Animal Abuse: Inhumanity and Cruelty

In literal terms, abuse means to inflict someone with pain, harm or violence, especially regularly or frequently, therefore, animal cruelty is known as the malpractice of treating animals with cruel, violence, unethical and depraved behavior. Subjecting animals to an environment where they feel scared, unprotected and terrorized is called animal cruelty. People believe that they have a right on the lives of the animals and they can treat them in any way they want to. Everyday countless animals are being succumbed to inhumanity, torture and brutality. Animals are creatures who are capable of showing love and affection, taking care of their health and nutrition is the duty of every human. The cases of animal brutality are increasing day by day and the reason for these killings go unexplained. People kill and mutilate animals just for their personal satisfaction or fun. 

Example of Cruelty

The recent brutal killing of a 15-year-old pregnant elephant in Kerala has created world-wide controversy. On May 12th, the pregnant elephant left the Silent Valley Rainforest and entered into a nearby village looking for food. The accused, Wilson, offered the elephant a coconut filled with explosives. As she chomped on it, the fruit exploded in her mouth, leading to severe injuries. The explosion in her mouth led to the breaking of her jaw and deep internal injuries. For the next 2 weeks, the elephant kept wandering around in pain and agony. None of the villagers bothered to rescue her. On May 25th, the elephant entered the Velliyar river in Malappuram, where she stood still for two days, squirming in immense pain. The accused were well aware of the fact that the poor elephant was pregnant and in deep pain. But still, they showed no signs of concern and help.

On 27th May, the poor elephant drowned herself, with her head dipped in the water and died. The assistant forest veterinary officer, Dr. David Abraham, stated in the postmortem that the reason for the death was the entry of Asphyxia into the lungs and water. The two other accused were the rubber estate owner, Abdul Kareem and his son Riyaz Uddin who are possibly hiding and the police are on the search. The main accused, Wilson has been arrested. The accused said that explosive filled fruits were used as bait to catch the wild animals, but nonetheless the intention of causing such immense harm is nothing but inhumanity. Criminal charges under the Wildlife Protection Act, 1972 has been filed which lays down a prison term of 7 years.

Sexual Abuse (Bestiality)

Bestiality is term given to an intercourse between a human and non-human (animal). It basically refers to the degrading act of a human having sexual intercourse with an animal. Horrific and disturbing cases of rage against animals are on the headlines very often nowadays. It is not an uncommon-phenomena anymore. In July, 2018, a pregnant goat was gangraped by 8 men in Haryana, Gujarat. In the same month, a 35-year-old man was accused of allegedly having sex with a female dog in his house in Kolkata. A similar incident was reported in Vadodara, where 3 pregnant cows were raped by a single man, who worked as a laborer. Such incidents are a clear proof to the fact that there is no decency and humanity left in human beings. Most people believe that animals do not have the same rights as humans. Their life is considered less important. People need to understand that animals are the creatures who cannot speak; hence they are more vulnerable to any kind of cruelty and brutality. 60% of the women who were victims of domestic violence claim that their husbands had a history of either killing or harming animals. Study in criminology and psychology reveals that people who commit acts of cruelty on animals, move to humans as their next target. 

Physical Domestic Abuse

This is a type of abuse where the violence inflicted upon the animals is absolutely intentional. The motive is to cause deep injury, severe pain and mental trauma to the animal. Physical violence creates an environment for the animals which makes them feel dominated, terrorized and frightened. Some people are incapable of showing love and affection to animals. Domestic abuse can take up many forms such as beating, stabbing, kicking, starving, neglecting, burning etc. If a man can beat, hit or cause harm to his own wife, then there is a very high probability that he might do the same with his own pet. One of the most tragic incidents of this kind happened in 2016. A medical student of Chennai, India, threw a 5-month-old puppy off the roof of his terrace. Although the puppy survived, it sustained many serious and internal injuries.