More often than not, when the discussion surrounding animal cruelty comes up it is regarding the animals being tested or experimented upon in various labs (in the name of science, research, product development etc.). A study conducted by PETA concluded that, each year more than 100 million animals are subjected to such cruelty in the United States alone. This provides a rough estimate of the worldwide use of different animals for conducting various experiments. Indian government has banned testing and experimentation that is carried out on animals in the cosmetic, and pharmaceutical world. However, that by no means reflects the cruelty that animals in the county are still being subjected to.

It has become increasingly difficult not to raise concerns about the plightful state of animals. As a student, I only have so much authority when my residential community unanimously decides it to be fair to discuss the possible relocation of the animals that I have grown up with. Not only have I seen litters of puppies being poisoned season after season, but I have also faced the rationalization thrown in my face that comes along with it. I do not have many tools at my disposal when it comes to implementing a wide-scale change in morality and mindset but what I do have is the power to educate the people willing to listen and to look after helpless voices.

Growing up in an ordinary north Indian setting, I have seen the rapid decline in the population of stray cats and dogs along with almost a disappearance in the population of many other animals such as lizards, snakes, monkeys and various species of birds. Whatever the cause may be—pollution, lack of food and shelter, culling by humans etc. the root of the abuses faced by these animals can very easily be traced back to us, people. If the cost of development, is the very lives of the creatures in the area, then perhaps we ought to reevaluate whether we want the type of change that deters living rather than making it easy for all.


Animals are also subjected to intense cruelty in the name of sports, leisure and entertainment. Rarely does our mind think twice before getting on a camel on some family vacation to Rajasthan because of how the experience of being a tourist in that state feels incomplete without being carried atop a native animal. Never once does glorification of these joy rides seem harmful or wrong just because of how majestic we look while riding the 'ship of the desert'. From a very early age, we are exposed to situations where not only are we scared as children but also forced by elders around us to get on an elephant or a horse. No matter how wrong or frightful it might seem to our instincts, we are conditioned into believing that our place on top of the food chain allows us to tame and use those below us however we may please. Repeatedly studies have shown the pain that animals in captivity go through. They are beaten by sticks, poked by knives, saddled with blinders; have metal bolted onto their hooves just so their services can be made more comfortable for us. They are forced out of their natural habitat and into a dangerous commercial world where their very lives are commodified and sold


Is it even fair to call the animals outside my house stray when they too have taken birth and lived their lives in the same locality as me? Is it also fair to alter their reproductive systems to put those around them at ease? A part of me wants to justify it by saying streets are no home for an animal but another part of me knows that if people start doing the bare minimum to feed them and look after their needs, they too will start feeling secure in their surroundings. It is our fundamental duty as citizens to have empathy for all living creatures around us, then why do we feel threatened by their very presence? Understand that as I raise some questions I do not come from a place of anger, rather from one full of sadness as I feel in some way, we as humans have failed the voiceless beings and have led to the rapid decline in their population. We ought to introduce more education regarding the injustices faced by animals in our country to truly begin a long due change in mindsets and start a transformative journey in their lives. Cruelty is not only limited to corporations and their laboratories but is also put out in the world by us when we neglect to keep the basic interests of life forms around us in our minds.


—By Varalika Deswal