Daily Times

Sir: Mahatma Gandhi once said, “The greatness of a nation and its moral progress can be judged by the way its animals are treated.” One of the biggest problems we have as a nation regarding animal rights is that many of us don’t even consider violations to be an issue.

There are no statistics on the cost of road accidents but the number of deaths is increasing every day, and one of the leading causes of accidents, apart from speeding, is stray animals. Stray animals such as dogs and cats come under the vehicle and get killed, in some cases derailing vehicles. City administration offices do not trouble their heads about these poor creatures. Stray dogs are ruthlessly killed across the country. As members of a civilised society, we should condemn the practice of stray dogs being killed in this brutal manner.

Perhaps a better strategy would be to follow the methods laid out by the World Health Organisation, as under the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act 1890, there is a penalty for cruelty to animals, punishable with a fine and imprisonment. It is disappointing, therefore, that this concern has been repeatedly ignored by those in positions to make changes, even though the law states that no animal is to be harmed or killed without reason.

NASIR-UD-DIN SOOMRO

Hyderabad