International Animal Rights Day – December 10th
Each year on December 10th during International Animal Rights Day, animal rights advocates around the world seek to persuade people that kindness and respect are owed to all sentient beings. Petfix Club concurs with this ambition: we humans have a responsibility to look after animals that we encounter, and those that live under our care.
We have a duty to ensure that animals are kept free of fear and pain, and that they enjoy lives that are worth living.
It’s difficult to argue a case against good care for animals as the bare minimum for a civilised society. Science has proven, time and time again, that animals are sentient beings who share many emotions with humans, including fear and pain. Indeed, this view has been broadly accepted by our society as the civilised way of living.
The importance of caring properly for animals is summed up in the Animal Health and Welfare Act that was introduced in Ireland in 2014, enshrining the “five freedoms” as compulsory “rights” for animals under Irish law:
- freedom from thirst and hunger
- freedom from discomfort
- freedom from pain, injury and disease
- freedom from fear and distress
- freedom to express normal behaviours.
Under Irish law, and indeed under European law, it’s illegal to take these freedoms away from animals. People who break the law deserve to be prosecuted; animals deserve this protection. I know that the law is often not properly enforced in Ireland, and that penalties for contravening the law are often far too light. But the law is still there, and rather than changing the law, we just need to get our politicians to do more to ensure that it’s fully and strictly enforced.
At Petfix Club, we are passionate about the importance of caring properly for animals. We want animals to have great lives, and we want to help them to do that. There is just so much joy to be gained from sharing our lives together.
