IN a country where basic human rights for all is still a dream, worrying about animal rights may seem a bit of a stretch to some. However, there are occasions when the neglect and downright abuse of animals is of such a shocking magnitude that it is impossible to stay silent. A photograph carried yesterday in this newspaper constitutes such an occasion, depicting as it does the plight of a pair of white lions from South Africa housed at the Karachi zoo. The female has clearly contracted some sort of skin infection that has left her hide piteously patchy and her skin obviously raw and painful. The male is seated in a way that the condition of his pelt cannot be gauged, but its snout is covered with flies — always a warning sign regarding the health and vigorousness of any animal. According to the report, this suspicion is borne out by the state of the lion housed in the adjoining cage, whose belly was also covered with flies.

All the zoo director, Fahim Khan, had to offer when confronted about the condition of these animals was that it was only the female lion that had “some infection”, and that she was “much better now” after two months’ treatment. Yet, why should he be singled out for censure when the same abuse is repeated in zoos across the country? To give just one other example, the plight of the elephant at the Marghazar Zoo in Islamabad was so dire that the Senate Standing Committee on the Cabinet Secretariat was moved to recommend that he be shifted to a sanctuary abroad. There must be deep pity for animals that are thus transported out of their natural habitats, to be housed in facilities that may not have the interest or the resources to look after them properly. Given this institutional failing, the country needs to start the debate on shutting down those zoos where the neglect of animals is rampant. It is high time.

Published in Dawn December 29th, 2016