Taking care of the voiceless

It is pitiful and shocking to learn that the Lahore Safari Zoo has opted to auction 30 of its precious lions, tigers and cheetahs to the highest bidders on grounds of inadequate space and the high cost of maintenance. It is absolutely unimaginable that a country as big as Pakistan cannot provide a shelter in its zoos or space in its forests to wild animals. The act of selling them to private individuals for petty cash amounts to condemning these animals to a lifetime of solitary confinement, torture and brutality at various unchecked private locations.This insensitive and unwise decision should be immediately withdrawn. If the Lahore safari cannot provide a suitable space to a few dozen precious animals, it must think of better alternatives. Giving them to other zoos in Pakistan is one such option. A controlled release in suitable forests is another possibility. Perhaps the Lahore Zoo managers never heard the famous quote by English philosopher Jeremy Bentham: “The question is not, can they reason? Nor can they talk? But, can they suffer? Why should the law refuse its protection to any sensitive being?”Naeem SadiqKarachi

from The News International - Newspost http://bit.ly/2GDWFUd