Sunday, December 26, 2010

New Hope for Animals in the New Year

We hope that the new year proves to be better for animals worldwide and brings more happiness and peace to them. Animals are fighting a hard battle for their existence and we need to work harder for them. With too many abused, homeless and abandoned animals and not enough money to care for them, they are living a miserable life. More and more trees are being felled everyday and the animals are losing their habitat. They are forced to come out of their natural environment and risk captivity, torture and death.
Animals are just like people, full of life and emotions. They all have their own personality and deserve to be treated respectfully. This world belongs to them as much as it belongs to us.


People, who buy animals from a pet shop, should rather adopt a stray or abandoned animal so that it gets a new home. They should also spay/neuter their pet to control their breeding. The money that they would have spent on purchasing a pet, could be spent for the animal they adopt, or for charity. This will be a great help for animals.


Homeless and abused animals need a second chance. They need to be given shelter, food, love and warmth. They need to be given medical care. They need everything human beings need. To treat animals with love and respect, we need a greater level of awareness in people about animal welfare. We also need more people to extend a helping hand to the cause of animals. We all have to realize, that ultimately, for the earth and life to be saved, the animals and the forests need to be saved. Apart from all the good work being done by individuals and organizations for animals, we also seem to need the support of the Secret Santas who could come forward and lend a hand in the campaign of saving animals. We must help animals because adopting or helping an animal is like helping a friend for life.

Sunday, December 12, 2010

Tigers May Become Extinct Soon

It is a matter of great concern that wild tigers could become extinct in next 12 years if action is not taken by countries where they live, to protect their habitats and step up the fight against poaching. According to the World Wildlife Fund and other experts there are only about 3200-3500 tigers left in the wild, which is a dramatic plunge from an estimated 100,000 a century ago. It is believed that if the proper protective measures are not taken, tigers may disappear completely by 2022.
Tigers are mostly located in Asia. The reason why tigers are becoming endangered is because of the loss of their habitat due to the spread of man, and because of poaching. Places that were once covered with vast forests have been cleared for agriculture. As forest space diminishes, tigers can't find the prey they need to survive. As a result, tigers have begun to eat the livestock belonging to villagers who live near what's left of the forests. In retaliation, tigers are getting killed by villagers protecting their families and their livestock.
Tigers are also killed because tiger skins and body parts are considered valuable as medicines and fashion accessories. Every part of a dead tiger is valuable. A tiger's coat sells for as much as $20,000 on the black market. An intact tiger forearm can bring in hundreds of dollars per pound. Tiger penis soup sells for $320 a bowl in Taiwan. (Some people actually believe that tiger penis soup will increase their sexuality!) Tiger bones, claws, eyes and even the whiskers command high prices for use in Eastern potions and elixirs. To fulfill the demand, the world's last tigers are being illegally trapped, poisoned and shot, then smuggled across international boundaries. Forestry and wildlife departments don't have the resources to fight against the poachers and the brutal killing of the tiger.


However, there are many things happening to stop the killing of tigers. A wide-ranging program with the goal of doubling the world’s tiger population has been approved, and will be backed by governments of the 13 countries that still have tiger population. These countries are Bangladesh, Bhutan, Cambodia, China, India, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Nepal, Thailand, Vietnam and Russia.  It is estimated that these countries will need about $ 350 million in outside funding in the first five years of the 12-year plan. We hope donors from all across the world will come forward to help the governments of these countries to finance conservation measures and save the majestic tiger from becoming extinct.

Thursday, December 2, 2010

Neuter/Spay – No More Stray

Stray and abandoned animals live a miserable life and suffer violent torture and death. They wander around the streets and fight a bitter battle with humans and other animals for survival. These animals do not live in the wild, they live with people and their growing population only brings great suffering to them. According to a research, in a period of seven years, just one cat and her offspring can give birth to 400,000 kittens, while just one female dog and her offspring in the same period of time can give birth to 66,000 puppies. These figures are nerve-wrecking and stray animals have their problems only increasing as their population increases.
It is not possible to get a shelter or a home for all of them and the best way to save them from the miseries of everyday torture is to control their population through a neuter/spay program. By neutering/spaying them, we can save them from being unwanted and homeless any further. Dogs do not lament their lost capability to reproduce as they are a different species than ours and reproduce only to ensure the survival of their kind. Besides controlling their population, neutering/spaying has many other advantages. It prevents diseases such as breast or uterine cancer, sepsis and prostate or testicular cancer.


Male dogs are usually better pets if they are neutered. They may have less desire to roam and to mark territory. If they are neutered before sexual maturity, they may be less likely to exert dominance over family members. They may also be healthier pets as they will have no chances of a testicular cancer. The fact that spayed/neutered animals also live longer has been established.
Females also tend to be better pets if they do not experience oestrus every six-to-nine months. Heat cycles bring hormonal changes that can lead to personality changes, and oestrus females must be confined to prevent unwanted pregnancies.

Monday, November 22, 2010

Go Vegan–Save Animals, Save the Earth

According to a study, more than 25 billion animals are killed by the meat industry each year which gives an idea about the rampant animal torture and killings. Animals definitely are not ours to use for food, clothing, entertainment and experimentation. Animals have the same rights as humans and they deserve to have their best interests taken into consideration, regardless of whether they are useful to humans. The human greed knows no bounds as for factory farming, animals like cows, pigs, calves, chickens, ducks, and many other animals are kept in overcrowded stalls, cages, crates, or sheds where they are often unable to turn around or take even a single step for their entire lives. These animals never get to see the sunlight or feel the grass beneath their feet, what to talk about any veterinary care and exercise?
The best way to save these animals from being tortured and murdered is to go vegan. It is said that an average vegetarian saves the lives of over 50 animals each year which adds up to thousands during a lifetime. It is totally up to us to make a decision every time we eat, if we want to support cruelty or compassion. If we care about the animals of the earth and their rights, if we care about mother earth and the environment, we must go vegan. A vegetarian diet reduces destruction of earth’s precious resources like rainforests and wildlife habitat. It also helps to save endangered species that are on the verge of extinction.



There are numerous benefits of a vegetarian diet. It helps us in losing weight and gaining more energy as it consists of fruits and vegetables, making our blood sugar stable. A vegan diet is also healthier as more fruits and more vegetables mean more vitamins. No meat means less toxins and unwanted hormones. A vegan diet also saves us from heart diseases as there are no saturated fats and cholesterol in it. It also saves from bone loss at the later stage in life as meat eaters get excessive protein in their diet.
Above all, eating a vegetarian meal is about caring and compassion. It’s about saving lives of innocent animals and save them from the every day horrors of torture and death. It’s about saving the earth and environment for future generations.

How wonderful it is that nobody need wait a single moment before starting to improve the world.  : Anne Frank, Nazi Holocaust Victim

Wednesday, November 17, 2010

Animal Sacrifice in the Name of Religion

Millions of animals, mainly goats, cows, buffaloes, lambs, hens, camels and lambs are being killed every year around the world in the name of animal sacrifice to God. It is difficult to fathom how they can make God happy with an act of cruelty. Every religion is beautiful and teaches us to do acts of kindness, peace and brotherhood and it is beyond comprehension how divinity supports shedding innocent blood! It is apparently very clear that these barbaric rituals are man-made for the sole purpose of feasting on different types of meats. God has never asked anybody to kill a voiceless animal to make Him happy.
In many countries they have laws which forbid citizens from sacrificing animals for religious purposes, but these laws are hardly implemented as they are opposed by different sections of society on one pretext or the other. As a result, innocent animals keep on dying a violent death for no fault of theirs.
There are people living in difficult geographical areas, who have to eat meat as they do not have any other alternative for food. We can not do anything about animal killings in such cases, but where people are well off and have many options for food, eating meat is done only for taste, and must be avoided.



Animal Sacrifice in the name of religion must be stopped immediately. It is clearly an act of utmost cruelty which, ultimately, destroys the feelings of compassion in human beings. Animals came to this world even before humans and we must be friendly and protective of them. We need them to save our environment, thus, ultimately to save ourselves from certain death and destruction. We can not claim to be ‘humans’ and possess characteristics like kindness, compassion, truth, honesty and loyalty, while we continue killing innocent and voiceless animals in the most inhuman way. 
We need to save these animals from this extreme cruelty, and appeal to all animal lovers to raise a voice and act against all the people who subject animals to torture and death !

Saturday, November 13, 2010

Deer, Giraffe, Leopard, Wild Boar - 43 Animals in Total, Die in Delhi Zoo

This is very sad that 43 animals have died in Delhi zoo in just one month due to drinking contaminated water, trauma, toxemia ( blood infection ), pulmonary oedema ( fluid collection in lungs ) and myocarditis ( inflammation of the heart muscle ). Death of these animals, particularly the black bucks, had occurred due to the intake of contaminated water which caused severe intestinal and lung infection. They say that the reason for the water to get contaminated has been excessive rains and back flow/over flow of sewage water which caused severe water logging, resulting in contamination of the rain water in the animal enclosures in the zoo. While 15 black bucks died due to gastrointestinal infection, a Sambar, Giraffe, leopard and wild boar had lost their lives due to reasons such as asphyxia, trauma and shock.
This incident has once again proved man’s callous and insensitive approach towards our animal friends. They should have anticipated the situation and made alternative arrangements to safeguard the lives of these animals, when it had been raining heavily for months. All these precious lives could have been saved with some extra efforts and sincere care, which unfortunately did not happen. Steps should have been taken for improvement of water drainage and revamping of the trunk and sewer line passing through it, but it was not done.


Now, they say, they are going to take care of the water drainage system soon. They also say that to stop further deaths of these animals, intensive veterinary care and regular monitoring of animals is being provided. In addition, the government is taking steps to reduce overcrowding of animals in the zoo and provide them nutritious diets. We hope, all these steps are taken and the animals are safe from any further harm.
Animal life needs to be improved a lot in the country as deaths of animals keep getting reported on a regular basis. Often leopards and elephants are poisoned or beaten to death by local people. Besides, many animals, primarily elephants, keep getting hit by moving trains while they are trying to cross the railway tracks. These railway tracks also need to be removed from the wildlife area as they pose a serious danger to the life of these innocent animals. Rhinos and tigers getting killed for their body parts have made them almost extinct. A lot of the groundwork needs to be done for stray and abused animals, too. These animals are the worst sufferers of the cruel human behavior. Many of the stray dogs, monkeys and cows can be seen roaming around without a limb or with open wounds due to torture and abuse.

Tuesday, November 2, 2010

Baby Elephant Killed With Spears and Sticks

The conflict between elephants and humans has been escalating. With forests widely encroached, elephants are forced to stray out of their habitat and sometimes destroy paddy fields, prompting attacks by villagers.
A day after the elephant was officially declared a Heritage Animal, entitling it to the same sort of protection as the tiger, villagers in Assam, India; beat a baby elephant to death in the most brutal manner. This three year old baby elephant calf, which was injured and had been abandoned by his herd, was brutally tortured to death by a mob of around 200 villagers armed with sticks, bamboo poles, and ropes that went berserk charging the baby elephant. The incident was filmed as the mob killed the calf in front of two armed security guards. A fortnight ago, four elephants were found dead in tea gardens near Kaziranga. Experts said they seemed to have been poisoned.
Look, who is the animal ! 


Similarly, tigers, leopards, elephants, deer and rhinos have been either poisoned or shot dead by villagers and poachers alike in the past. Most of these animals are killed for their skin or tusks. Many cases of killing of these animals have been reported, however, most of the them go unreported.
This mindless violence against innocent animals needs to stop immediately. This world belongs to animals as much as it belongs to us. It’s us humans, who have encroached upon their territory and we have no right to kill them.

Wednesday, October 27, 2010

Prayer of a Stray

Dear God,

please send me somebody who'll care!

I'm tired of running, I'm sick with despair.

My body is aching, it's so racked with pain

And dear God I pray as I run in the rain.

That someone will love me and give me a home

A warm cozy bed and a big juicy bone.

My last owner tied me all day in the yard

Sometimes with no water and God that was hard!

So I chewed my leash God, and I ran away

To rummage in garbage and live as a stray.


But now God I'm tired and hungry and cold

And I'm so afraid that I'll never grow old.

They've chased me with sticks hit me with stones

While I run the streets just looking for bones!

I'm not really bad God, please help if you can

For I have become just a "victim of man!
 
 

: Anonymous

Monday, October 25, 2010

Pets and Their Emotional Well-Being

Animals have feelings and can easily experience stress. They react to changes in their environment, and your mood can have an affect on them. Animals can experience over-sensitivity, fear, despondency, loneliness and depression, among other emotions.
Animals are sentient beings that deserve our love, patience and compassion for their struggles. Animals react to environmental stimulus (or lack thereof) and are very sensitive to changes in the household, as small as they may be. Most issues can be solved with great success if you are willing to view your pet as a feeling and sensitive being, and are consistent with your training.
Please remember that we’ve chosen to bring these animals into our lives and domesticate them as part of our family. Even our kids don’t come with a guarantee, so why do we act as if our pets do? Animals do not speak our language. They do not have the same likes and dislikes as us, and are at our mercy to blend with this human world we have brought them into. Let’s not lose sight of this fact.


To help them maintain a good physical and emotional health, pets should be kept in a comfortable and caring environment. There should be a loving, family environment for them in the household which is best suited to maintaining their regular routine. They should be walked, played with and fed according to the specifications of a vet or a specialist.
A good, well-rounded diet also enhances your pet's physical and emotional health. Regular food is often better than canned pet food, and variety in meals may be a better for the physical health, as well as emotionally for the pet. Besides, your pet also needs plenty of exercise to maintain their physical as well as mental condition.
Pets bring joy and happiness into our life. As they say, "A home is not a home without a pet". They provide a sense of companionship that is sometimes lacking in our day-to-day life, and is important for our emotional health. Therefore, as we receive benefits from their love and desire to connect, they also need us to take care of them.

Tuesday, October 19, 2010

Animal Torture, and the Cruel World They Live In

For animal lovers animals are as important to them as their family and loved ones. But for most of other human beings, animals are like money spinning machines. They would torture and kill animals to sell their skin and meat in order to become rich. Animals are continuously tortured and confined in prison like spaces without adequate facilities, and the brutality meted out to them is overwhelming.
Such inhuman torture results in animals raging against this confinement.  They would frantically claw at the bars of their cages or go into withdrawal or self - mutilation . More than 70 per cent of the animals in any type of confinement have marks on their foreheads because of continuous banging of their heads against the cage bar.
Animals slaughtered for their meat and skin are most often transported in pathetic conditions. Most of them get injured, and many are trampled or gored to death as they are thrown about in trucks that drive at a dangerous speed. Also, animals are tied together with ropes running through their pierced noses and forced into ‘death marches’ for hundreds of  miles. The handlers force the pace of the animals by snapping their tails at each joint and rubbing tobacco, chilly powder or salt into their eyes. Thus, by the time the animals arrive at the slaughterhouses, many of them would be so sick that they have to be dragged inside. Most of the animals are killed mercilessly. Most of these animals’ throats are not slit, rather, they have their legs hacked off or they are skinned alive. To fool the system, most of the animals are often maimed, either their legs are broken or they are poisoned so that they can be declared fit for slaughter. Animals such as alligators are being factory farmed for their skins. Similarly, snakes and lizards are often skinned alive because of the widespread belief that live flaying enhances the suppleness of the finished leather. 


There are millions of  torture and horror stories about animals and we must stand up and act against animal torture. Even a little effort by everyone will make a huge difference. Millions of animals can’t be killed mercilessly to satisfy the human appetite. This is outrageous. There are other healthy substitutes for food and humans can happily survive on them. Killing and torturing animals robs a man of his finest emotion which is compassion. Life is as precious and beautiful to animals as it is to us humans. If we want a better world to live in, we must show compassion towards animals and teach the same to our children.
Animals are meant to be in their natural habitat . They are not meant to be in cages as entertainment material for us. They are majestic and their beauty and freedom must be respected. They need to roam around freely in the forests and wilderness as, like us, they are also born free.

Friday, October 15, 2010

I Am a Horse

You can saddle me or bridle me
You can put a chain around my neck
You can laugh or dock my tail
But my spirit you'll never break.
I'm not a toy to be modeled for fashion
Nor a slave to your every whim
I am a horse, a creature of my own
Like you, I was made by Him.

I will not answer to your call
Yet I will be here until the end
I am not here to be your doll
I was made to be your friend.


I will not run away from you
Nor will I beg for reprieve
I was made to be your companion
So I never shall leave.

 You can treat me like a slave
And perhaps you'll never know
That inside, I am something more
Then the horse on which you go.

You can chain me or starve me
Drive a whip into my sides
But you'll never get inside me
Where the angel spirit resides.



                                                                                                                -- Kit --

Saturday, August 28, 2010

A Dog's Plea

Treat me kindly, my beloved friend, for no heart in all the world is more grateful for kindness than the loving heart of me.

Do not break my spirit with a stick, for though I should lick your hand between blows,
your patience and understanding will more quickly teach me the things you would have me learn.

Speak to me often, for you voice is the world's sweetest music,
as you must know by the fierce wagging of my tail when your footstep falls upon my waiting ear.

Please take me inside when it is cold and wet, for I am a domesticated animal, no longer accustomed to bitter elements.

I ask no greater glory than the privilege of sitting at your feet beside the hearth.

Keep my pan filled with fresh water, for I cannot tell you when I suffer thirst.



Feed me clean food that I may stay well, to romp and play and do your bidding, 
to walk by your side, and stand ready, willing and able to protect you with my life, should your life be in danger.

And, my friend, when I am very old, and I no longer enjoy good health, hearing and sight,
do not make heroic efforts to keep me going. I  am not having any fun.

Please see that my trusting life is taken gently.

I shall leave this earth knowing with the last breath I draw that my fate was always safest in your hand.

Tuesday, August 3, 2010

A Shelter Dog's Poem

Once upon a time, you see, there was this little pup;
For reasons unknown to me, his family gave him up

Maybe it was chewing everything that he could find,
Maybe they were busy and just didn't have the time

They took him to the shelter and they just left him there
Outside, alone, in the cage...shivering and scared

Even though they knew inside, if he went through those doors,
He may never have the chance to find a home like yours

He sat there crying silently wondering what he did
That was so bad that they just had to leave him as they did


However fate was smiling on that little pup that day,
Because a lady saw him and she whisked him right away

He got a second chance at life that others may have not
And now he's in a loving home with everything he wants

Everyday he gets that love that he was looking for
And silently is thankful for when she walked through that door

Others may not have this chance so open up your heart
And adopt a shelter dog to take and give him/her a brand new start

Sunday, May 23, 2010

The Cruel Pigeon Race

The cruel pigeon race is here to start again. They are held twice a year- once during the month of January and the other, in the month of May-June. For this race, they choose pigeons which are bigger in size and colorful, and which have a lot of stamina. Because of the betting money involved in it, many people have taken to breeding pigeons. They train these pigeons throughout the year, and sell them at exorbitant rates during these races. Once these pigeons are flown in the sky during the race, they keep on flying for more than ten to twelve hours. During the summer, the race starts at 5 or 6 am and goes on till 6 pm in the evening. These pigeons are flown in a flock of 17 to 21. This has become such a lucrative business, that many people are taking this up as a fast money making venture. There is an immense threat to the lives of these birds of dying of heat stroke and fatigue due to this cruel race.


Inflicting any sort of cruelty on animals and birds in any form, and selling and buying them; is banned in India. Still, nobody seems to care about this blatant abuse of these poor pigeons. Thousands of people are involved in this cruel business which endangers the lives of these innocent birds. These birds are kept in dirty boxes under complete unhygienic conditions, and are given stale food to eat. We are determined to free these birds from the clutches of these cruel people who have scant regards for the lives of these beautiful birds. These people are interested only in making money, and don't care for the lives of these birds.