(India) Political agenda for Animal welfare needed

[Guest guest]

http://bihartimes.com/Newsbihar/2009/March/Newsbihar19March2.html

 

19/03/2009

 

Political agenda for Animal welfare needed

 

Maneka Gandhi

 

(Bihar Times) I am off to campaign for my election to Parliament. I wish I had

the courage ( and money) to be in a Green party that actually campaigned for

real issues – the right to water, alternative energy, saving rivers, a far

more practical approach to repairing the economy which is people-centric and not

industry centric and above all, the creation and maintenance of natural habitats

for all creatures.

A survey found that 93% of all welfare enactments have come about through

official action and only 7% through NGO activism . This is not because NGOs do

not put in enormous effort, it is because they do not carry the force of law.

What can be so quickly achieved with a single stroke of a bureaucratic pen takes

years of petitions and protests. This is why it is so important to become part

of the political process. It is also why the animal welfare movement is

seriously handicapped, animals cannot participate in the political process and

so carry no clout with policy makers. No voice, no choice. Those who profit

from animal abuse, on the other hand , are a well entrenched, well endowed

lobby that uses its votes and money to continue policies that allow the

killing and exploitation of creatures. Few understand that a live bird or

insect is far more important to the economy than a dead one. A live tiger

brings rain – a dead one brings nothing but devastation.

 

Animal welfare needs to become part of our political agenda. This is not such a

distant dream. Environmental protection has already become a huge political

issue. Obama’s opposition to oil drilling in the ocean won him the crucial

environmental vote. Since his film, ‘An Inconvenient Truth’, Al Gore

carries more political clout than when he was Vice President. All European

countries have Green parties. Holland has an Animal Party. The Dutch 'Party for

Animals' leader Marianne Thieme, 34, is a jurist who until recently was

president of an animal protection agency. Her growing frustration over the

lethargic attitude of established parties to animal issues provided the

motivation to secure animals a voice in politics. Well known Dutch authors and

opinion leaders have joined the party and a growing number of Dutch people are

questioning why selfish economic interests should prevail over ethical

considerations when it comes to animal and

environmental protection. In its first election, the party has already won 2

parliamentary seats out of 150 ( the Indian equivalent would be 12 seats, which

is larger than most parties in Parliament today. The party’s priority is to

end all animal suffering. It wants a constitutional amendment, guaranteeing

animals the right to freedom from pain, fear and stress caused by humans.

 

India may not yet have a party for animals but there are plenty of reasons why

animal welfare should be on every election manifesto.

 

Animals form the backbone of our rural economy. They yield over 50 million tones

of milk a year and help cultivate 60 million hectares of cropland. They carry

18000 million tones of freight and provide 52,000 million watts of power, more

than all our powerhouses put together. In money terms, they contribute over Rs

50,000 crores to the national economy. Which other community earns so much for

the country? 70% of India relies on animals yet we make no provision for them.

The entire total of what the Govt allocates for animals amounts to less than one

rupee per animal per year. Even this paltry sum exists mostly on paper.

Government veterinary centers in rural areas do not function. In the absence of

any veterinary care, animals succumb to curable conditions. When they lose their

lives, dairy and doodhwallahs, tanga wallahs, dhobis, transporters, construction

suppliers and small farmers lose their livelihoods. A significant percentage of

rural bankruptcy is caused by premature and high animal mortality. Ensuring

functional and well equipped veterinary centers with an ambulance service in

every area having an animal population above such and such would be an

attractive poll promise.

 

All governments promise cheap and plentiful food for all. Yet beyond doling out

subsidies, have no long term plan to achieve this. Here is the solution. 31% of

India’s arable land has been diverted for fodder cultivation for meat and

dairy herds. There are other problems with meat production. One mechanized

slaughterhouse uses 16 million litres a day which would otherwise meet the needs

of 90 lakh people. Slaughterhouse waste (blood, urine, entrails) is poured

directly into our water bodies poisoning our water supply. A country that cannot

meet the drinking water needs of its population has no business setting up or

permitting water-guzzling slaughterhouses. Meat is a serious health issue too.

40% of all cancers and modern diseases like obesity, diabetes, arthritis and

heart disease are linked to meat. Municipal slaughterhouses flout municipal

regulations of health and hygiene with impunity spreading gastroenteritis,

salmonella, cholera and e-coli.

Illegal slaughterhouses compound the danger. Chicken flu, Mad Cow Disease and

Anthrax are all clear and present dangers from current factory farming methods.

Meat production is also a serious environmental threat. It is responsible for

more greenhouse gas emissions than the entire transport sector combined. In

Britain the government is looking for ways to reduce meat. The British Public

Health System has proposed meatless hospital meals as a way to cut carbon

emissions. We too need political parties to strengthen our nation’s

vegetarian traditions and encourage true Gandhigiri.

 

Filthy living conditions for dairy cows causes Brucellosis which spreads to

humans as tuberculosis. Twice daily injections of a Schedule H hormonal drug

named Oxytocin renders cows prematurely dry and leads to hormonal imbalance in

humans.

 

Till date the government has spent over Rs 6000 crores on the unsuccessful Ganga

Action Cleaning Plan. Instead of pouring more public money down the drain, we

need an election promise to put an end to leather tanneries throwing untreated

effluent into the river. By switching the army, central schools and other

government buyers to non-leather shoes we rid the country of a major pollutant

that kills both people and cows.

Generations of schoolchildren cutting up frogs for unnecessary syllabus

requirements led to mosquito multiplication causing malaria, dengue and now,

chickengunya. The use of DDT and chemical pesticides has created another host of

health problems. We need alternatives to both chemical pesticides and to

senseless experimentation as both have put our lives in danger by threatening

the ecological balance.

 

Saving the tiger is not a sentimental issue. The tiger is an index species whose

existence testifies to the health of the forest. Each will perish without the

other. When we lose the tiger, we lose the forest, our rainfall, agriculture and

everything. Conversely when we protect the tiger, its habitat regenerates

providing free water, oxygen and climate control. It is not committees the

tiger needs, it is safe habitat. We need parties to spell out protection for our

forests against miners, poachers, hoteliers, tribals and developers. With just a

few tigers left, their reserves must be treated as no tolerance zones.

 

Cruelty to animals has a significant impact on human health, economy and

environment. Political parties with vision are sure to spot the link between

animal and human welfare. I see my job in politics as a means to change India

for the better and in protecting animals we protect the earth and ourselves.

When we no longer eat, beat, mutilate and murder as a matter of right, we

create conditions for lasting peace and prosperity. Isn’t that what we all

want and what every political party promises? I hope I am still alive to see one

Indian political party, including my own, come to terms with what India needs .

Not this time, alas.

 

To join the animal welfare movement contact gandhim