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“Animals have hearts that feel, eyes that see, and families to care for, just like you and me” - Anthony Douglas William -
Animals are sentient, intelligent living creatures who expect love, care, freedom, and happiness. Unfortunately, most of the time they are considered merely as objects. On the day when humans got total control over animals, these innocent lives lost their freedom, happiness, and their companions. Simply, they have become the property owned by humans. But the solid truth is that humans are not the owners of animals. Animals should have the right to live freely, without being killed, exploited, or abused by humans. So, it is really important to realize that the animals deserve to have the rights to be treated with respect as humans, to ensure their freedom and happiness. International Animal Rights Day is celebrated on 10th December to ensure animal rights and privileges.
Animal rights mean that animals are not subjected to be used as food, clothing, entertainment, or for experimentation. Going hundreds and thousands of years back , humans have been killing and mistreating animals for personal gain. Even after humans started to civilize, they completely ignore animal rights. The most miserable thing is that animals were subjected to the greatest injustice and cruelty in history. That’s how their lives have been threatened due to unfavorable human behavior.
In 1998, the animal rights organization “Uncaged” founded International Animal Rights Day to bring awareness to all aspects of animal violence. Undoubtedly, it became a remarkable victory for the existence of animals. Even though animals cannot protest, vote, or advocate for their protection, humans are solely responsible to assure animal rights for them. The date of December 10 was chosen so that International Animal Rights Day coincides with Human Rights Day. Since then, conferences, demonstrations, and fundraisers have been held around the world to bring notice to the realities of animal abuse and exploitation. Candlelight vigils are held by animal lovers all across the world on this day. PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals) invites people to take part in this day by refusing to eat animals. The importance of International Animal Rights Day is that it brings up the point that humanity and love should be extended to all sentient beings, not just humans. Animal rights advocacy is nothing short of a revolution. Ending animal cruelty requires a fundamental transformation of our lifestyles so that we are no longer dependent on animal exploitation for advancement in research, medicine, fashion industry.
Animals are taken away from their natural habitats and brought to too many places around the world to be placed in zoos. With this, animals are being placed in small exhibits to be watched by children and adults. When they reproduce in those zoos in excess, the zoo begins to kill them or relocate them to another zoo. Zoos all across the world are removing innocent animals from their parents and families and showcasing them for our entertainment. They suffer thousand times without having the love and affection of their parents. They may hate their own lives million times. We won’t be able to realize how painful the lives of these innocent creatures are. If you are a real animal lover, you never ignore the value of animal rights. As humans, we should always respect the freedom of animals.
International Animal Rights Day gives us the chance to love our furry friends more and go that extra mile in taking care of them. So, feed the stray cats and dogs in your community, take part in our happy tails challenge and send us your captured moments of feeding strays, go to a shelter, and play with the animals, and maybe hug and embrace your pet a bit tighter today.
Last but not least, ensuring animal rights should not be limited only to International Animal Rights Day. All 365 days of the year should be allocated for the betterment of animals. Since the violation of animal rights has been started by humans, it should be ended by humans. Existing behavioral and economic models that promote the consumption of animal meat, the use of animal skin and fur for clothing, and animal mistreatment in the entertainment industry (zoos, aquariums, circuses, trophy hunting etc.) and pointless experiments must all be phased out in the near future. This is probably something that cannot be done overnight, but if we are pioneering to raise the awareness of animal rights, millions of animals will be saved. Even though it is a small step, it will create a huge impact to spread love and caring for our animal friends for sure!
Written By: Rtr Piumali Pattiarachchi
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