Anyhoot, away with the formalities...
I'm fortunate in being privy to what most would call a colourful, scenic journey on my daily commute. I am blessed to be able to bare witness to some of the creators fine creatures. How so I hear you say?
I happen to work in a very rural area and as such its not uncommon for me to see:
Sheep
Chicken
Pheasant
Grouse
Horses
Cows
Rabbits
Squirels
Foxes
A nice wide selection of animals, none particularly predatory (minus the Foxes...). My daily commute will see me bump into all of the above at some point during the journey and believe me its a breath of fresh air every time, you would be amazed at the size and colour of all the above when your face to face with them.
Take the Grouse bird for instants:
Now you should recognise the bird as it was made famous by this advert:
This bird really does exist...I mean like there is a bird that looks and moves like that bird in the advert....its CRAAAAZY! Its a shame they weren't endowed with any sense though, generally speaking they wait by the side of the country lane, till they are almost right in front of a passing car, then dart across the lane and then dive into a nearby bush....suicidal I tell you....but then again there is always a Grouse at the other end waiting, so maybe they are playing dare? When I think about it what else have they got to do with their day?
Anyway...outside of the Grouse, the other animals on the list are ...well pretty run of the mill, which then leads me to ask what the point of this rant is....
Oh yeah thats it! Cruelty! Yes I said it CRUELTY!
One morning on my way in to work I was slowed by a horse being ridden by a human, nothing unusual there, a common sight for my in fact. For those of you who don't know the code and the practice, "one is to slow one's vehicle to a walking pace, being sure as not to make any unexpected movements or loud noises that could startle the Horse (s)" Like I was saying the Horse being ridden was a common sight, what did catch my eye however, was a shape I couldn't quite clearly see on the fur of the Horse. At the point where I was about to pass the Horse, the shape became clear...it was a 'Love Heart', as soon as I saw it I thought 'aaaahh the owner loves the Horse thats lovely'.
I got about 100m down the road and my mind was invaded by this thought 'How do they know the Horse wanted a heart shaved into the fur on its buttock? How do they know the Horse even likes 'Love Hearts'? Hold on a minute, how do they know the Horse likes to have some slightly over weight person on its back...' And so the thoughts raged on...then it became very clear to me that these Horses were being abused, worst still they were being bred to be abused.
In most western countries harming an animal can get you into serious trouble, in fact let me not speculate, here are the rules per country:
America - USA Cruelty Penalties
UK - UK Cruelty Penalties
Asia - Erm...there isn't a link for China or India or that region, not because there isn't an laws protecting animals, but because the laws are largely ignored, or in the case of China only just being formed.
Now the America link is quite straight forward...fines and jail time, state dependent of course.
The UK link doesn't actually tell you the penalties for animal cruelty but they are:
"Under the Animal Welfare Act 2006, the maximum fine for animal cruelty and welfare offences is £20,000. The maximum term of imprisonment for offences is six months."
So basically, fines and jail time.
That for me is not whats important on this particular link, if you scroll all the way to the bottom of the page you will see this:
"Our success in courts by following Code
All prosecutions are conducted by independent solicitors, who also review the evidence against the CPS’ Code and will advise if they are not satisfied that the criteria for a prosecution has been met.
It is by following this Code that we are able to achieve a good success rate in the magistrates' courts, achieving an impressive 98.2 per cent success rate in 2009."
"98.2% success rate" ...just savour that statistic for a moment, then consider if such due diligence was applied elsewhere how many pedophiles wouldn't have been employed in the schooling system or how many wife beaters wouldn't still be out there beating women. Oh...look at me missing the most obvious, the child neglecter's/abusers.
You see this statistic clearly shows that high levels or rates of success are fully achievable with proper application, this stat leads me to believe that people aren't prosecuted for 'real' crimes, because the system doesn't have it as a priority...it seems animals are higher up on the agenda.
Another interesting set of criteria I came across:
Animal rights
This is a link to the RSPCA page that clearly outlines the 5 basic needs that an animal should be afforded without question.
Its a very humble list, but what I found most interesting was that prison inmates are not afforded some of the 'basic needs' on the list...so again animals are being treated better then human beings.
Anyhoot, I digress, the point of the matter is this, the horse with the 'love heart' shaved into its fur is being abused. Now some will argue that the Horse is fed and sheltered and groomed and given shoes etc... But then I ask what the heck were Horses doing before mankind started tampering with them?
Animals in Zoo's are being abused, yes their fed, yes there sheltered but one thing everyone seems to overlook is this, the worst form of punishment is having your freedom taken away from you, its one of the actions that can dramatically change psyche and permanently alter the characteristics of a living creature. Do you really think that the Lions in the Zoo's don't know that whats happening to them is not right?
The caged environment is a tool, its the objective of the cage to tame the 'wild' in all animals, its part of the 'breaking' process. The moment an animal is placed in an enclosure, its natural foraging regime has been dramatically limited. Food being provided by a Zoo keeper has killed the natural process of 'the hunt'... the caging of an animal is the dumbing down of its nature. Ultimately the spirit of the animal dies and the 'cuddley' exterior remains.
So...on one hand we have the RSPCA cracking down (with a 98% of efficiency) on individuals who are cruel to animals, yet there are a number of million dollar industries that rely on animal cruelty as the back bone of their business model...can some one say 'Hypocracy'?
So strangely enough, I'm on the side of animals, but its seems that its more the non domesticated ones... on the whole cats and dogs are living better lives that a lot of human beings.
iRant because the human superiority complex reeks to high heaven....
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