Animal Welfare and Animal Cruelty

Today when I was on the way to office, I saw a horse carriage in the central market bringing so much burden. I felt sorry for that horse. I could see, he was so tired and almost fell to the ground. I was so sad to see he was treated so bad.  If it happens in developed countries which respect  animal welfare, I believe, the owner of that carriage will be put on jail.  I hope one day animal welfare will be ruled here. Animals also suffer as we do. We must fight against  the animal cruelty. Here I put a quote from some philosophers concerning of animal welfare.   "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, humanity will not find peace." — Albert Schweitzer, "The Philosophy of Civilization." "Animals teach children to understand and be respectful to not only animals, but to their friends and family," — Danielle Nelson, New South Wales Animal Welfare League. I also found a good article from Jakarta Globe discussing about animal cruelty by by Alexia Cahyaningtyas. From a young age, we are taught that humans are the rulers of this planet, and that animals are below us. Unlike animals, we are blessed with the ability to think rationally and logically. However, many humans treat animals as if these living things had no value of their own. Animal cruelty is a bad habit implanted in many people's brains since they were young, it's often part of how they were raised. When children are brought up without being taught about empathy toward other living things, when they grow into adults, they will keep treating animals without respect. I remember when I was still in primary school, people used to sell little baby chickens, with their feathers dyed bright colors. A friend of my mother's bought one and it died a couple of days later. The poor thing must have been so stressed out. My worst memory of animal cruelty, which I witnessed as a child, was when a bunch of my seniors were brutally kicking and throwing a poor stray cat inside the school grounds. I quickly asked them to stop, but they all rolled their eyes at me — as if being cruel to animals was a cool thing to do. Some of my friends don't like animals because they are brought up to dislike them, and some friends think that animals are just plain annoying. Some of them claim that cats steal their food, or urinate on their washing, but they have to realize that animals cannot think rationally or logically. They just want food, or a safe place to sleep. It is we humans who have to think of ways to stop this from happening without resorting to cruelty. Maybe we should put our food elsewhere, or discipline the cats with water when they do something wrong. If you hurt animals when you try to stop them from doing something you are being harsh and not using your brain, which means you are just the same as the animal. Some people have pets and treat them like they are a part of their family, but some of them keep them in cramped, uncomfortable cages. Some dogs that live near my house are imprisoned in small cages outside people's houses, apparently because they are too vicious. The only time they meet their owners is when they are being fed. No wonder they are vicious — they have never received any kind of love and affection from anyone. They bark continuously at everyone passing by and they look so bored. What is the point of owning a dog when you don't know how to take care of one? Some people even just dump their pets when they get bored with them, creating problems for their whole neighborhoods. It was reported this week that the Australian government has blacklisted some Indonesian abattoirs due to their cruel treatment of cattle. Some slaughterhouse workers in Indonesia are not well trained, and they are probably raised to believe that these animals only live to be killed and eaten so they think, "What's the point of being nice to them?" In some uncertified abattoirs, cattle are slaughtered with blunt knives — a long, painful death that is inhumane and cruel. What is so hard about sharpening the knives? I believe that every living thing created in this universe has a purpose, and that because we as humans have been blessed with logic and reason, we have the responsibility to be good caretakers. Empathy is the key to it all. We need to teach the younger generation to have empathy toward animals.