Scrolling through social media, we see a fresh case of animal abuse every now and then. We get disheartened, perhaps express our outrage, and scroll away to the next post until a new day brings us another brutal case. Despite many renowned activists working tirelessly to prevent animal cruelty or rehabilitate abused animals, the matter persists most gruesomely.

Long-standing laws like “The Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act” of 1890 (which only applied to domestic animals) or the recent animal welfare reforms introduced (which are more comprehensive) are all well and good, and we have seen relatively more crackdown against animal abusers in the recent years, especially with the 1819 hotline to report cases of abuse. The efforts of Justice Minallah in 2021 on animal well-being, in his ruling on the case of Kaavan (the abused elephant), are admirable. Animal shelters in the twin cities of Lahore, Karachi and other cities are doing commendable work to protect animals. Yet, within a week, we heard two separate cases of animals having their limbs chopped off by landlords.

A camel grazing in the fields in the Sanghar district and a donkey somewhere in Hyderabad faced this brutality. Previously, we heard of a dog being thrown from the roof by a man in Liaquatabad. Such news is weekly headlines.

The more important question to ask here is not why there aren’t enough laws or crackdowns against animal abusers but why people become animal abusers. Why are most people in Pakistan sensitized to the cruelty around animals? Why do most children not know kindness when handling or playing with animals? Do we not realize that cruelty in any shape and form, expressed towards anyone or anything, remains a dark deed? If one finds in oneself the ability to impart pain, then does it matter who/what the recipient of this pain is? Children who turn a blind eye to when they snatch the fur on kittens when playing, pluck the feathers of a caged bird, or smack a pet bunny and enjoy their painful reaction are the children who grow up and turn into heartless animal abusers.

So, perhaps our society has failed to create awareness at a grassroots level from day one. Perhaps we have been wired to believe that it isn’t our duty to spread awareness and educate people when we see animals being abused. Let’s say a donkey being beaten on the roadside, a cage of sparrows caught to be released for money, a chained monkey forced to perform acts, or our neighbour’s child beating their pet cat, etc. Brutality of any sort is better prevented than punished. It is through collective action that we must reshape the definition of ethics of our people, make kinder individuals out of our children, and eradicate violent acts of all kinds from our society.

The culture of zoos and the confinement of exotic animals is a colonial trend that we must snap out of, especially since the conditions of zoos in Pakistan, a country always on the verge of economic ruin, are deplorable. Licenses to acquire exotic pets should be completely curbed. Animals of the vast jungle, physiologically designed to run free for miles and hunt live prey each day, being kept in a cage of a few feet and flashed with cameras, is a disgrace to nature.

Other than this, we observe many cases of violence against animals arising out of the anger of humans. This extremely damaging habit of expressing unchecked anger or emotion upon animals, whether it is cutting off a camel’s leg, or raping a kitten, must be addressed at a more serious level since these cases are not isolated; they are an increasing occurrence.

A sense of empathy needs to be inculcated in the public regarding all life forms through educational institutes, home parenting, advertisements, or guidance through actions.

Animal testing, over-labouring of animals, and under-maintained shops selling animals/pets for profit are separate matters from the above-mentioned category of abuse since the motivations behind these do not root from a place of hatred or ill-psyche but from greed and desperation. Abuses like these can best be handled by law-enforcement authorities and strict policies.

Violence and abuse of any form can grow exponentially. Pakistan is a country with an increasingly intolerant population. We do not have empathy for species that are not us; within our own species, we do not have empathy for religions that aren’t ours; within our religion, we do not tolerate belief systems that aren’t similar to ours. Hence, cruelty must be addressed both legally and lawfully, academically, systematically and psychologically.