Are you supporting animal cruelty without even knowing it?
Being an advocate for animals and always looking at every angle of how the human-animal bond effects both parties often proves to me that as humans, we can be so selfish without even seeing or understanding how we are apart of the problem.
We're selfish in the way of wanting things and wanting everything for ourselves, that we do it even at the expense of other species.
Historically, we have hunted majestic species to extinction for our own benefit. Take the Thylacine for example. Settlers were paid a bounty for every Thylacine they killed because the Thylacine was painted as a monster for the apparent theft and kills of large numbers farm stock. We hunted this beautiful, native animal to extinction for our own agricultural benefit.
Interfering, invasive humans have done this across the globe time and time again for their own gains, be it financial, sport or business.
We exploit animals for entertainment.
While most first world countries have improved their standards in Zoo's and at Circus's all around the world, even just in the past ten to twenty years, it is still so important to consider the life that these animals live, especially once they're out of the public eye. Personally, I still refuse to see any travelling circus that has animals included in the performance.
The same needs to be said for travel overseas. Everyone wants the iconic tiger photo in Thailand, but are the Instagram likes worth supporting the type of life this majestic beast lives for the remainder of it's days? The same goes for riding elephants and going to any establishment that allows you to pick up marine life that may also live in over crowded, inappropriate tanks.
It is so important to know especially while travelling overseas that we're supporting real sanctuaries, otherwise we are a large contributing factor in the problem, by supporting and allowing these types of animal cruelty to continue. Always check that the sanctuaries that you want to visit are accredited by the Global Federation of Animal Sanctuaries (GFAS). Boycot the tiger pictures, it's cooler to be an advocate for those who cannot speak for themselves.
Besides, beautiful and majestic wild animal cruelty issues, as humans we're cruel with domesticated animals too. Not in the obvious ways that every normal person would be disgusted by, but also with our inappropriate over breeding of animals destined to have ongoing health issues.
Both breeding and buying brachycephalic breeds of dog and cats is one of the most impactful forms of indirect animal cruelty that I see day to day. Brachycephalic dogs often permanently grunt and snore and require surgery in order to correct the forms of their airways so that they can breathe correctly. Most brachychephalic dogs are unable to birth naturally and almost always require surgical intervention. And they also have corkscrew tails predisposing them to disc disease and other spinal problems that could trigger at any moment.
Without malicious intent we over breed and sell pets that fit a breed standard that is no longer viable with a long and happy life. Dogs, cats and horses that will live with chronic pain and suffering, to fit a standard that never should have been set.
We race horses and place bets on their abilities, but little do many gamblers realise that they're infact supporting a disposable industry with an outrageous number of "wastage". Waste is the term used to describe an astronomical number of horses that are euthanasied or shot because it's less expensive due to their abilities being not as impressive as the race industry would require. And if one of the lucky "fast" thoroughbreds happens to sustain an injury in those races that happen everyday, it's most likely a death sentence because treatments will often be deemed financially unbeneficial, especially if a full recovery is uncertain or a long way down the track.
By placing bets on these animals, we are supporting this high turn over of animals within the industry.
I'm proud to say I have still never in my life put money on a horse and while I have been to the races once for a friend's birthday, I will never return. The fancy outfits, hats and cute pics are not worth the suffering of race horses.
Another way we're cruel without seeing it, is with keeping highly intelligent parrots as pets. Beautiful, exotic and intelligent birds shouldn't ever be caged.
Often these birds are artificially incubated in order to be hand reared, which in turn can actually lead to life long health and psychological complications.
I myself have been guilty of this, I was gifted a lovely green-cheek conure some years ago. I adored her, but with the busy life I had she did not have the flock type interaction that is still natural to domesticated birds. I would work long hours every day and she would demand my attention when I were home, but it wasn't until I had my son and I was home every day for a while, that I realised she was getting far less attention than she needed.
I'm absolutely not perfect, but I have learned from this experience and grown to question the angles of the way we keep, visit, use and enjoy animals further.
Animal cruelty can often be overlooked because as humans we are naturally selfish, but for the most part, collectively we don't want to be cruel, so with more open conversations and acceptance that we're not perfect but would like to do better, together we can improve the world for all animals and ourselves as human beings alike.
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