Crimes Against Animals the World Doesn’t Want You to Know About
There are horrific things that happen to animals all for the sake of human tradition, cultural belief of simply for monetary gains. These aren’t often talked about but it’s time to shine a light on the shocking abuses against animals that still go on today. Shakila Rajendra explores some of the atrocities that she thinks should not be kept under the radar.
Abuse Arising from Festivals and Cultural Traditions and Beliefs
1) Gadhimai Festival, Nepal
The Ghadimai Festival in Nepal used to result in the annual slaughter of hundreds of thousands of cows, until the organising temple put a stop to it.
Nepal usually has a reputation as an animal-loving country where cows are revered as sacred beasts but during the Gadhimai Festival, an astonishing amount of animals are sacrificed in honour of the Hindu Goddess, Gadhimai. The festival would take place every 5 years in the town of Bariyarpur and has been practiced for over 250 years. During this festival, thousands of farm animals such as buffalo, pigs, goats, ducks and chickens will be inhumanely sacrificed and in 2009 it was estimated up to 500,000 animals were killed. Thankfully, in July 2015, Nepal’s temple trust announced the cancellation of the festival and the Indian government has also put a stop to animals being sent to Nepal for the festival.
Read more here: https://www.tsemrinpoche.com/tsem-tulku-rinpoche/animals-vegetarianism/is-this-a-holy-festival.html
2) Yulin Festival, China
Dogs on their way to the Yulin Festival. Packed into cages, and starved of food and water, many die on the way there.
In China, dog meat has been consumed for hundreds and maybe thousands of years. Dog meat, the Chinese believe, is meant to alleviate heat exhaustion which has led to it being popularly consumed during the summer months. In Yulin, a festival using dog meat in hot pots became popular in 2010 and up to 10,000 dogs were slaughtered for this festival. Since then, there has been huge international outcry to put an end to this festival. Sadly, up until this year, efforts to put a complete stop to this festival which takes place on the 21st of June (summer solstice) have still been unsuccessful.
Read more here: https://www.tsemrinpoche.com/tsem-tulku-rinpoche/animals-vegetarianism/marc-ching-shows-us-the-way.html
3) The Running of the Bulls, Toro de la Vega & Pero Palo, Spain
Hunted and stabbed to exhaustion, a terrified bull lies dying after one of Spain’s running of the bull festivals.
We may have heard of Pamplona’s running of the bulls festival where bulls are petrified and prodded to run down the streets of the city and eventually they are stabbed to death by matadors in the bullfighting arenas. There are also other festivals in Spain that torture and kill animals in similar methods and nothing has been done to put a stop to these festivals simply because it is rendered a cultural tradition and authorities do not want to upset those who practice these rituals. Festivals such as the Toro de la Vega where hundreds of men chase a bull through the streets of Tordesillas are armed with lances which they will use to maim the bull. When it is weak and can go no further, men will then attack the bull further and cut off its testicles while it is still alive and subject it to further torture until it dies. Similarly, the Pero Palo Festival does similarly inhumane acts to a donkey where drunken mobs will torture the animal and even force it to drink alcohol until it is too weak to run and eventually kill it.
Read more here: https://www.tsemrinpoche.com/tsem-tulku-rinpoche/animals-vegetarianism/toro-jubilo.html
4) Drive Hunting
Pilot whales dead after a drive hunting expedition in the Faroe Islands.
Dolphins and whales are caught and killed for their meat as well as captured for other purposes using the drive hunting method in a number of places all over the world. Drive hunting involves surrounding a group of whales or dolphins with boats and then driving them into a bay or toward the shore. In the Faroe Islands situated in the North Atlantic where a ritual called Grindagrap drives hundreds of pilot whales to the shore where they are then slaughtered for their meat and blubber. The hunt is a bloody affair and is known to turn the sea red with blood during the weeks in which it is practiced. Similarly, dolphins are also killed in this way particularly in Japan and Peru. Although in recent years there has been call to stop these practices, many argue that hunting whales and dolphins are an integral part of sea-dwelling culture and provide a much-needed source of meat. However, it is argued that due to environmental pollution, eating these animals may prove more harmful to the health as their meat may contain mercury.
Read more here: https://www.tsemrinpoche.com/tsem-tulku-rinpoche/current-affairs/why-is-he-crying.html
Abuse Arising From The Keeping of Pets
5) Animal Hoarding
Animal hoarding is more common an occurrence than most people realise.
This is a form of animal abuse that is so common yet, many who practice it are not even aware of the harm they are causing animals. The practice of animal hoarding can be linked to mental illness whereby an individual will keep an unusual amount of animals as their ‘pets’ in conditions that cannot provide them adequate care, shelter, sanitation or food and could lead to these animals suffering from illness, starvation and even death. The worrying part of this situation is that the individual who possesses these animals will usually be in denial of their failure to care for these animals and believe themselves to be rescuers or saviours but instead, they are doing more harm than good to these animals.
6) Puppy Mills
Puppy mills keep breeding dogs in deplorable conditions, using them to produce cute pets to stock shops.
For the sake of commercial profit, many breeders take to creating puppy mills, a facility whereby the monetary gains take priority over the wellbeing of the dogs. Puppy mills usually keep dogs in cramped cages and many of the female dogs are simply kept alive for their breeding capabilities. When they can no longer do so, they are often killed or simply left to starve to death. As for the puppies they are often bred with little consideration for their health or genetic quality. Pups as young as 6-8 weeks are sold to pet shops and can often develop health problems such as parasites or other genetic disorders. It is hard to pinpoint if puppies sold in pet shops have come from a puppy mill or not which is why it is always better to choose adoption as an option when looking for a pet.
Read more here: https://www.tsemrinpoche.com/tsem-tulku-rinpoche/current-affairs/rescued-cats-and-dogs-only.html
Abuse of Animals for Sport or Commercial Profit
7) Greyhound Dog Killing
Greyhound racing looks like harmless fun but has anyone ever thought what happens to the dog when they have outlived their competitive racing days?
Greyhound racing may seem harmless enough but the reality is that the dogs that can no longer perform for this sport often meet cruel fates. Many, instead of being re-homed are simply killed by their owners or left for dead. To make matters worse, before they’re killed, they have their ears cut off without any anaesthetic or proper surgical methods because they have identification tattoos on their ears that can be traced back to their owners. Some of these dogs are also often sold to animal testing labs. In 2002, the remains of almost 3000 greyhounds were found in the grounds of racing track in Florida and an undercover report discovered the remains of approximately 10,000 dogs that were killed by a merchant in the UK who was killing dogs that trainers deemed too slow to race.
Read more here: https://www.tsemrinpoche.com/tsem-tulku-rinpoche/current-affairs/the-simpsons-co-creator-sam.html
8) Canned Hunting
A highly lucrative industry is the big game hunting industry, which sees people fly from all over the world to countries in Africa to hunt wildlife in controlled conditions. The more exotic the wildlife, the more prestigious the trophy.
This is the practice of keeping animals in a confined area with only one purpose in mind – for them to be hunted and killed as part of a hunter’s trophy collection. Although there are laws in most parts of the world that ban this sport, many, such as South Africa still practice it as part of their tourism draws. Lions especially are high on the list of animals that these trophy hunters seek to exploit as well as other big game animals. There is also no real evidence that suggests that these animals are kept in captivity for any other reason apart from satisfying trophy hunters’ appetites as some suggest that captivity centres are kept open to conserve the population of these animals.
Read more here: https://www.tsemrinpoche.com/tsem-tulku-rinpoche/animals-vegetarianism/i-love-to-hunt-lets-go-kill.html
9) Clubbing of Baby Seals
As long as the demand for fur rises, the clubbing of seals will continue to feed this fashion trend.
Every year the Canadian government allows hunters to cull seals, many of them babies as part of the expansion of the fur trade. Seals are often shot or worse, clubbed repeatedly to death. They are then skinned for their fur and left for dead if they aren’t already. Recently, both the European Union and the United States have passed laws that ban the sale of seal products but the killing of these gentle animals still goes on as it is claimed that the demand of fur products continues to rise.
Read more here: https://www.tsemrinpoche.com/tsem-tulku-rinpoche/current-affairs/red-on-white.html
10) Shark Finning
If you’ve ever had a bowl of shark’s fin soup, you may want to reconsider your next one or any restaurant that serves it. Shark finning is an incredibly cruel way in which shark’s fins are obtained for food and traditional medicine. Sharks have their fins cut off while still alive which renders them unable to swim and they often sink to the bottom of the ocean left to the mercy of predators or to suffocate. Many countries have since banned shark finning in their waters but the demand for shark’s fin products continues especially here in Asia. As shark populations are rapidly declining as a result of this, the best way to stop the practice is to decrease the trade or the demand of these products.
Read more here: https://www.tsemrinpoche.com/tsem-tulku-rinpoche/animals-vegetarianism/extinction-in-a-bowl-of-soup.html
For more interesting information:
- The Animals, Vegetarianism and Environment category on my blog
- Earthlings
- Gadhimai – A Holy Festival?
- Marc Ching Shows Us The Way
- Toro Jubilo
- Why is he crying?
- Rescued Cats and Dogs Only
- The Simpsons Co-Creator Sam does what?
- I Love To Hunt… Let’s Go Kill!
- Red on white…
- Extinction in a bowl of soup
- Look what China’s doing!
- Amazing Things You Didn’t Know About Them
- These Dying Dogs Need Your Help Urgently
- New Zealand Officially Recognizes All Animals as Sentient Beings
- New Animal Welfare Bill for 2015 Passed in Malaysia!
Please support us so that we can continue to bring you more Dharma:
If you are in the United States, please note that your offerings and contributions are tax deductible. ~ the tsemrinpoche.com blog team
Multicultural festivals and traditions from around the world are aware of animals cruelty yet to their cultural belief still continue. From subtle abuse at festivals to entire ceremonies dedicated to the brutalization and torture of these beasts. Sad indeed, innocent animals been abuse, torture at the expense of human entertainment.
As festival goers do almost everything within the spectrum of the cruel and unusual to these animals during their celebratory activities is everything but enjoyable. Those animals who survive the initial assault are later killed. Looking at those pictures tells all. These animal abuse at festivals never seems to end and it still continue to this day. Few have been shut down or maintained, as locals hold these acts as traditional to their culture. While activist continue trying to prevent locals from participating, claiming that the barbaric sacrifice of this animal is an act of cruelty. This traditional event has become a controversial hub for scuffles between animal-rights activists and vendors. Although this cruelty is against the law, yet no action have taken to stop it.
Thank you Rinpoche and Shakila Rajendra for this post
Different parts of the world have each various interesting traditions and customs which individual will celebrate and follow. Religious festivals like Gadhimai festival, which is an animal sacrificial ceremony, and dog meat festival where dogs are slaughtered to celebrate the summer solstice have gathered cultural significance over the centuries. In Gadhimai festival , they believe that animal sacrifices to the Hindu goddess Gadhimai will end evil and bring prosperity. In Spain bulls festival or the Toro de la Vega, bulls are torture and kill. Same goes to the Pero Palo Festival where scared donkey being dragged unwillingly through the packed streets . Drive hunting where dolphins and whales are caught and killed for their meat. All these are some of the hidden cruelty and crime against animals in the world which many are not aware of it and do not want to know. But with social media , more and more got to know about it and are trying to end all these animals cruelty. The Indian officials are cracking down and trying to stop the transportation of animals for this festivals. It is good that the number of animals slaughtered during the Gadhimai festival has dropped sharply over the years. The Yulin Dog Meat Festival, which happens every year is a gruesome display of the dog meat trade. Chinese officials are doing their best and discouraging people from eating dog meat which is harmful in long term. Recent years there has been a drop in the consumption of dog meat in the China. Many people are aware of the abuses and torture of those poor dogs before been kill as meat. Looking at those pictures in the articles, tells a thousand words of all the suffering of these animals in the moment before death.
Thank you Rinpoche and Shakila Rajendra for this sharing raising awareness of animals been abuse , torture and so forth.
Your Next Meal!
Yummy? Tasty? Behind the scenes of the meat on your plates. Meat is a killing industry.
https://video.tsemtulku.com/videouploads/comment-1559986650.mp4
This is Daw
This is what they do to get meat on tables, and to produce belts and jackets. Think twice before your next purchase.
https://video.tsemtulku.com/videouploads/comment-1559986627.mp4
Don’t Take My Mummy Away!
Look at the poor baby chasing after the mother. Why do we do that to them? It’s time to seriously think about our choices in life and how they affect others. Be kind. Don’t break up families.
https://video.tsemtulku.com/videouploads/comment-1559986609.mp4
They do this every day!
This is how they are being treated every day of their lives. Please do something to stop the brutality. Listen to their cries for help!
https://video.tsemtulku.com/videouploads/comment-1559986591.mp4
What happened at Fair Oaks Farm?
The largest undercover dairy investigation of all time. See what they found out at Fair Oaks Farm.
https://video.tsemtulku.com/videouploads/comment-1559988165.mp4
Humans have so many ways to kill another being. Why did Humans even have the rights to take another’s precious life? It matters not whether it is human or animal, it is still a life mean for living. It is so clear how karma play such a strong role in our thoughts and actions that it will continually propel us to commit more negative actions until we are trapped just like the beasts, being pulled by the nose to go this way, act this way or that way. We could just simply take responsibility by stop creating the cause for the animals to die, and that is to stop eating meat, stop using leather or pelt, stop treating animals as sport or to fill our boredom. Please be kind and out yourself in their lives (which you will be if you were to gain rebirth in their realm). Thank you Rinpoche for constantly sharing with us to make us aware of the sufferings of others and how we can just start by a change of diet or things we buy.
It is very sad looking at the pictures. All I can say is that the killing is merely for human satisfaction and bring no benefit to other beings. Human kill for fun in Spain and for the excitement on hunting in South Africa, kill shark for the fins, kill seal for the fur, kill animals for religious ritual and etc. Why kill beings that can’t even speak and protect themselves? It is not enough to just create awareness but I think we would need government intervention to stop this cruel activities. Everyone has opportunity to stop killing animals as we are all part of the world
This is great to know Indian government supported for not sending the animals to Nepal for the Gadhimai Festival. Gadhimai Festival is being practiced for over 250 years and this is first time being canceled in July 2015 by the Nepal’s temple. The related parties made the right choice as they have save many lives of the animals.
I sincerely hope to see the Yulin Festival in China, the Running of the Bulls in Spain and many other cultural activities that may harm the animals will be stopped. May more people empathy for animals and understand the animals can feel pain too.
Thank you Rinpoche and Shakila Rajendra for sharing this article which is good to promote vegetarianism, raise awareness about animal abuse and empathy for animals.
I remember watching Earthlings here on the blog and also a video presentation by Gary Youforosky, he mentioned that there is Holocaust happening to animals on planet earth on a daily basis.
I hope as more people are aware of the pain that animals are experiencing, and from there they will apply pressure to countries and nations that are condoning such practices.
I cannot come into terms as to why humans have to massive kill animals during celebrations of certain celebrations. What sort of significant value does it bring to the celebration that resulting of killing of animals? Many of these are actually carried down from tradition and i will be bemused if the reason given was to supposedly to signify human’s success or superiority. We cannot live alone in this planet and haven’t we as humans already a conqueror of earth already? So i feel these so called practice should be put to a stop already.
Thank you Shakila for these reports, these senseless killing of animals is something we must all help to curb. Some people do it to whet their appetite because they want to experience the taste of wild animals, some for sports, and some to satisfy their superiority over the weak, of course there are far more reasons why human resort to killing of animals.
Many years ago when I was at a younger age I used to love fishing and we would normally hire a fishing trawler in the East coast of Peninsula Malaysia and we would go to deep sea for a couple of days. It was really fun being at nowhere in the middle of the sea and with no mainland in sight; it was just us, our fishing rods and the baking sun. The bountiful catch was marvelous to say the least and every day the owner of the fishing trawler would cooks for us. It is exhilarating to get away from it all fun, sun and relaxation but sadly now that I am on spiritual paths and reflected back on these unbecoming misdeeds it really gives me goosebumps.
There were about five of us and our daily catch far exceeded our needs and very often we would sell it to other fisherman but the frightening thing is those fishes that I caught would end up next to me taking them out from the hooks and seeing them struggling and flipping in pain on the deck in the baking sun and eventually dies. What is sad about it is that those fishes would not closed their eyes and kept looking at me each time I turn my head to look at them. I would imagine now these fishes that I caught would be looking at me with perhaps anger, fear, pain and maybe revenge on their mind.
Well, I have stopped fishing for so many years now and turned vegetarian for about ten years after that perhaps trying to pay off my little crime of fishing to satisfy my human thirst for action, glory and a good feeling.
I really don’t understand why human wants to kill lives for celebration. Its totally cruel and inhuman. What a nonsense culture! creates so much negative karma as well. Sad!! But we hope with the power of social media we can easily let the world know and spread the awareness to stop all these cruel acts.
Animal cruelty has been a culture in some countries for many centuries. This doesn’t mean it’s right to create suffering on to other beings. Billions of animals die because of humans. Animals are killed for food, entertainment, rituals, and clothing. We are the most dangerous beings on the planet if we think about it. There is no other beings that kill so much. The irony is we all want world peace and happiness.
We are not creating the collective karma for that at all. Hopefully with more awareness and getting people to think from the perspective of the animals, some compassion may arise to stop the killing and torture of animals.
We must fight against the spirit of unconscious cruelty with which we treat the animals. Animals suffer as much as we do. True humanity does not allow us to impose such sufferings on them. It is our duty to make the whole world recognize it. Until we extend our circle of compassion to all living things….
Thanks Shakila Rajendra for sharing to bring awareness to the sufferings done to animals around the world. Imagine, these are only some of the horrible events being highlighted, there are still many more still happening without our knowledge..
I have seen a dog which rescured by a friend from puppy mill, with it’s hind legs paralysis. She can only dragging herself with the strength of both front legs. I have witnessed killing of buffalo in Tana Toraja Indonesia as part of their funeral rites, the sacrifice of animals is believed it can help the deceased to go to their land of soul.
As drinking shark fin soup is part of the culture where I live in, with many without knowing how cruel it is to cut off it’s fin while the shark is alive and throw the shark back to the ocean..Many still will have shark fin soup for their banquet, for the soup shows the status and “generousity” of the dinner host. This is pretty ignorance by doing so..
In my opinion, it’s very sad that the people who involve in these horrible acts don’t think animals are living being, they don’t think animals have emotion and can feel pain. Their view about the tradition and culture did not change with the time. They are ignorance about the welfare and rights of animals, and think the horific acts are just “normal”; because they do not value the life of animals as important compare to their tradition, culture and monetary gains.
It is so horrible and ridiculous that such terrible things can be done in the name of tradition and such a wide-scale terrible thing can be looked over by the whole world. I believe that if this made it to the main stream media, it would be torn down in days.
So, why doesn’t it? We should share this article on social media and try to bring this to a better light. All those poor animals are being slaughtered and they are being lost in such a massive go. It is so terrible. Help them, save them. Share this article.
The pictures are heartbreaking. Unfortunately it is true, the world does not want us to know about this. The suffering and cruelty against animals is beyond imagination. We have to create awareness and end those barbaric practices.
Thank you for compiling this information so that more people know what is happening.
Human, in their quest to satisfy their insatiable desire for pleasure will stop at nothing, including inflicting pain and torments on animals. The cold hard fact of these all is how human turn a deaf ear / blind eye despite the awareness of these cruelty circulating on TV, social media, magazines etc. Playing ignorance and sheltering the conscious from doing the right thing has a hardening effect, in a bad way. Over time, we will be numb and cold, and harder to generate kind feelings for the animals. Hence it is better for us to start doing something now, to act out on the little compassion that we have, so that we can stop the vicious karmic cycle one step at a time.
Thank you Rinpoche and Shakila Rajendra for this article.
Humbly, bowing down,
Stella Cheang
It is very heart sickening to see these animals being harm because of the ignorance and for own desire. From dinner plate, to medical test, from entertainment to cultural, animals are being use for the benefit of human beings. The only sound they could make is the crying before death or during the torturing. They could not tell human how painful the feeling was.
From using the reasons of traditional, to the benefit of human being, we just commit crime without any thinking it is really that necessary to kill the animals? For Example Shark Fin, for centuries, it has been consumed as a delicacy and consider as nourishing dishes. In fact, shark fin have no benefit at all to human being. It does not have any mineral that really benefitted to human’s health.
I always believed to be truly kind, begin from our own. For example from our taste butt. We can be a vegetarian, by becoming a vegetarian, we are liberate many lives directly, and also save the environment. From our daily usage, we could choose non animal products test, or non animal products to use. Example , avoid animal skin’s beg.
The sad story of the animals being torture can never ended, if we continued to explored animals to our benefit. Animals are sentient beings too.
Thank you Shakkila for this article.
Regards
Freon
I really didn’t know that there was so many other ways animals are getting killed besides the meat industry. I was not really aware of the fact that seals were killed for the sake of fashion. It is not like the parts of the seals sold are cheap, yet people still fork out huge amounts of money to buy them. What’s more, the waste products are simply thrown wherever convenient some of the waste products are harmful to the environment those waste products may end up getting into our bodies and cause damage to our bodies.
Environmentalist should not just normal industrial factories, but also slaughterhouses. Slaughterhouses can dump a huge amount of harmful waste into rivers and lakes which will indirectly or directly harm us.
I really hope that all these cruel practices will end soon before too much harm is done.
Animals shouldn’t be slaughtered by any means just for our own use. Animals have the right to live a life like us too. Animals should be taken care with love.
Thanks Rinpoche and Shakila for sharing these heartbreaking truth that still happening in daily, monthly, seasonally and annual basis.
I was not an animal lover until I watch the documentary “Earthling” that recommended by Rinpoche. Before that I used to think human is in higher rank than animals in terms of intelligence, but the documentary changes my definition to animals and reveal how our human demands cause to their sufferings. It’s the same for 10 crimes that mentioned in the post.
Most of us living a fast pace and “civilized” life where we easily use animal products out of convenience, to be fashionable, to show social status and so on. We focus so much on what we want and a lot of us didn’t aware about our demand is the main cause to the animal massacre.
Not everyone able to start a huge project to against the 10 crimes above, but what everyone can do is to stop taking meat, stop using animal products. Please be a vegetarian today and share with others why you do so. We need more people to be conscious for others pain to stop cruelty to animals.
Thank you.
It’s so heartbreaking to read all the article of animals got cruelty abuse. Thank you for bringing the awareness article of animals suffering in the world.
I wish everyone may read this article and realized how to care the animals suffer and more understand the values of lives of humans nor animals.Animals and Humans are equally.
It’s time for us to become vegetarian and educate the young generations how to loves the animals and environment care.
Thank you for bringing awareness to the sufferings of these animals, some of which are less well known than others. I have always found it shocking that people would not only turn a blind eye but even condone and revel in the brutality of animals in pain. Having once rescued a dog from a puppy mill, I have personally witnessed the long term effects puppy mills have on the poor dogs ensalved inside. From extremely poor nutrition to deformities in their limbs, weakness in the joints and an inability to move without limping, these are all a result of the devastating conditions inside the puppy mills. But worst of all is the irreversible impact on the minds of these poor dogs. No matter how much love and care is given to them after their rescue, a part of them is still affected by their horrific experience during the earlier part of their lives.
I am also surprised but glad to see the inclusion of #5. I know some people who have many dogs, too many to give each of them the love, care and attention that they need. Yet they do not realize their pets are suffering by their own hand and continue to “collect” more and ore dogs, thinking that they are doing a good thing when in fact they are creating more suffering. I hope more people will read this article and realize that the actions we take, be it adopting a new dog, buying a fur coat or sitting down to a bowl of shark fin soup, can have profound implications to the life of another living breathing being.
It is really hard to imagine the amount of unjustified cruelty humans have been putting towards animals.
It is really depressing to see all these animals being inhumanely tortured and even slaughtered for the pleasure and enjoyment of humans. We have really gone overboard at the way we are treating animals.
What we need to understand is that animals have feelings like we do, when we hurt them they will feel pain. Humans need to stop “using” animals in such a way, whether if it’s for monetary gain or for religious traditions. We need to understand that animals don’t just exist on Earth for us to exploit them.
Thank you Shakila for writing this article, may more people become aware of this.
In the pursuit to satisfy sensory pleasures, people conveniently fail to see that the pain caused to the animals who like humans, are also living beings capable of emotions and feelings. The very fact that such gruesome activities are still perpetuated to date, goes to show the dangers of ignorance and the self-cherishing mind. It is a heartbreakingly sad state where one’s desire for temporary fleeting sense of happiness trumps the importance of another life and blinds one to the reality of cruelty that one is actually inflicting. And not to mention the negative karma that entails.
Thank you for sharing this insightful post. Hopefully by highlighting such atrocities which brings more attention and awareness, positive changes can be compelled to take place.
Buddhism is said to be universal, not confined to any country or particular nation. If permitted to say so, it is, as described “Super-nationalism”. As buddhist around the world, we all have experienced and know sufferings, and the ways in which we can find happiness. But, for such “horrific things happening to animals all for the sake of human tradition, cultural belief of simply for monetary gains,” as what Shakila Rajendra has explored, should not be allowed to be kept under the radar as said! As our great Gandi has said, “The greatness of a nation and its moral progress can be judged by the way its animals are treated.” Compassionate New Zealand has taken its great start and lead to change people’s perception and feelings towards animals, in discarding its veils of how the animals were viewed and classified as “inferior for exploitation, torture and entertainment,” inclusive of being eaten up too! As Rinpoche said, Just because they were born into conditions that they had no control, they were traded like commodities! Just as New Zealand has taken the lead in this incredible humane precedent to treat all animals as sentient sentient beings which have the same feelings like we do, hopefully the WORLD will follow this lead! “For the benefit of all beings, may beings everywhere who suffer torment in their minds and bodies, have by virtue of any merits, Joy and Happiness in boundless measure! Om Mani Padme Hung.
Thanks, This bring us more awareness of how much unjust can be done to these animals and in such a unbelievable scale. I believe if many of these “humans” understand and able to comprehend that animals feels pain and the value of lives irregardless of animals or human , is another sentient being, they would be more compassionate. I hope with this article would make more ponder and become more aware about the atrocity of human towards animals and change, influence against such cruelties.
Thank you Shakila for this article. Is very depressing to look at all these animals being abuse and kill, we human is the most cruel one because whoever who did all these inhuman act they never for once consider the pain and fear that they have inflict to all these animals awareness is needed to stop all these cruelty act others wise it will never end another important thing to do is education we need to educate our children about animals cruelty teach them to be kind and love to animals not to abuse them.
It is very heart wrenching to see all these poor and helpless animals being killed for religious tradition, for human consumption or for monetary gain. Hope this post can bring awareness to the people around the and also at government levels to put a stop to this kind of cruelty to animals. Thank you Rinpoche for sharing.
Humans have the potential to bring a myriad of results, and unfortunately these results can be either positive or negative. Due to our own mental defilement, to satisfy our ego and ignorance, we often do things that subjugate those we perceive as ‘weaker’ than us in order to feel a form of superiority and benefit from other’s subservience or at the expense of another. The above list on the slaughter of animals that continue until this day makes anyone who has some sense of conscience cringe at it’s cruelty. While these examples are something of large scale, lets not forget how our daily conduct is exactly similar on a daily basis, though on a smaller scale…
I guess karma can be a vicious cycle. As the victim dies in this terrible way, be it human or animals, they may carry that anger of being tortured/killed and thirst for revenge into their next life. This thirst may drive them to cause harm to others or at worst, to kill. Now the victim becomes the killer and as the killer reinforces his thirst for killing, he may carry the attachment of killing into his next life.
The thing is, even as the 1st victim may carry the deep thirst of anger, his own victim may not be the perpetrated killer of his precious life. Therefore, a new victim will suffer the revengeful anger. Thus the vicious karma of pain and suffering grows exponentially with each lifetime. Wars are built on many things and I feel that anger is a strong factor as those perpetrator of wars would have some deep seeded anger to be able to attack and kill others. Some feel the joy of killing as we can see from terrorist videos.
The way to stop this is to understand the sufferings of others and not contribute towards any form of killing/sufferance. If we were to stop eating meat, then the demand will reduce leading to less farmed animals or hunting. If we were to stop looking to satisfy our blood thirsty “sports” then the animals won’t suffer the terrible fate. Being a Buddhist, it is practising compassion by being mindful of how our lives impact on another’s lives. From the food we eat, the things we wear, the things we use, even the step we take (not stepping on some tiny creatures like ants, slugs, etc.) May we examine our very lives to check if we are the contributing factor towards the sufferings of animals in this world.
Thank you Shakila for this article that created the awareness of sufferings we as human imposed on other living beings.
Its very sad to see those terrified faces as they are to be slaughtered. Animals feel as we do and suffer as we do. What right have we to take the lives of these beautiful animals in such cruel ways .
Its time to embrace vegetarianism and educate more people to become vegetarian .
It is so upsetting to see that so many animals had died just for our leisure. It is truly heartbreaking to see that we humans are still carrying out these gruesome crimes even though we are aware of how much deaths we have caused. What makes it worst is that we try to justify ourselves by giving reasons, blaming it on cultures, traditions, etc., instead of raising awareness and trying our best to stop these heinous acts.
We should all be more aware of what’s happening in the world, as we are the ones revolving around the world. By putting our ego aside, we will slowly understand how we are able to make a change for a better future that doesn’t require any harm, abuse or the murder of any beings.
Thank you for sharing this important post and to help raise our awareness on how ignorant we are. I hope that many people would have a change of heart and be more aware about the cruel things happening around the world.
It is indeed gut-wrenching to see the images of animals being cruelly killed for the pleasure of human being. It is bad enough that they are slaughtered for food. Many abattoirs have tried to find a more humane way of slaughtering these animals for food. But, taking a life is still taking a life. If we can, we should eat less meat.
But activists like Shakila Rajendra are trying to make a difference in the world. There are others like those involved in Greepeace. But, unfortunately, as with all human activities, when the group gets too big and successful, the objectives and motivation will change.
Thank you for bringing the senseless killings to the attention of the world at large.
It is indeed very sad to see such cruelty towards animals. I was part of the guilty parties in this equation until I become vegetarian. There are many so-called traditions which have expired due the the knowledge acquired, and pressured put onto the people who practice the “traditions”. For example, slavery has been practiced for thousands of years, but eventually that has become illegal. With the social media and the widespread of information, we can definitely help to end some of the animal sufferings. (At lease we use the social media for some good cause)
It is also important to educate our next generation not to consume meat, for the welfare of our next generation. As most of us know, being vegetarian is now an environmental matter (no longer a spiritual or health matter). The amount of greenhouse gas produced by animal farming is raising, and it must be stopped at the government level.
I pray more and more people will become vegetarian and less animals will suffer just because they need to be sacrificed to be on our plate.