In the absence of Animal Welfare Act in Nepal, many such animal harassment issues often go largely ignored and it is the innocent voiceless animals that have to bear the brunt of living in a world that seems to have huge biases for humans.[break]
Activists such as Pramada Shah believe that every kind of animals in Nepal is facing problems of neglect and abuse.
“There’s mismanagement and cruelty in animal farms, too. These are rampant, including problems in the meat industries, zoo and wildlife,” says Shah, President of Animal Nepal, an organization that works in protecting the rights of animals and its welfare.
The Week File Photo
One of the issues that have been the most crucial is the mistreatment of equines. Since 2004, animal rights activists have been complaining about misusing equines as laborers. Considering their plights, Animal Nepal handed their petition to the Ministry of Agriculture on June 27 this year. The petition was signed and supported by 130,000 people. But with the absence of an Animal Welfare Act in the country, the equines still continue to work.
“We’ve realized that the first and foremost issue that needs to be addressed is spreading awareness regarding the real definition of animal rights among the public. Before the Constituent Assemblty (CA) was dissolved, we had drafted an Act and submitted it to its Natural Resources Committee. But since it wasn’t a priority, there hasn’t been any progress,” says Shah.
As a result of labor force deficit, animals like horses, mules and donkeys soon became the backbone of the brick kiln industries in the Kathmandu Valley. This season alone, 1,200 equines were brought into the Valley as laborers. They are not only compelled to toil for hours day in and day out with heavy loads of bricks on their backs but most of them are malnourished with some sick ones even left to die without any treatment.
Bijay Rai/File photo
“The main problems that we’ve seen in the brick kilns are that the animals are made to work hard until they are fit. But once they become weak, they are deprived of food and are abandoned. We even saw a donkey that wasn’t fed and kept in a pit while some had saddle wounds on their backs,” says Uttam Kafle, Program Manager of Animal Nepal.
The petition also demanded a halt on the smuggling of equines across the Indian borders and passing of the Animal Welfare Act. When the petition was filed at Care2.com, a social network site that helps to connect activists around the world, this site set the record by being the first case to get 125,000 signatures, the highest in its history. But despite the pressure, there has not been any significant progress on this matter.
The issue, however, is not only of ill-treated equines, as there are other animals, too, that are forced to work incessantly by their owners. Kafle adds that there is even a seventy-two-years-old elephant named Pawan Kali who has been working in the zoo for the last forty years.
“She should’ve been retired by now. But it’s due to the lack of Animal Welfare Act that we have to witness things as such,” he says.
Besides that, Shah adds that stray animal management is another big issue in Nepal.
“Dairy farms are also a problem. Many cow owners leave them on the streets once they stop giving milk,” she informs.
According to Dr. Babu Ram Gautam, Head of Health and Social Welfare Department at Kathmandu Medical College (KMC), there are more than 24,000 stray dogs within the Ring Road areas of Kathmandu alone who not only suffer from starvation and illnesses but abuse from the public as well.
After 2004, Kathmandu Metropolitan City (KMC), along with Kathmandu Animal Treatment (KAT) Center, which is not running at the moment, started Animal Birth Control Program (ABC), and every now and then, they have been collaborating with NGOs to sterilize and vaccinate dogs. With the ABC program, the number of stray dogs went down from 34,000 to 24,000.
But the ABC program did not last for long and currently there are no specific programs allocated by KMC for street dogs.
“Unless there’s an alternative shelter or care provided for such animals, nothing much will be done just by forming the Welfare Act,” says Gautam.
There are similar problems with the transportation of livestock as well. According to Dr Madhav Dahal, Senior Veterinary Officer at the Central Animal Quarantine Office, as per the Animal Health and Livestock Services Act 2055, actions can be taken against those who transport chickens, buffaloes and other animals in overcrowded vehicles and suffocating them or by hanging them ruthlessly from bicycles.
There are eight quarantine offices in the country with 24 quarantine checkpoints in places like Jhapa, Darchula, and Ramnagar of Chitwan.
“But despite that, illegal and improper transportation of animal continues, mainly due to the ignorance and selfishness of businessmen,” he adds.
Kafle of Animal Nepal rather blames the Quarantine Office for not properly regulating their checkpoints. Shah says that there is the Transportation Act that should regulate such actions. But nothing is happening so far.
Dr Dinesh Prasad Parajuli, Program Director at the Directorate of Livestock Production, mentions that they are working to form proper mandatory laws regarding the rights of animals. The main focus of the Department has been the production of livestock, and there is no mention of welfare of animals at all.
“We celebrate World Animal Day on October 4 and try to spread the importance of animal rights. But the absence of a Welfare Act is mainly due to the fact that it hasn’t been a priority of the government and the authorities concerned,” he says.
The recent bird flu outbreak has also raised concerns among activists since large numbers of chickens are already culled. Kafle mentions that if such cases are found in other countries, they are first tested properly in laboratories.
“The government should try to find the status of the farms, carry out regular inspections and proper lab checking instead of mass killing of the birds.”
Animals also have basic rights like freedom to live in their natural habitat, freedom from fear, mental torture and physical abuse. But due to the lack of a welfare act, many animals are still being subjected to exploitation, and such issues are often sidelined.
“It’s therefore the responsibility of humans like us to consider the rights of animals who can’t even speak for themselves,” adds Kafle.
It is only through the efforts of individuals or NGOs that most of the time the issues of animal rights get highlighted along with proposals of alternatives. Animal Nepal even developed a guideline and handed it over to the Federation of Brick Industries. The guidelines included not allowing sick, pregnant or handicapped equines to work. It also included improvement with better shelter, food, no beating or overloading, provision of first aid kit and an eight-hour working schedules with one day of rest per week for the equines.
The organization in 2008 launched a Working Equine Outreach Programme, and with the support of The Donkey Sanctuary, it now works in over fifteen brick factories where it organizes regular health camps and educates the owners and handlers.
With so much to be done when it comes to animal rights, NGOs or individuals alone cannot address the issues. Shah says that to bring those issues to the frontline, all the former 601 CA members were invited to attend a meeting to discuss animal rights. But only four of them cared to show up.
“We are in the 21st century but are still not sensitive about important issues as animal rights. Laws are very crucial to protect the rights of these animals but everything is on a standstill now as we have to redraft the petition,” she says.
Though activists are relentlessly committed to protecting the rights of animals, there is precious little they can do in the absence of essential support from the government. The government, on its part, is mostly dependent on NGOs for collaboration, so not much is being done. While the need for Animal Welfare Act is paramount, there is also a dire need of every individual’s participation to ensure that no animals, for no faults of their own, are forced to lead miserable lives.
Where are the laws?
Every five years, around 50,000 buffaloes, along with a few hundred thousand pigs, goats and chickens and other fowls, are sacrificed as part of the Gadi Mai event, a blood-soaked festival, in Bara District. Though animal rights activists have been protesting for a ban, the locals and even devotees in as far as India participate in one of the ghastliest mass killing ritual of animals in the world.
“It’s one of the most gruesome acts in the name of religion, but this culture still continues in our country,” says Narayan Sharma, President of the Society for Animal Welfare and Management (SAWM).
Since 1998, Sharma has been actively advocating the rights of animals by organizing interaction programs with the government and reaching out to the audiences through various campaigns. Though Sharma’ organization has been supporting the Animal Welfare Network Nepal into pressurizing the government to form a Welfare Act for animals since 2002, there has not been any significant progress yet.
With the absence of proper laws, there have been more cases of neglect and abuse, including that of stray dogs. Sharma explains that most stray dogs are often mistreated on the streets but there is hardly few rescue shelters where they can be rehabilitated. SAWM thus has a free clinic where sick stray dogs are brought in and treated.
According to Tarak KC, owner of Makalu Kennel Club, the trend of keeping expensive dog breeds in the country has also led to the discrimination and abandonment of street dogs.
“If such breeds weren’t available here, then people would’ve settled for stray dogs and given them as much care and concern that they give to high-maintenance breeds,” he says.
He further says that there are thousands of stray dogs who are out on the streets without being vaccinated.
“The government had even started poisoning the dogs to get rid of them which stopped eventually. But other than that, most of them are just given injections against rabies. But that’s not enough. The government should come with better approaches to solve the overall problem of the growing numbers of stray dogs in the Valley,” he says.
KC has also been rescuing and providing shelter to stray dogs that have been badly injured in his community. He explains that he has seen people throwing such dogs away if they are found in the areas of their houses while some just torture or ruthlessly beat them. “Such animal abusers are either ignorant or just being inhuman,” he adds.
Dr Surendra Vaisyal, veterinary manager at Animal Nepal, says that he has also dealt with many cases of abuse of stray dogs on the streets. “We have time and again witnessed cases of butchers hitting the dogs and pouring hot water on them just because they come near their shops. Lack of proper monitoring and action against the culprit has encouraged such cases,” he says.
Though most cases of stray dogs are evident, there are other cases of animal exploitation as well. The main problem that Sharma of SAWM sees is in the way animals are transported in the Valley for consumption. “Animals and birds like buffalos and chickens are brought all the way from Nepalgunj in crowded vehicles where they suffocate. Some even die on their way due to this carelessness,” he says.
He suggests that there should be slaughterhouses in concerned places where animals are transported so that they don’t have to bear the hassle until they reach here.
Apart from these organizations, there are individuals who are equally concerned about animal rights and support campaigns against animal abuse.
Sulochana Pathak, 23, once found two abandoned stray puppies right outside her home. She could not leave them stranded, so she brought them home and nurtured them. The puppies are two years old now and Sulochana couldn’t have been happier with her decision.
“If we can at least adopt a few of those stray dogs who are helpless and wander for food on the streets, then the problem would be solved to some extent at least,” she says.
Sandhya is distressed that she has to hear stories of animal abuse time and again. “It wasn’t so long ago when a video of policemen beating a dog with huge sticks went viral on the Internet. There were people who seemed to enjoy the whole act. When some in authority act that way, what message will that bring across the public?” she questions.
“If there had been a Welfare Act, then we would get a proper platform to speak and take actions against those who mistreat and abuse animals. But that hasn’t happened yet,” says Sharma of SAWM and mentions that though they have several interactions with the Livestock Department, forming a separate Welfare Act has not been on their priority list.
Cases of animal abuse have been reported every now and then. But with the absence of Welfare Act, only a few cases are legally taken care of. It is only through individual efforts and support through animal welfare organizations that has helped to shed light on the issues of animal rights. Animal rights activists believe that only if proper laws are formulated, the situation would be much better than it is now.
Speaking for animal rights
Like humans, animals deserve to practice their freedom and live a life free of exploitation and abuse. But with the absence of Animal Welfare Act in Nepal, animal rights activists are having a hard time to legally bring the aspects of animal violation into light. Nevertheless there are a few organizations working for animal rights.
Nistha Rayamajhi talked to Prerana Shah, founder of Dreams, an organization that works in rescuing and rehabilitating sick cows and bulls, to know more about the status of animal rights in Nepal.
How do you define animal rights?
If having a higher degree of intelligence doesn’t give rights to one human to use another for his or her own ends, how can humans have the rights to exploit our voiceless friends in any possible way? That’s animal rights for me and I know and believe that many people care about animals.
Why is it necessary to bring the issue to light?
It’s just that many don’t want to know or pay any attention to it in detail. People have the sense of what is right and what’s wrong. They don’t have to be convinced. They just have to act differently. I’m not better than anyone, and I’m not trying to convince people to live by my standards of what’s right. I’m trying to encourage them to live by their own and at least develop the decency not to hurt animals.
What is the situation of animal rights in Nepal?
I don’t see any rights existing in our country at the moment. Humans are finding it difficult to fight for their rights here, and in a situation like that, we can comprehend the status of animals. We hear lots of cases of animals who have been stranded and abused and left sick on the streets where they die. There are times when vehicles hit stray dogs on the streets and just flee, and the public too ignore the situation. The government hasn’t done much to protect the rights of animals and it is only through individual efforts that such issues are highlighted. So I do hope that the Welfare Act will be formulated soon so that there are better regulations.
What kinds of problems have there been in the absence of proper laws that support the rights of animals?
You name any animal cruelty and Nepal has it! That’s what I would say the reality is because of the absence of animal rights in the Constitution of Nepal. From overpopulation of stray animals to wildlife poaching to inhuman treatment in the brick factories, the list goes on. Since there are no proper laws that govern the actions of people who mistreat animals, they continue doing so without any qualms. The biggest problem is that they are ignorant about the fact that they are abusing animals. So unless people become aware themselves, things aren’t going to change.
How has your organization been working in support of animals?
We didn’t want to blame the government or anyone for not doing anything for sick and injured cows and bulls or other animals on the streets. Action speaks louder than words and we truly believe in that, so we acted on it. Dreams have focused on rescuing, rehabilitating, and giving medical aid to injured and sick cows and bulls of Kathmandu.
But we also don’t ignore other animals in need. We’ve done various things, such as filing cases for animals, submitted a writ to the Supreme Court for cows and bulls, conducted various awareness campaigns. But most importantly, we’ve saved many lives and gave pain-free demise to lonely, injured and suffering calves, cows and bulls. We gave them medical care when there was no one to take care of them.
What do you think needs to be done to address these issues of violation of animal rights?
The most important thing that can be done is educate people on making good moral choices. This is the only way we can eradicate any negativity from our world. People need to understand that animals have equal rights to live, like humans do. Though individual and organizational efforts have helped tackle the issues of animal rights to some extent, it’s difficult to make a concrete impact unless the government shows some support. There are large numbers of animals who are suffering and need attention. Organizations alone can’t do that, so what we need are joint efforts to improve the situation.
nistha.rayamajhi11@gmail.com
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