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 !

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.

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.

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

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.

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.

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 --