There are few things more contemptible than wanton cruelty towards defenseless animals.
While we would like to believe that, as Bangladeshis, we have eliminated or greatly reduced the scourge of animal cruelty through numerous recent laws and legal provisions, believing so would be living in a fool’s paradise.
Despite being made a criminal offense; animal cruelty is still quite prevalent in our society, its most recent manifestation being several dogs being culled in broad daylight earlier this week in the capital’s Mirpur DOHS area.
A criminal offense, the culling of stray dogs is still prevalent in the various DOHS neighbourhoods across the city according to animal rights activists, as they remain exempt from the ban being under the jurisdiction of the Cantonment Board.
However, that is no excuse.
Setting aside the legal argument against animal cruelty, harming defenseless animals is immoral and goes against every definition of what it means to be human. As such, any dog culling action needs to be investigated by the DOHS authorities without any delay.
Despite the recent passing of the Animal Welfare Act, stray animals continue to face cruelty of various forms across the nation, whether it be dogs being culled en masse, or being subjected to random acts of violence on the streets.
What is worse is that the perpetrators almost always seem to get away. Despite the 2014 law, there have only been two animal cruelty cases which saw any sort of concrete judgment.
A nation’s progress isn’t only defined by economic advancement alone, it also depends on its humanity and willingness to treat other living creatures with kindness.
On that front, we still continue to fail miserably.
