Animals and Compassion

Man – an animal

Animals are just like human beings. As a matter of fact, even human beings are just like animals. Only they are more evolved mentally and physically than animals.

Animals just like human beings – only less evolved and lacking speech.

The poor animals have the feeling of pain, cold, heat, etc. just like us. Only they cannot speak, as they have no power of speech which we, the human beings have. Had they had this faculty of speech, they would have told us about their miseries which would have touched our hearts and emotions.

There are certain societies like the Society for Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (SPCA) and others. They are, no doubt, doing much work to spread the culture of mercy to animals. But it is the duty of all of us to be conscious of this human compassion which should be extended to animals just as we would like to have it for human beings.

We get milk from some animals like the cow, the goat, and the buffalo. In desert areas, the milk of the she-camels is also used as milk of other milch animals.

Use of animals

Some animals like the asses, the donkeys, the mules, the camels, and sometimes even the horses are used as beasts of burden. The oxen and sometimes the bulls and bullocks are used to draw carts. Horses draw tongas. In Greenland and some other countries, reindeer and dogs draw wheel-less carts on the snow. In Tibet and snowy regions of the Himalayas, yaks which look like bulls draw carts and carry heavy loads on the snow and over the hills.

Animals are very useful to us in many other ways. We eat the meat of certain animals and birds like goats, chickens, partridges, fish, etc. Some people eat pigs and others take beef. Even frogs, snakes, and snails are eaten in certain parts of the world and similar is the case with sparrows, rats, and other small creatures.

In almost every country there are slaughterhouses which are officially and legally allowed. Most of the people of the world are non-vegetarians. Even in India, it is estimated that about 70 percent of the people are non-vegetarians. In cold countries of the West meat-eating is a regular habit or custom.” In many countries meat is eaten because cereals and vegetables are scarce.

Mercy and compassion

The latest findings of science reveal that a vegetarian diet is the best diet. If still, some people prefer to take meat, they should at least be compassionate in slaughtering the animals in a merciful way which causes them the least pain and torture. We should always keep compassion in our minds while dealing in any capacity with human beings or animals.