next 2 weeks, the elephant kept wandering around in pain and agony. None of the villagers bothered to rescue her. On May 25th, the elephant entered the Velliyar river in Malappuram, where she stood still for two days, squirming in immense pain. The accused were well aware of the fact that the poor elephant was pregnant and in deep pain. But still, they showed no signs of concern and help.

Brief Analysis of Animal Abuse in India

19,028 cases of animal brutality were recorded in Mumbai in a span of 5 years (2011-2016). Although, not even a single arrest was made.

On May 18th, 2018 almost about 100 dead bodies of dogs were found in the forest area in Kongara, Hyderabad.

A pregnant goat was gang raped by 8 men in Gurgaon, Haryana on July 29th 2018 and was later declared dead.

In August 2017, a man was held accused for raping a young female puppy to death.

In January, 2018 a man in Vadodara allegedly raped 3 cows in Vadodara. A case was filed under section 295A of the IPC which defines deliberate and malicious acts done intentionally to insult the religious feelings of any religious class.

Types of Animal Abuse

Physical Domestic Abuse

This is a type of abuse where the violence inflicted upon the animals is absolutely intentional. The motive is to cause deep injury, severe pain and mental trauma to the animal. Physical violence creates an environment for the animals which makes them feel dominated, terrorized and frightened. Some people are incapable of showing love and affection to animals. Domestic abuse can take up many forms such as beating, stabbing, kicking, starving, neglecting, burning etc. If a man can beat, hit or cause harm to his own wife, then there is a very high probability that he might do the same with his own pet. One of the most tragic incidents of this kind happened in 2016. A medical student of Chennai, India, threw a 5-month-old puppy off the roof of his terrace. Although the puppy survived, it sustained many serious and internal injuries.

Organized Animal Abuse

Organized animal abuse is a form of animal abuse in the way of animal fighting like dog fighting, bull fighting and cock fighting, mostly for entertainment purposes. It is a staged form of fight where animals are prepared to fight against each other in a very violent and aggressive way. In the end, animals either die or are immensely hurt. Such fights are mostly underground hence they are well hidden from the eyes of the authority. The identification of such fights is a difficult process as it is very secretive in nature. Animal fighting in many countries is illegal as it usually involves gambling, money laundering and drug dealing.