The animal rights association, Uncaged, which is based in Sheffield, England, founded International Animal Rights Day in 1998 to highlight all kinds of violence against animals. It stated that since animals are unable to “vote, protest, or lobby for their own protection, humans have to do it for them”.
Uncaged chose 10 December as International Animal Rights Day because it coincides with Human Rights Day, in a bid to extend the same inalienable rights to all living beings.
WWF-Pakistan’s Manager for Conservation, Hamera Aisha, believes that the International Day of Animal Rights advocates kindness and respect for all animals.
She explained,
This day also serves as a reminder of our collective responsibility toward the protection of wildlife and their habitats. Pakistan is home to many wildlife species, some of which are extremely rare and exclusive to this region and they continue to decline at an alarming rate due to several challenges mostly of anthropogenic origin, making their care and protection a common responsibility.
Hamera added that there are many ways that Pakistanis can play their part in it, and said, “For example, an increase in the demand for wild animals as pets both native and exotic often acquired without meeting the legal and welfare requirements is also setting up a dangerous trend”.
She added,
One must understand those wild animals are not meant to live in cages due to their natural behavior and needs which are not limited to just food and shelter. Like humans, wild animals also have their own complex social system and interactions (some of them like to live alone and some prefer to live in groups) as well as specific natural habitat requirements. It is also important for us to understand from the safety point of view that it is near to impossible to tame a wild pet no matter how long you keep them.
PETA’s Vice President, International Laboratory Methods, Shalin G. Gala, revealed that “Every day is animal rights day at PETA, and we’ll continue to advocate that compassionate people everywhere consider the interests of animals and reject speciesism — a human supremacist worldview — by living and breathing our motto: Animals are not ours to experiment on, eat, wear, use for entertainment, or abuse in any other way”.
When asked about how PETA and Pakistan can and have collaborated to improve its state of animal rights, he detailed,
From urging the Pakistan Veterinary Medical Council (PVMC) to adopt and nationalize Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s historic Islamabad reform that prohibits the use of live animals in testing and surgical veterinary training, to promoting humane and healthy vegan diets, to shunning the use of leather and other animal skins, to urging the revocation of Lahore Safari Zoo’s captive breeding permit, to encouraging more schools to implement Prime Minister Sharif’s new Animal Rights Curriculum aimed at helping children cultivate empathy for animals, there are many ways for Pakistanis to take action to create a more just and ethical world for all species.
The world’s most famous war vet, Dr. Amir Khalil, who, with FOUR PAWS International, rescued the world’s loneliest elephant, Kaavan, from Islamabad Zoo in 2020, has spent a lifetime dedicated to saving and treating wild animals in the most dangerous conditions all over the world.
After returning to Egypt from a three-week-long mission in Sudan to rescue two lions – Kandaka and Mansour – he spoke to ProPakistani today and remarked,
Regarding animal rights, we are not going in the correct direction on a global level. There is a lot of injustice toward humans and it is the same for our climate and the animals with whom we share the planet.
Detailing what FOUR PAWS International has been doing for animal rights so far, and this month, in particular, was sharing its views at the Sharm el-Sheikh Climate Change Conference (COP 27) in Egypt.
“Sure, we tried to find a platform to raise awareness about animal rights and how this is very important for us as human,” Dr. Khalil remarked and stressed that
The protection of animals also goes the other way as protection for humans.
He and his team are currently working on a new mission for stray animals (and stray dogs in particular) in Hebron, Palestine, after learning that its mayor had started killing them. After negotiations, they were able to initiate a project to solve the problem of stray animals in the city.
Zufishan Anushay, the founder and head of the Justice for Kiki (JFK) Foundation in Lahore said,
World Animal rights Day is an animal welfare movement that reminds us that we have to make the world a better place for all animals. We should share this planet with all living things in a more equitable manner. Be kind to them when you can, so they can feel safe again. Happy World Animal rights day! They deserve better from us.
Detailing the role that her organization has been playing to further the animal rights and welfare movement in Pakistan, she revealed that it has been actively rescuing and saving injured, sick, and abused animals from all over the country more than ever before this year.
We raised the issue of animal exploitation at veterinary universities and it went international due to which PETA intervened and took immediate action.
Zufishan Anushay also highlighted its part in helping to introduce Pakistan’s first Animal Welfare Curriculum that was launched in Pakistan yesterday and said,
The milestone is the recognition of animal rights in the curriculum and JFK is proud to be part of its development. JFK was also invited to various schools, including Beaconhouse to talk about animal rights. Various organizations included the topic of animal rights in their annual functions this year. I think if we talk about improving the rights of animals in Pakistan, I have seen a change in people and I have noticed a larger community being aware of animal rescues as now we even get cases reported from small towns and villages.
Expounding on the work that JFK does, Zufishan Anushay mentioned that it has also “given recognition to street animals in the fashion industry by introducing them as fashion models to build a sense of love and empathy in the community for them”.
She added that JFK has been “fighting for the rights of animals in all sectors to prevent culling, captivity, abuse and cruelty towards them”.
The Chairperson of the Islamabad Wildlife Management Board (IWMB), Rina Saeed Khan Satti, told ProPakistani, “Each year on December 10, animal rights advocates around the world celebrate International Animal Rights Day. The day is meant to raise awareness of the plight of animals and on this day I would like to draw attention to the rights of the common leopard to live safely in its forest habitat inside the Margallah Hills National Park (MHNP). By law, IWMB is the sole custodian of MHNP and we have been mandated to look after the park and its wildlife since we were created in 2015”.
She continued, “The WWF Living Planet Report 2022 found that, in less than 50 years, the world has lost 69 percent of all mammal, fish, bird, reptile, and amphibian populations. The presence of an abundant variety of life on earth is critical for the health of our planet. We are very lucky in Islamabad to have this national park rich in biodiversity right next to the capital”.
Satti concluded,
We must all work together to protect the park and its wildlife. All the animals living inside the park have the right to a safe and healthy life in their forest habitat. We humans have to respect this right and not destroy the park and its habitat.
