ANIMAL WELFARE & ITS SCOPE IN JHARKHAND

As per the Indian tradition and culture, animals always had a respect and a special place in society. Hinduism, Buddhism and Jainism have always preached kindness and compassion to animals. Each Hindu God or Goddess is seen with an animal. Lord Krishna was a shepherd and is seen with a cow, Lord Rama with the monkeys, Lord Vishnu with the eagle and the snake, Lord Shiva with a snake around his neck and the bull ‘Nandi’ at his feet, Goddess Saraswati goddess of wisdom and literacy is seen with swan. Goddess Amba symbol of power riding a tiger, Lord Dattatraya always has dogs at his feet, and so on. The foundation of Buddhism and Jainism is ‘Ahimsa’ or ‘non-violence’, not only towards fellow humans and animals, but also to every living creature including an insect.

With such rich culture and heritage, where kindness and compassion were the foundation of society, there was no need for animal welfare organizations, as each home was an animal welfare institution by itself. Every home had cattle in the back yard. The bullocks worked in the fields alongside the farmer, the cows and buffaloes provided milk to the family, but only after the calves have had their fill. Dogs and cats lived inside the homes as members of the family. The hen lived happily in the front yard and provided the family with eggs. Leather was made from the hides of only dead animals. Thus it was a beautiful picture of co-existence of animals and humans.

But today times have changed. With population explosion, urbanization and consumerism catching up, animals are easy prey for human greed. They are soft targets for any one trying to make a quick buck, and prime candidates for exploitation. Today even healthy, young animals are killed for leather, meat and tallow. Calves are kept hungry and emaciated, while the cow’s milk is sold in the markets for human consumption. Chicken are kept in cramped batteries, either for the eggs or for slaughter. Slaughter animals are made to walk thousands of miles to slaughterhouses, or carted in trucks / tempos packed like sardines, with the result some of them die of suffocation before they reach their destination. Rhesus monkeys and Dancing Bears performing on the streets, with hordes of people watching them, is another eye sore in India. The fear of the baton falling on their backs is clearly visible in their eyes. Same is the case with thousands of animals performing in the circuses. Research on animals is another major issue that needs to be tackled. With tremendous pressure from animal welfare groups in the developed countries, companies are bringing their research work to India, where the laws are not strict and they can get away with just about anything.

In this situation, animal welfare in India takes on a whole new meaning. With so many animal issues and so many animals on the streets, the need of the day is to have several animal welfare societies in each community,

The only ray of hope is the advent of television. Awareness about animal issues and environment is spreading with youngsters watching channels like Animal Planet, National Geographic and Discovery. They are becoming aware of the place of animals in our lives and the need to give them due respect..

As per world organization of Animal Health (OIE), animal welfare means how an animal is coping with the condition in which it lives. An animal is in good state of welfare if (as indicated by scientific evidence) it is healthy, comfortable, well nourished, safe, able to express innate behavior and if it is not suffering from unpleasant states such as pain, fear and distress. Good animal welfare requires disease prevention and veterinary treatment, appropriate shelter, management, nutrition, humane handling and humane slaughter/killing.

John Webster defines animal welfare by advocating three positive conditions: Living a natural life, being fit and healthy, and being happy. Animal welfare can also be expressed in terms of following five freedoms , Government of UK)to animals:

1. Freedom from hunger or thirst by ready access to fresh water and a diet to maintain full health and vigor.

2. Freedom from discomfort by providing an appropriate environment including shelter and a comfortable resting area

3. Freedom from pain, injury or disease by prevention or rapid diagnosis and treatment

4. Freedom to express (most) normal behavior by providing sufficient space, proper facilities and company of the animal’s own kind

5. Freedom from fear and distress by ensuring conditions and treatment which avoid mental suffering

Research has demonstrated that the welfare and health of an animal are linked to food safety. Improvements in animal welfare have the potential to reduce on-farm risks to food safety, principally through reduced stress-induced immunosuppression, reduced incidence of infectious disease on farms and reduced shedding of human pathogens by farm animals

A growing body research also shows that animal abuse is predictive of human aggression patterns including the ability to commit murder and larger social injustice. Exposure to animal abuse can produce a desensitization process where emphatic abilities are reduced and callousness increased. Cruelty to animal is increasingly being recognized as a crosscutting cultural risk factor for human psychological health and security 5)Anthrozoology or the study of interaction between humans and other animals is a fast growing field of study, that essentially focuses on quantifying the positive effects of human-animal relationships.

In recent years, Animal welfare itself is recognized as a branch of science where scientists are investigating animal welfare using rigorous scientific methods. Leading universities worldwide have set up separate centers and departments in the field of Animal Welfare Science. The scope of animal welfare activities is getting wider day by day. Statutory requirements and customer demand is forcing companies in sectors like food, pharmaceuticals, bio-research, entertainment, animal transport etc. to make investments on process and facilities to meet national and global welfare standards. Specialized programs are being undertaken to address human animal conflicts. Humane education is increasingly being considered as an important element in human resource development programs. Animal welfare is now being considered as one of the key element of ‘One Health’ approach recommended for control of zoonotic, emerging diseases and issues like food safety and environmental hazards at the human-animal-ecosystem interface.

In India, nearly 70 percent of all agricultural households are involved with animals as a livelihood option. The Constitution of India Provides Animal Protection by Article 51 ensuring “Compassion to all Living Creatures”. Starting from 1960 6)), India has made legal provision to support animal welfare including control and supervision of experimentation on animals. The public sector animal welfare activities at national level are governed under animal welfare division of Ministry of Environment Forest and Climate Change. Animal Welfare Board of India (AWBI) is an apex national institution in this regard.

In recent years, Government of India has also recognized the need to impart education in the field of Animal welfare science in a professional manner with a structured framework. The National Institute of Animal Welfare (NIAW) in Ballabhgarh, Haryana was established during the year 2006 to meet this need.

At the state level, government has set up and fund Society for Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (SPCA) in every district as per Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (Establishment and Regulation of Societies for Prevention of Cruelty to Animals) Rules, 2001. These rules were notified as required by sub-section (1) of section 38 of the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act, 1960 (59 of 1960). SPCAs are required to aid the state government, Animal Welfare Board of India and local authorities in enforcing provision of the above act. The SPCAs can seize animals, collect fines and handover offender of cruelty to animals to police.

Besides public support structures, more than 2900 non-government organizations are working in the field of Animal Welfare in India . A select number of these organizations receive public funding through institution like Animal Welfare Board of India

As per gazette notification dated 28th February’2014 of Ministry of corporate affairs, Government of India ‘Animal Welfare’ activities can receive support of corporates who now needs to make mandatory investments on corporate social responsibility (CSR) as per provision of Companies Act, 2013. Agriculture Skill Council of India has also identified the need and demand for trained personnel to work in the animal welfare sector and as such has been engaging with private organizations to undertake vocational skill programs in animal welfare domain.

Growing public and private demand for range of animal welfare services, sensitization of people in general for compassion to animals, likely continuance of public funding support to NGOs under AWBI, financial reforms and innovative options for fund raising including recent positive policy changes to augment participation of private sector in animal welfare activities under corporate social responsibility framework etc. indicates immense scope for NGOs to undertake activities in the field of Animal welfare.

Interactions with key informants indicates that the non-government animal welfare organizations that are working at the state level are facing issues like: Inadequate skilled manpower, poor veterinary health care facility, poor project management and fund raising capacity, inadequate research support and communication etc.

In Jharkhand , animal welfare activities are in nascent stage. Review of ongoing projects indicates that the NGOs within the Jharkhand have got only negligible amount of financial grant released by AWBI under various schemes during the year 2016-17. The investment (Private and Public) on animal welfare within the region is historically low. The annual general meeting of Animal Welfare Board of India, discussed the issue of low participation of the state / NGOs of the region as far as animal welfare activities are concerned. The members of the board suggested for focused effort towards sensitization of Jharkhand on need of animal welfare activities.

The Jharkhand state of India is known for its bio-diversity , indigenous communities, cultural practices and mostly non vegetarian (including bush-meat) related) food habits. This indicates the scope and extent of human animal interaction. Growing urbanization, scarcity of natural resources, destruction of animal habitats and increase vehicular traffic etc. has resulted into more incidence of human animal conflict, animal cruelty and accidental injury etc. Infrastructure for sound Animal welfare support is essential to ensure sustainable development and conservation. Animal Welfare in the region also assumes importance in the context of bringing in compassion in the society as the region regularly suffers from political conflicts and religious blieves.