Animal Cruelty: Unmasking the Suffering and Seeking Change
Animal Cruelty: A Deep Dive
A: Until one has loved an animal
D: a part of one’s soul remains unawakened, Anatole France. Winner of the Nobel Prize of literature in 1921. Think of a tradition that involves animals…
A: Bullfights, cockfights, gaucho horse riding, animal testing and several more, sadly.
A & D: All of them involve animal suffering.
D: Torture is not culture. Do we really enjoy it?
A: Or is it just for our benefit; being born with a purpose?
D: But that purpose is death.
A: Thousands
D: Millions
A: Billions
D: Of animals are killed each year
A: Because of us.
D: And what do we do about it?
A & D: NOTHING
A: What’s the difference between a human and an animal?
D: If we are talking about the central nervous system
A: Brain, mentally, emotionally, they are the same.
D: A group of scientists have compared the pain of animals and humans; they say it’s 90% similar.
A: Both animals and humans experience a type of pain called nociception.
D: Without this quality, animals are incapable of escaping pain or threats.
A: If we want to create a better world, it’s time to change our ethical beliefs.
D: All living things have the right to live on the earth, but sometimes we become cruel towards animals. We have to understand that animals can’t speak, but they have life too.
A: So, what really is cruelty? According to the Cambridge Dictionary, cruelty means a cruel behavior or action that harms others physically or mentally.
A: More than a hundred million animals suffer from animal testing each year.
D & A: Mice
A & D: Rats
D & A: Frogs
A & D: Dogs
D & A: Cats
A & D: Rabbits
D & A: Hamsters, and more
A: Used for biology lessons
D: Medical training
A: Curiosity-driven experimentation
D: Chemical
A: Drug
D: Food
A: Cosmetic testing
D & A: Are all of these necessary testings?
D: Obviously no, since 500 B.C. we have been mistreating animals.
A: Why, if we have enough technology to test products, do we continue killing animals?
D: Animal deaths are increasing every year.
A: Apart from being zero ethical, it is very expensive. Feeding the animal, the products, and the animal themselves cost a lot, so it is just a waste of time and money.
D: And sometimes the product that is being tested doesn’t work.
A & D: Animals are clearly important to us, so it’s equally important that we avoid unnecessary pain.
D: Because it’s safe for the animals, it doesn’t mean it’s safe for consumers. 9 out of 10 experimental drugs fail on clinical studies.
A: Sadly, the USA allows animals to be burned, shocked, poisoned, isolated, starved, drowned, addicted to drugs, and even brain damaged.
D: No matter how cruel and heartless these actions are, painkillers aren’t required. Even when the alternative use of animals is available, many animals have to be euthanized after testing.
A: Which, according to the Cambridge Dictionary, means; to kill an animal because it is very old or sick or because there is no one to take care of it.
A & D: Testing animals also mentally affects the people who do it. For example, a young scientist put his case online; he talks about a nightmare he had because of using more than 100 mice a day. You disassociate with your feelings because it has to be good; otherwise, you have to redo it and hurt the animal more.
A: 40,000 bulls are violently killed in bullrings across Europe.
D: Culture or torture? Bullfighting is cruel and not humane; every year, more bulls are cruelly killed.
A & D: “It’s just a bull; if we don’t kill him, he’ll kill the matador.”
D: If we really say that, humanity is really losing its motive in life.
A: So, how many matadors die in bullfights?
D: Over the past three centuries, only 534 persons have died in bullfights. 466 bulls die each year because of this game.
A: 466 bulls die each year because of this game.
D: A survey was done in 2016 in Spain.
A: Around 84% of young Spaniards are not proud of living in a bullfighting country. Ethology confirms that the only animal that kills because they want to is the human animal.
D & A: “We’re gonna eat it later, so it doesn’t really matter.”
A: There’s a big difference between having fun by torturing an animal while the bull tries to “escape” and eating it to survive.
D: Even though veganism has shown the opposite of a healthy life without meat.
A: We are practically submitting an animal without his consent.
D: The bull doesn’t submit himself; he is forced by several men to enter the “fight.”
A: In a few countries, bullfights have been banned because of the abuse towards the bull.
D: An example could be the Latin country,
D & A: Argentina
A: If we enjoy someone getting hurt,
D & A: Culture must be checked and fixed.
D: Bullfighting is known as “art” in several parts of Europe. This consists of practically “playing” with the bull, a sword, a red flag, and a “banderilla.”
A: The “matador” starts moving the flag for the bull to come near him; he would proceed to stab the bull with the banderilla.
D: Which is a thin stick, about 70 to 78 centimeters long, covered and adorned with chopped paper and a harpoon, used in the fight to revive the bull.
A: He would continue to do this until the bull is not with all of his strength.
D: The matador would stab the bull with a sword, doing it until the animal cannot move because of the blood loss.
A: The matador would now need to stab the animal again and paralyze him; when the bull is paralyzed but still conscious
D: The matador would cut the ears off and show them to the public as a “prize.”
A: Which is simply cruel.
D: Animal cruelty has become a national problem nowadays.
A: We are not talking about this issue as a serious one.
A & D: Animal cruelty is a big problem; we could fix our culture and live without a tainted conscience.