What is Animal welfare?

Animal welfare is the concern felt by humans for all Animals. It is the social welfare for humanity itself. It is the welfare on the physical and psychological state of an animal as regards, its attempts to cope with its environmental challenges within its evolutionary selected limits. The welfare of an animal is determined by its capacity to avoid suffering and sustain fitness.

How it developed?

Our attitudes to animal welfare are shaped by history, culture and society. Most societies on animal welfare developed from the religious writings. The ancient Greek philosophers Aristotle and Pythagoras, writes hundreds of years before Christ, took different stances about animal welfare. All religion stresses compassion, kindness and No-kill of all living creatures. Even in ancient Indian Mythology Animal welfare is quoted in YAJURVEDA and the great Indian Epics.

What are the FIVE FREEDOM concepts on Animal welfare?

In an attempt to define, when an animal is experiencing an acceptable level of animal welfare, the UK’s Farm Animals Welfare Council (FAWC) developed the general concept of the FIVE FREEDOMS, which are:

1. Freedom from Hunger and Thirst,
2. Freedom from Fear and Distress,
3. Freedom from Discomfort,
4. Freedom from Pain, Injury and Disease,
5. Freedom to Express Normal patterns of Behavior.

What to do when you see an orphan baby pet or abandoned pet?

First try to find out how it has come to that locality or Anyone searching for it nearby.. If you find its mother or owner kindly hand over it to them as the abandoned animal may miss its home and suffer separation trauma. If none to care it then you can C.A.R.E it or give adoption to anyone who needs a pet. Try to feed them first with glucose water or milk as it may be highly dehydrated. Consult an Animal welfare organization for its care, nutrition and health management.

What to do when you find a wild animal in your area?

Do never try to handle it unless you are a trained wildlife Handler. Do not be panic. Please don’t hurt or allow anyone to harm it. Wild animals are highly excitable and may sometimes dangerous to your/its life. Kindly inform the wildlife Dept. or Wildlife rescuers to handle it safely and to release them in the wild. None has the legal rights to pet or take home wild Animals in India without informing the Wildlife Dept and is punishable under The Wildlife protection Act 1972.

What to do when you notice a baby bird fallen from nest?

If you see the nest of the bird or its mother crying for it nearby restore it in the nest or in a higher area to avoid danger from dogs/cats. If the mother bird has abandoned it kindly keep the bird in a carton box with some holes for aeration and quickly inform the Animal welfare organization nearby. Do never try to put in wire cage or pet it. Avoid touching or feeding with bare hands. Keep it warm and well covered to prevent get it hurting itself in fear/excitement.

What to do when you see an Animal or Bird with injury or trauma?

First try to restrain, if it is not dangerous. Use gloves or towel to handle if possible. Muzzle it if it’s a biting one. Do never take risk if the animal is excited or attacking. Allow it to calm down or settle for easy observation or handling. Beware of contagious diseases like rabies, Try to do FIRST AID if you are aware or better call for the Animal welfare organization nearby.

What to do when you see Cruelty on Animals?

Don’t be afraid to fight against Animal cruelties as each and every citizen has the fundamental right to prevent cruelty in India as per Article-51(G) of The Indian Constitution. If you are single take some group for your support. Even if you are not courage enough, seek the help of Traffic police nearby. The person involved can be arrested by the police as per The Prevention of cruelty to Animals Act. If nothing works, immediately call the Animal welfare Team informing the right address of the locality and the condition of the victimized animal. Kindly be in the place till the Rescue team arrive and do never be a passer to witness or call or escape as it is some others’ job. Help to rescue the animal as much possible with your kindness and courage.

Why should become vegetarian to C.A.R.E?

TOP 5 REASONS TO BECOME VEGAN:

1. A HEALTHIER, HAPPIER YOU

Vegan diet is great for your health! According to the American Dietetic Association, vegans are less likely to develop heart disease, cancer, diabetes, or high blood pressure than meat-eaters are. Vegans get all the nutrients they need to be healthy (e.g., plant protein, fiber, minerals, etc.) without all the nasty stuff in meat that slows you down and makes you sick, such as cholesterol and saturated animal fat. Medical studies prove that a vegetarian diet is easier to digest, provides a wider range of nutrients and imposes fewer burdens and impurities on the body. Meat eating women have a 3.6 times higher risk of breast cancer while meat eating men have a 3.8 times higher risk of prostrate cancer. Vegetarians are less susceptible to all the major diseases that afflict contemporary humanity, and live longer, healthier, more productive lives. They have fewer physical complaints, less frequent visits to the doctor, fewer dental problems and smaller medical bills. Their immune system is stronger, their bodies are purer, more refined and their skin more beautiful.

2. IT'S THE BEST WAY TO HELP ANIMALS

Every vegan saves more than 100 animals a year from horrible abuse. The food animals suffer immense pain, cruelty and fear during farming or transport or slaughter. There is simply no easier way to help so many animals and prevent so much suffering than by choosing vegan foods over meat, fish, eggs etc…

3. HELP FEED THE WORLD

Eating meat doesn't just hurt animals—it hurts people too. It takes tons of crops and water to raise farmed animals. In fact, it takes up to 16 pounds of grain to produce just 1 pound of animal flesh! All that plant food could be used much more efficiently if it were fed directly to people. The more people who go vegan, the more we can feed the hungry.

4. SAVE THE PLANET

Eating meat is one of the worst things that you can do for the Earth. It's wasteful, it causes enormous amounts of pollution, and the meat industry is one of the biggest causes of climate change. Planet earth is suffering. In large measure, the escalating loss of species, destruction of rain forests, loss of top soil and the increase in water and air pollution have all been traced to the single fact of meat in the human diet. Meat is the single greatest reason for deforestation worldwide with 55sq ft of tropical rain forest consumed to produce every quarter-pounder hamburger. A major contributor to global warming is methane produced by animals multiplied for meat. With over 6 billion people grazing the earth today, the future of life on earth rests on our choice of food. No single decision that we can make as individuals or as a race can have such a dramatic effect on the improvement of our planetary ecology as the decision to cut out meat. Many seeking to save the planet for future generations have made this decision for this reason and this reason alone. The earth does not belong to man, man belongs to the earth.

5. BE SPIRITUAL; BE LOGICAL

Every religion teaches compassion to all living beings. Animals were created for the same reason as humans, to live. Not to be killed and eaten. It becomes us to invoke in our daily prayers the blessings of a compassionate God if we in turn will not practice elementary compassion towards our fellow creatures. All of our actions including our choice of food have karmic consequences. According to the law of karma, if we cause pain and suffering to other living beings, we must endure pain and suffering in return, both individually and collectively. We reap what we sow, in this life and the next, for nature has her own justice. By involving oneself in the cycle of inflicting injury, pain and death by eating other creatures, one will in the future, experience their suffering in equal measure.
Food is the source of the body's chemistry, and what we ingest affects our consciousness, emotions and experiential patterns. If one wants to live in higher consciousness, in peace and happiness and love, then one cannot eat meat, fish, fowl or eggs. The methods used in large modern farms to raise and kill animals causes them immense pain, fear and rage. Observing it, contributes to a violent mentality perpetuating the cycle of cruelty and sadism. If children are raised as vegetarians, every day they are exposed to non injury as a principle of peace and compassion. Every day they are growing up, they are remembering and being reminded to not kill. When you won't kill another creature to feed yourself, you will be much less likely to injure anybody at all…… …..HOPE AT LEAST NOW YOU STRIVE TO BECOME A VEGETARIAN…..

How can I become a scientist without experimenting on animals?

"Since animals don't get human diseases and humans don't get animal diseases, Vivisection cannot work." – Dr.Gary Yourofsky –Scientist.

Every year, tens of millions of animals are dissected, infected, injected, gassed, burned and blinded in hidden laboratories on college campuses and research facilities throughout the U.S. Still more animals are used to test the safety of cosmetics, household cleansers and other consumer products. These innocent primates, dogs, cats, rabbits, rodents and other animals are used against their will as research subjects in experiments and procedures that would be considered sadistically cruel were they not conducted in the name of science and research.

Researchers claim that they must be allowed unfettered access to animals for experiments in order to find cures for human diseases, yet they refuse to address the serious ethical problems of torturing sentient creatures for research purposes. On top of that, over-reliance on animal experimentation has historically hindered scientific advancement and endangered human safety because results from animal research typically cannot be applied to humans. In fact, scientists could save more human lives by using humane non-animal research/ testing methods, tissue culture alternatives that are more accurate and efficient.

How can I live in cold climate without a FUR/LEATHER jacket?

TOP TEN FACTS ABOUT FUR FOR YOU:

1. More than 1000 million animals are violently killed for use in fashion every year.

2. Methods used to kill animals for their skin include gassing, electrocution, and neck breaking. Fur-bearing animals are also caught and killed in barbaric body-gripping traps.

3. Neither fur nor leather is a byproduct of the meat industry. They are often falsely identified as a byproduct of meat production. Skins from slaughter houses are of low quality or they are otherwise damaged. They are from animals that are factory-farmed or trapped purely for fashion. Some finest qualities are from unborn animals (fetus).

4. The fur trim market is an equal, if not greater, threat to animals than is the making of fur coats. Thousands of animals are killed simply to provide trimming effects for fashion. Even purchasing the tiniest bit of fur trim supports the cruel fur industry.

5. Garment or accessory labels cannot always be relied upon to accurately identify the type of skin or fur used in an item saying synthetic or 100% Animal free.

6. Many European countries have banned or are in the process of phasing out some or all fur farming based largely on the understanding that it is impossible to raise furbearing animals in captive conditions that adequately ensure their welfare while maintaining financial viability.

7. Fur “farms” or “ranches” are not humane alternatives to trapping. The terms are euphemisms used by the fur industry to describe confinement facilities in which fur-bearing animals are caged and killed. Currently, there are no federal laws providing protection for the millions of animals held in these factory-like farms.

8. Seals are still being clubbed and brutally slain for their fur. The Canadian seal hunt is the world’s largest remaining commercial slaughter of marine mammal. The use of seal fur in fashion, a great contribute to this massacre killing millions of harp seals every year.

9. Although historically, the fur trade played a role in the development of the early North American economy, tradition never justifies abuse. There are many cultural practices once seen as acceptable that are now viewed as horrific relics of a more brutal time.

10. The fur industry is a threat to our environment and wildlife, contributing to higher energy costs, pollution, land destruction, and reductions in populations of wild animals, including endangered and threatened species.

What is ABC/ARV of stray dogs? How it is useful to the society?

The Animal Birth Control-Anti rabies Vaccination program consists of a process of sterilization of both Male and Female dogs to control stray dog population and vaccination to prevent rabies. The success of the program hinges upon the sterilization of 70% of the dog population in a given area within one reproductive cycle, which is normally six months. The incidence of the dreaded rabies disease, which has plagued India for years, has been virtually eradicated. Moreover the incidence of road accidents due to dog crossing has also been eventually reduced.

What is the link between animal welfare and the global warming?

Human greed for taste destroys animal population for food, fashion and fun… This ultimately disturbs the food chain and the equilibrium in biodiversity. Some wild species get extinct for the sake of food animals multiply and intensive farming practices. We put far more energy into animals per unit of food than we do for any plant crop. The main reason is that cattle consume 16 times as much grain as they produce as meat, so right there we have 16 times as much energy just to grow those crops, just so we can waste them on livestock. "Livestock are responsible for 18 per cent of the greenhouse gases that cause global warming, more than cars, planes and all other forms of transport put together." The main cause for the depletion of ozone is the over release of Methane gas from farm house. Moreover deforestation, mining quarries causing indiscriminate loss of rain forests, soil erosion, scarcity of natural resources, climatic changes and failure of rainfall depletes natural habitat for wildlife. This affects the planet as a whole. The link : Animals->people->community->society->environment->biodiversity->natural resources->land->rainfall->water->ozone layer->globe->planet.

……HENCE SAVE ANIMALS TO SAVE THE PLANET….

How to C.A.R.E for the Environment?

1. Avoid polluting the environment.
2. Be eco friendly with the bio diversity.
3. Alarm the effluent draining industries and poisoning of the water bodies.
4. Preserve the natural forests and wet lands.
5. Plant more trees on your celebrations every time everywhere.
6. Try to limit the usage of plastics and papers.
7. Go green with your locality and gardens.
8. Allow organic and bio-degradable waste to be recycled.
9. Say No to fertilizers and Genetic engineering products.
10. Complain on the habitat destruction like de-forestation, illegal mining etc…

What to do if you are a real Animal Lover?

1. Do not abandon your pet.
2. Do not hurt Animals and prevent any cruelties to Animals.
3. Adopt an orphan Animal or keep boxes for birds in your garden.
4. Feed/water the poor animal and birds in you locality.
5. Be a caring consumer to avoid products tested on Animals or made of animal parts.
6. Stop vivisection or animal experimentations.
7. Campaign for Animal rights in your locality/social networking.
8. Never encourage an Animal entertainment/performance.
9. Try to be vegetarian for better health and mind.
10. Help out an Animal welfare organization to perform their objects with your support.