Human Activities which cause Animal Harm
There are several human activities that cause harm to animals, be it bursting of crackers on the occasion of the Diwali festivities or flying kites during Makar Sankranti. These human activities are primarily meant for celebrating human related occasions but at the cost of the well-being and life of animals. It is important to understand the repercussions and harsh consequences involved while attempting to do so and therefore it is essential to analyze some activities that involve harm to animals and yet do not evoke any sentiments of regret, repent or ponder in the hearts of humans.
In this article, we talk about some of these human activities that might potentially be responsible for animal harm and might also include severe loss of their lives. By understanding them in depth and the root of their cause, we could essentially aim to minimize such animal harm and tend to lead lives that do not come at the cost of other lives. It is expected that coexistence is learnt, if not essentially assimilated in the minds of humans. Let us understand some of these human activities in detail and take a pledge to reduce animal harm in the future instances of celebrating festivities.
Some Human Activities that Might Cause Animal Harm
One of the prominent human activities that includes animal harm is that of kite flying. Kite Flying comes at the cost of animal lives. During the kite flying festival or Uttarayan at the time of the onset in spring in the state of Gujarat, the people gather on their terraces and fly kites for the entire day, but this activity of theirs leads to infinite amount of birds to die on the spot as while they fly in the sky, the sharpness of the kite threads leads to the cutting of their throat and immediate death, many times even by the sight of so many kites in the sky and the apprehension of being in contact with the threads, many birds even faint and fall unconscious on the ground. This pleasure of the festivities enjoyed by humans becomes a source of threat and danger to all birds in the sky. Despite of suggestions of changing the threads and using more softer ones and the setting up of saving bird camps, hiring doctors to heal their injuries and wounds, yet people out of sheer selfishness fail to understand the significance of a bird’s life.
Another of human activities that comes at the cost of animal lives is that of celebrating Diwali festivities. During the Hindu festival of Diwali, which is celebrated around the months of October and November, in order to remember and portray the event of Lord Rama’s return from his 14 month long exile or spending life for that period in a forest also termed as ‘vanvasa’ makes people depict their enthusiasm by lighting lamps or ‘diyas’ in their houses and bursting firecrackers like bombs and flower pots in the sky, leads to air pollution and noise pollution which leads to emotional and psychological disturbances to all animals and birds managing to sleep peacefully in the night, it might lead to even hearing impairments, fainting, unconsciousness, dizziness, emotional disturbances, and even death.
Deforestation or clearing down forests by cutting down a large amount of trees is among the human activities that leads to a loss of habitat for all animals residing in the forest. Converting forestland into some commercial complexes with huge skyscrapers, multiplexes and high rise buildings. These animals do not have any other habitats and they need to roam around in search of shelter, food and even migrate to other forests. Depriving animals of their habitat leads to many health issues in them due to the climatic alterations in different habitats and developing a proneness to air borne diseases.
Another human activities that cause animal harm include following a non-vegetarian diet. Humans who are non- vegetarians by diet also tend to regularly cause harm to animals by killing them in order to maintain their daily diet which depends on them. Non-Vegetarians do not eat or consume any kind of vegetarian products such as plants, vegetables and fruits and a lack of alternatives to non-vegetarian food, leads to constant killing and extinction of certain species. Other species are also vulnerable to becoming endangered and extinct later. Many of the species in Indian forests like tigers, dodos, cheetah, etc have become extinct and some of them are endangered currently due to regular hunting and killing activities.
Human activities that cause animal harm also include poaching and trading of animal skin. Humans also use animals in order to earn money such as trading in animal skins, artifacts, elephant ivory earrings, and they also hang the dead skins and bodies of hunted animals on display either in their houses as a sense of pride or in museums as antique objects and they even earn money by selling these or making cosmetic products out of them like lipsticks by using whale skin, ivory by using elephant teeth or tusks, perfumes by testing them for experiments on animals, leading to them developing a disease or even death. Most of the purses or handbags used by women and leather shoes worn by men are made up of leather which is made by using cow’s skin. There are many cruelty- free cosmetic products available in the market which are even cheaper than the branded cosmetic products, yet people do not tend to buy them as much as they buy branded ones. Most of the chocolates or sweet items also include marshmallows and eggs which are added by killing animals. The scenes of hunting and killing of animals have been prevalent since the time of kings who used to venture out in forests to hunt animals and exhibit their bravery. Also, trapping animals in zoos for earnings and pleasure and entertainment of other individuals leads to a sort of discomfort to animals as their natural habitat is snatched away from them and instead they are trapped in an artificial environment which is restricted by the walls of their cages and they also get constantly disturbed by humans clicking their pictures and staring them in huge crowds for long hours of each day.
