IN the words of Jeremy Bentham, an 18th-century philosopher, when deciding the rights of a being, the question is not whether they can reason or talk, but whether they can suffer. By common sense, it is palpable that all animals inherently can suffer not only in the same way, but also to the same degree that humans do.

With pleasure, pain, frustration, loneliness, fear and motherly emotions being the common elements between us, it is not too difficult to realise that animals, too, are entitled to certain rights.

When I was seven, my father would take me and my cousins to the Lahore zoo. We would see some peacocks roaming outside their enclosures, monkeys hanging on the branches inside their cages and lions sleeping in their savannas. Clinging to the fence, standing on the first level of the railings, raising our small heals to get a better view of these exotic animals, we always felt like sharing our lives with these living beings.

Living in a small town in Texas, you would witness deer walking up to your house’s front door, squirrels coming to your table for a chunk of food, birds sitting on your shoulders, and ducks quacking around you as you walk them by. All these are sights so rare, almost unimaginable, in Pakistani society.

According to the World Wildlife Fund (WWF), Pakistan is home to at least 177 mammal and 660 bird species, making it one of the most diverse ecosystems in the world. Unfortunately, conservation and rehabilitation efforts are few and far in between. Over the years, the sense of chaos, unrest and insecurity prevailing in society can be seen affecting the lives of animals, too, that are an easy target for us to vent out frustrations. Psychologically, we enjoy a sense of control in our lives by doing so.

The news of a domestic animal forced-fed acid and then made to work is circulating these days on social media. A few months ago, someone in southern Sindh was beaten to death as he uploaded a video of vulnerable houbara bustards being hunted. The illegal hunting occurred despite the fact that the Islamabad High Court has held that animals have natural rights and are entitled to protection under the Constitution. Elephants held in solitary confinement, bears forced to ‘dance’ and the killing of stray dogs; these are not examples of granting natural rights to animals.

State and federal laws usually regard animals primarily as property, so they in turn have little or no legal standing of their own. Globally, anti-cruelty laws stipulate that all animals in captivity be provided with necessities, such as food, water and shelter.

Pakistan has been graded an overall ‘E’ on the world animal protection index with an ‘F’ in government accountability and a ‘G’ in animal protection, which ranks us lower than India and higher than only a few countries where even the human rights situation is abysmal.

To remedy this predicament, the government should improve upon the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act of 1890 with a more focussed approach, especially in zoos. Such regulations must include requirements concerning the handling, feeding, housing and farming of animals, and promote the internationally accepted five freedoms of animals: freedom from hunger and thirst, freedom from discomfort, freedom from pain, injury, or disease, freedom from fear and distress, and freedom to express normal behaviour.

Moreover, it is necessary to create an accountability unit that may ensure animal welfare, protecting the five freedoms of the animals. In the case of stray dogs, adopting a humane stray animal population management system involving ownership, mass vaccinations and reproduction control should be encouraged.

Animals suffer and their internationally recognised rights must be protected. In civilised countries, animals have rights, and these rights are ensured. We live in times where in some parts of the world, animals enjoy more rights than humans.

It is time our society learnt to give rights to the weak, including animals.

Muhammad Ali Falak
Texas, USA

Published in Dawn, December 12th, 2022