by Srajan Rai
1st Year Law Student at Dharmashastra National Law University, Jabalpur
This blog focuses on the increasing cruelty towards animals and the cruelty that wild animals face due to the change in their natural habitat. The role that social media plays in the trade of wild animals and the international legal frameworks for wildlife crime have also been stated in this writing.
"International treaties like CITES, UNTOC are legally binding, and ratifying countries must accede to them by adopting their terms and incorporating them into national law. To fulfil the goals of each international convention, it is important to first obtain technical conformity with the relevant provisions of these instruments, and then to guarantee that their implementation is successful."
An ecosystem is made up of communities of plants, animals, and other living species, as well as their physical surroundings and their interactions in a specific region. There can be various perspectives on the identification of ecosystems. But the common thing in all the ecosystems is the presence of producers and consumers. Producers consist of plants, algae, and some bacterial species, which convert sunlight into energy through photosynthesis. Consumers include all animals and some fungi, bacteria and plants. Animals play a pivotal role in the ecosystem and a very important in the lifecycle.
Although animals play an important role in the ecosystem but in the current times' cruelty against animals in on increasing pace. In news and in social media we see every day that animals face cruelty in some or other parts of the world. The trend is increasing and is a serious issue to be dealt with.
Animal cruelty is defined as the intentional or negligent harming of an animal. Though some acts, such as animal fighting, are widely acknowledged as cruel, the particular actions considered animal cruelty differ from person to person and nation to country. Animal cruelty laws vary from one country to the next. Cruelty to animals is not limited to a certain set of features. Rather, it affects people of all ages and socioeconomic classes in every state. Men under 30 are more likely to purposefully harm animals, whereas women over 60 are more likely to participate in animal hoarding, according to the Humane Society of the United States.[i]
Identification of Animal Cruelty
Identifying cruelty against animals is not an easy task, due to the vast nature of cruelty. But it can be said that cruelty can either be recognized by the Physical signs of abuse and Environmental signs of abuse.
Physical signs include unexplained fractures, untreated wounds, unprovoked aggression, etc. Environmental signs lack of water or food, lack of shelter, dirty environment, etc. These signs can be used to identify animal cruelty, but it cannot be said that the presence of any one or two signs may necessarily mean animal cruelty.
Having Wild Animals as Pets
In present times, there is a new trend occurring of keeping wild animals as pets in homes. It was present back in times also, but now the numbers have increased. Tigers, jaguars, lions, and elephants are taken as pets by various people. An estimate shows that around 5000 to 7000 tigers have been kept as pets, more than present in the wild.[ii] Keeping wild animals can be problematic both for the owners and for the animals.
Wild animals have developed as autonomous, free-living individuals over millions of years. They have wants, instincts, and behaviours that are inextricably linked to both their natural habitat and a condition of freedom. Forcing a wild animal to spend a pet's life in captivity is cruel and inhumane.
Animals eventually become accustomed to circumstances they would typically shun through the process of habituation. If animals are not treated and maintained appropriately during rehabilitation, they might rapidly become accustomed. Habituation is risky for people and wild animals when combined with the unpredictable nature of wild animals. Habituated animals cannot be released into the wild because they will become a nuisance or a direct threat to people, putting the animals at risk.
How Social Media Glamorises Wild Pets
Exotic pet glamorization in pop culture and social media hides brutality and erroneously legitimises the trade. Hundreds of photographs and movies exhibiting anything from tigers and sugar gliders to ball pythons and turtles can be found on Instagram, YouTube Weibo, and Facebook, with thousands of likes on each post.
We believe these creatures are adorable, but they've been sentenced to a life of misery. Our findings suggest that the 'cute' films that prospective buyers view on social media affect their choice to buy a wild animal: a whopping 15% of surveyed exotic pet owners cited YouTube videos as inspiration for their purchase.[iii]
We all know that the social media market is mainly uncontrolled. Many platforms lack laws prohibiting the live trade, and in some countries, wild-caught animals are openly sold. They have opened the door to unregulated illicit wildlife trade by legalising the trade.
Legal Frameworks against Wildlife Crimes
The international legal framework for wildlife crime is made up of a number of important international treaties and agreements. This framework allows law enforcement and key organisations to coordinate standards and procedures while also laying the basis for international cooperation on wildlife crime issues. The three most important treaties or agreements are:
Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) – It is a legal framework which established rules and prohibitions for the trade-in endangered fauna.
UN Convention on Transnational Organized Crime (UNTOC)
ASEAN Mutual Legal Assistance for Law Enforcement
International treaties like CITES and UNTOC are legally binding, and ratifying countries must accede to them by adopting their terms and incorporating them into national law. To fulfil the goals of each international convention, it is important to first obtain technical conformity with the relevant provisions of these instruments, and then to guarantee that their implementation is successful.
Way Forward
There is an increase in the number of cases of cruelty towards animals, wild animals are being taken as pets which is forcing them to move from their natural habitat to other habitats. This situation is a serious one and therefore requires action against them. Proper rules and regulations should be laid down and a mechanism to report such crimes should be developed so that the animals can be protected and the people committing these crimes should be punished. Also, the international trade of wild animals should be checked and proper rules and punishments should be formed for controlling illegal activities. Animals need to be protected for maintaining the chain of the ecosystem.
[i] Grace Hussain, Animal Cruelty: What you can do Right Now to Prevent it, SENTINENT MEDIA, https://sentientmedia.org/animal-cruelty/ [ii] LIVESCIENCE, https://www.livescience.com/16815-exotic-pets-wildlife-infographic.html [iii] WILD ANIMAL PROTETION, https://www.worldanimalprotection.org/blogs/why-it-cruel-keep-wild-animals-pets
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