In response to the nationwide call to rally support for the dogs captive in pounds in Hyderabad by the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation, Animal Aid Charitable Trust founder Erika Abrams presented information to 40 students (age 18-22) in two Udaipur, Rajasthan college-level learning centers (Advent College and in a private tuition facility). Erika explained the constitutional duty to show compassion to all living beings, and discussed the important obligations citizens have to ensure that the animals in captivity–whether in zoos, municipal pounds, dairies or in NGOs–are provided basic rights.
These rights include the right to good food and medical care, the right to socialize with others of their kind; the right to be given reasonable space for movement, and to exercise their natural instincts. These rights are violated in many institutions in the world, and to highlight the tremendous role ordinary citizens can play in ensuring animal welfare is achieved, the volunteers of Hyderabad were celebrated.
Students were told how volunteers exposed the unacceptably poor conditions to which the animals of the GHMC pound have been subjected, and how the volunteers have come together to appeal to the authorities to improve the practices of staff involved regarding animals held by the municipal corporation. The need to replace pounds across India with active ABC/AR centers was explained, and the duties of Indian citizens to hold authorities accountable to abide by the laws for Indian animals was emphasized.
Students role-played interventions when they observe acts of cruelty but were also encouraged to understand the cruelty of neglect such as is practiced in most zoos. The students were encouraged to follow the lead of Hyderabad activists to ask the authorities in Udaipur, too, to enable volunteers to have access to the places where animals are held captive so that they can play a positive role in striving to continuously improve their conditions.
The places of their captivity were explained: in labs, in government hospitals, in zoos, in pet shops and private homes. The audience was also encouraged to take full advantage of the opportunities ngo’s provide for volunteers to come and learn what animals need so that they can help meet those needs, as Hyderabad volunteers are valiently attempting to do today.
40 people signed a petition urging the GHMC authorities to conduct ABC/AR according to AWBI protocols, and to ensure that the basic freedoms of animals held in captivity in Hyderabad are fulfilled..
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