The 20th century is not only about reaching the moon, splitting the atom and having a computer in almost every home. It is also about wars, hunger in many parts of the world and the destructive activity of humans. We increasingly watch on television and read in the press about the neglect and extermination of many thousands of animals. Using material from the monthly magazine "Dziewczyna" and reading and watching other publications, I will describe several examples of the torment and mass killing of animals. Thus, in Spain, around 20,000 bulls die each year during bullfights. During the Olympic Games in Barcelona, an additional 8,000 animals died in terrible agony to provide extra entertainment in the Spanish style.
When animals are provoked, tormented and senselessly killed by matadors, crowds in the stands go wild with joy and applaud the murderers. Between 6 and 8 animals are killed during each bullfight. In these barbaric spectacles, the participants are not only men but also children over the age of 14, in accordance with the law. The female bullfighter is the Frenchwoman Maria Sara Bourseiller, who receives ovations in Spain. Under a regulation of the European Community, killing animals in any way other than by euthanasia is prohibited, and severe penalties are imposed for tormenting them. Unfortunately, this bloody practice, sanctified by tradition, continues in Spain. Spontaneously formed organizations and groups protesting bullfighting are now emerging all over the world.
Another example of animal cruelty is sending thousands of horses on so-called death transports. They go through a veritable journey through hell before reaching Italy, France or Germany, where they are killed and processed into pet food or become a culinary delicacy. During the several-day transport, the horses are beaten, starved and die of thirst. The lack of any oversight of the transport causes the suffering of animals that are left at the mercy of the slaughterhouse intermediary. Horse transports are overloaded, causing panic in many animals and leading to aggression that ends in terrible wounds. Dead horses are thrown into roadside ditches. They have broken ribs or severed legs. Often, as a result of beatings, patches of skin, eyes or ears are torn away. Foals are trampled by adult animals. Each year in the United States, 400,000 horses suffer this cruel fate! Despite new protests and proposed legislation, the Association for Combating the Trade in Slaughter Horses does not prohibit intermediaries from carrying out their profession.
Exotic birds—budgerigars, amazons, canaries and exotic finches—are also condemned to mass extermination. Around 40,000 parrots arrive in Germany from Argentina by plane each year. A great deal of time passes from the moment they are caught by poachers in their homeland until they reach customers in Europe. The birds are packed into cramped crates. During transport, they injure themselves by pecking each other fiercely. They die in large numbers from shock, exhaustion and lack of water. Around 20% of the birds die on the way to Europe, and this is sufficient reason for animal-welfare organizations operating alongside the EEC to demand official bans prohibiting the trade in and import of exotic birds into the countries of the European Community.
Whales are also condemned to mass extermination. Harpoons one and a half metres long are used for hunting and pierce their bodies. Explosive tips burst inside their convulsing bodies and tear apart their internal organs. The whales’ agony lasts up to half an hour. A worldwide ban on whaling was in force from 1986. In July 1992, at a meeting of the International Whaling Commission in Glasgow, the ban was not extended. Instead, new quotas were introduced permitting conditional hunting that would not threaten the species. According to experts from the organization "Greenpeace", the decimation of whales is already occurring as a result of pollution of the seas and oceans, the death of plankton and suffocation in drifting leaves. To save the last whales, the ban on hunting these giants must be maintained. In the waters of the seas and oceans, seals, seabirds and dolphins also die in cruel agony after becoming caught in nets drifting during tuna fishing.
Drift nets can be up to 60 km long and more than 15 m wide. Fishing with this method is wasteful. Around 40% of the animals caught, whether alive or dead, are of no use to fishermen and are returned to the sea. For years, environmentalists have protested against fishing with drift nets. European ministers also spoke at a UN meeting in favour of banning the use of "death nets". A law was passed prohibiting fishing with nets longer than 2.5 km in European and international waters. W Szwarzbach, a fisheries expert at "Greenpeace", is certain that only a total ban on fishing with drift nets will protect aquatic life from extinction.
While gathering information about animals, I asked people I happened to meet what they thought about the subject, and they replied: "It is such a shame about these small, tiny, defenceless animals, but that is how it has to be...".
Does it really have to be this way? Are our children to know no whales, horses or parrots? No! Let us join the environmentalists, organizations and groups protesting against the torment and mass extermination of animals. Let us treat animals humanely and let them live!!!