National Animal Rights Day (NARD)
National Animal Rights Day (NARD) was started by the non profit ‘Our Planet, Theirs Too’ with the purpose of raising awareness about animal rights. This is an annual day, held on the first Sunday of June, and major cities all over the world take part in this event. On this day, the activists hold the dead bodies of animals in their arms and educate the people about animal rights since NARD is both Memorial and Independence day for animals. The purpose behind this event is making animal rights mainstream because till now animals are not even considered as victims. They’re just ingredients or objects in this anthropocentric world. Raising awareness is done using placards, delivering speeches and conversing with people about vegan and cruelty free alternatives.
Right now, while you’re reading this, millions of animals are dying in the food, fashion and entertainment industries. In the dairy industry, cows are made pregnant through artificial insemination and male calves are separated from their mothers since they are of no use to the dairy industry. The female calves go the same cycle of abuse just like their mothers. Cows are injected with oxytocin, a female hormone for artificially producing milk. The dairy industry never lets the calf drink his mother’s milk. And this happens everywhere, in all dairies no matter how small or big the dairy is!
Similarly poultry birds are also tortured, maimed and killed by adopting harshly cruel methods.
Animal testing includes forcing mice and rats to inhale toxic fumes, force feeding dogs pesticides and making them inhale carcinogenic fumes (this one done to test cigarettes!), ripping open the skull of an alive monkey with him remaining conscious but strapped tightly to a contraption so that he can not budge (to study electricity circuitry / effect of certain chemicals on brain, etc.) dripping corrosive chemicals into rabbit’s sensitive eyes! It results into behaviour such as incessantly spinning in circles, rocking back and forth, pulling out their own fur, and even biting themselves. After enduring a life of pain, loneliness, and terror, almost all of them are killed. A leading yogi-turned-Swadeshi entrepreneur had to in fact open an animal lab in his own huge pharmaceutical R&D facility in North India since he needed to export his medicinal preparations. For exports, these medicines had to be compulsorily tested on yes, the poor animals yet again! Now guess the worst aspect of these vivisections! Cruelty being inflicted on innocent life forms? No, there is an aspect perhaps worse than this. The utility of these vivisections is actually practically nothing. No cosmetic and no medicine has hardly ever been successfully proved to be safe for human consumption after testing on mere animals. That is why in fact some forward looking pharma companies are now researching into ways of doing away with such archaic practices.
In the animal derived clothing industry, animals have the skin and fur literally ripped off for obtaining the raw material. The silkworms are boiled alive so that the cocoon of silk around them can be taken out. Large honey producers cut off queen bees’ wings to have them artificially inseminated. Wings and legs of many bees get torn off because of transportation. Bees are bred, confined, abused and exploited in the honey industry. Fish and lobsters feel pain too. There is as much evidence as there is for birds and mammals. Fishing kills thousands of sea turtles, dolphins, sharks and other bycatch animals in the process.
Labour pains. Forceful impregnation. Forced moulting. Separation of mother and her babies. Inhalation of toxic fumes. Getting corrosive chemicals dripped into eyes. Skin and fur getting ripped off. Getting boiled alive. Wings getting cut off. Getting confined, tortured, abused, exploited and killed. Have you ever wondered why does this happen? It happens because of our demand for animal products.
Now you must have realized why animal rights are important and should become mainstream! Animals are just like us. They have a central nervous system to feel pain, fear and love. They have families. Every individual on this planet deserves an equal right to live. We should keep in mind that this planet is for everyone and not just for humans. The world doesn’t revolve around humans. Plus, there are alternatives available out there for animal products.
Now since you are aware about animal rights and vegan alternatives you shall hopefully consider giving up consumption of animal based products . We are privileged and we should use that privilege for a good cause and not for exploiting the less fortunate. We request you all to educate others about this and please participate this year on 6th June virtually/physically in the event if it’s taking place in your city. Attaching names of a few informative documentaries which will help you all understand clearly what I’ve written above.
- Glass walls: https://youtu.be/ZIzvFMmXCpw
- Deadly Dairy: https://youtu.be/Z33J6TDEv9I
- This Film will turn you Vegan in 2 minutes: https://youtu.be/hoToFOtUtmQ
- Cowspiracy in 15 minutes: https://youtu.be/dSjE8xw_-Dg
- The Game Changers: https://youtu.be/ove9b16OeR4
- Bite Size Vegan: https://youtube.com/c/BiteSizeVegan
Articles
https://www.hindustantimes.com/mumbai-news/two-year-undercover-study-reveals-cruel-side-of-india-s-dairy-industries/story-7icLDyv1Rq2tVV2kbYKccN.html
https://science.thewire.in/the-sciences/drug-testing-animal-trials-rights-moral-philosophy/
https://www.theguardian.com/fashion/2016/mar/13/is-it-time-to-give-up-leather-animal-welfare-ethical-lucy-siegle
https://www.fastcompany.com/90457908/eating-honey-is-more-complicated-than-you-might-think
https://www.vox.com/future-perfect/2019/1/29/18197907/clean-meat-cell-plant-impossible-beyond-animal-cruelty
https://telanganatoday.com/call-to-shun-speciesism-love-all-animals
