At the end of my previous post, I had promised to share some actions steps that you can take to help out the animals in our lives. So here it goes…
Do Your Part
If you care, and you should- read here why, even a little bit about animal rights, here are some things you can do:
Encourage people to adopt
If you know someone who wants a pet or you are looking to get a pet for yourself, please do not shop. There are so many animals in need, looking for a home and most shelters are overcrowded- but they do not get a chance at a life, because Status beats Competition. Adopting fixes so many problems- It gives a new life to an animal in the shelter or on the street, it clears up the space for animals who need it more, it discourages unregulated breeding of Pedigree Animals and gives you a friend for life. When you go to a Pet Shop, you support cruelty in ways you are unaware of- Most of the pet shops are not registered, the animals are bred in the worst of manners, not provided for, exploited and live out their short lives in pain, not knowing of love. The best way to do your part is simply to Adopt.
Spay and Neuter your pets and stray animals
Yes, you heard that right. One way to ensure that we don’t have an increasing number of homeless kittens and puppies is to take this step. Please put your ideologies aside, of how this is wrong- it is not. Do your research. Read up on why it is healthier for them and make that choice.
If you are a pet owner, your vet can do the procedure. Different vets charge different amount for it but generally male neutering is cheaper that the female spaying since spaying is an invasive surgery. Your pets will need from anywhere 3 days to a week to recover and will live peaceful long lives. It decreases the risk of many diseases and ensure that there are no puppies or kittens looking for homes.
However, if you want to spay and neuter stray animals in your locality, many organisations run a subsidised program or TNR program i.e. Trap-Neuter-Release program. Find details here.
Donate and Volunteer at Organisations
There are many organisations that run shelters, foster programs, provide medical aid to wounded animals and much more. Donate to these organisation in cash or in kind or volunteer. Taking out 4–6 hours in a month can take some stress from these organisations. You can find out a list of organisations working for Animal Rights and Protection for your location here.
Foster
Want a pet but not sure of the long term commitment? Foster. When you foster, you relieve the space in the shelter for animals that need it more and you also get to help them finding their forever homes. Many a times fostering even help you make a decision for if you should get a pet or not.
Report Animal Cruelty
This one is crucial. While the penalty may be minimal, but calling out animal cruelty is something all of us should do. Even if that means, calling out children on the street who are teasing the puppies or throwing stones at them. If you see any other instances, of someone treating their pet wrong, leaving them locked out or chained for long duration of time, starving them, or someone hurting the stray animals, call them out. You can call many of the Animal Helplines for the same or report it to authorities. Here is a great PETA India Post on what to do when you see animal abuse or animal cruelty.
Take Care of Animals in your Locality
I see many families and people with good intention feeding animals the leftover sweets, Parle-G biscuits, cooked vegetables- that’s not what animals eat or can even digest. If you want to give them something, here are some of the cheap healthier options- boiled rice, roti, bread, eggs. For birds, leave out some grains like bajra along with a bowl of water.
Other ways to take care of them, get them vaccinated. Leave out water in summer, and old sheets and blankets to sleep on in winter. Do not burst crackers during Diwali or put colours on them during Holi. Do not fly kites using manjha. It’s easy. Be a decent human.
Share information
Talk to your family about all of this, share information with your friends, with children, with people in your neighborhood. When you see an adoption post on Social Media, hit Share. Just do it. Learn more. Have discussions, seek out help with people who know more than you. There are many FB pages that put up adoption posts and recommendations, like them, share them.
Remember, being kind doesn’t take a lot. It’s the little things. Do as much as you can do- it goes a long way.
Until Next Time
