Burn the Cages

In Europe, apart from a lot of cultural differences, I have noticed a lot of differences in the ways they perceive things, their emotional quotient and practical aspects of their living. We cannot ignore the inimical aspects of western society but the love and soft corner they have for animals is the most perceptible thing I have noticed so far. They give an equal or it would be more justified if I say more than equal respect to animals as they have for humans. I have never seen any animal in a cage in their homes. These people from west usually make mock nests for birds on trees outside their homes where these birds never feel abandoned or imprisoned and always feel free.

Unfortunately, it is one of the most common and distressing practice of our people in developing countries that we incarcerate the birds in cages and detract their freedom. Despite of providing food and water for their living and pampering them, imprisoning these helpless creatures just for aesthetics and entertainment of our infants is not justified. If we look back on the few months we spent at our homes during the lockdown due to first wave of Covid19, all of us will realise that despite being provided with all the basic necessities of life including food, water, clothes, electricity etc.?we were so desperate to go outside and hang out with friends and family. Have you ever thought it once that why we were so anguished to go outside? Because we were living our lives against the nature. Our bodies and brains have been made and designed by our creator to explore and conquer the world. Confining our organs in one room made us depressed. We should realise the fact that the birds in these beautiful cages placed at the corners of our rooms goes through such distress emotions every day which we barely experienced for a month or two. The dilemma is, most of us never care about the emotions of these helpless creatures for once. It is obvious that a creature born with wings is meant to fly in the air. Incarcerating them in cages is against the nature and anything which happens against the nature always brings distress. Once I visited few bird shops, I came to know that most of the birds that are born in the cages, don’t even know how to fly. Their fate is confined to being sold by their owners or die in their cages without even enjoying a single flight for which they were supposed to come in this cruel world. We should run campaigns to ban this common practice of putting the birds and animals in cages solely for amusement and aesthetics. These poor creatures are not in this planet to provide entertainment for our expendable happiness.

I remember once I was having juice with my friend at a place nearby my home and we came across a man holding cages of randomly captured Siberian sparrows. He was selling those sparrows just to earn for his living. It was so heartbreaking for both of us as he could have chosen any other mean to earn money rather than capturing those small creatures. I just don’t understand how can someone ignore the yearn for freedom in the eyes of those little birds. They were waiting for someone to give their owner few pennies just to resume their life. Our government and NGOs should act against this practice. Also, visiting the zoos in our country is another heart-breaking moment especially when you see the hopeless animals counting the days of their lives in cages. The yearn in their eyes for freedom always afflict my heart. I always wonder how these poor speechless creatures feel upon seeing the small children roaming here and there freely and enjoying the sight of them being caught in their cages. Government should focus towards building wild life parks and close all the zoos. There are thousands of acres of abandoned useless areas in our country where they should provide a proper space to all the animals by giving them natural habitat. Fenced artificial forests should be constructed where these animals can roam freely and experience the freedom from which they have been abandoned for years. There should be a separate space for birds too where they can be provided with artificial nests and an open sky to fly and enjoy the nature.

Every living being has an equal right to live at its fullest and enjoy in its own habitat. These animals also have an equal right to live freely just like us. They are not born to amuse us by sacrificing their own freedom. We should respect the feelings of every living being as these speechless creatures can’t even utter their emotions in words. We, the human beings, have been given the title of “superior of all the creatures” on planet earth due to a reason. This title came to us with a huge responsibility to think about the comfort and pleasure of all the living creatures dependent on us. We have been blessed with the intellectual power to sense, feel and act according to our own will. I humbly request to all the readers of my post to please use all of your blessings to do something in your own capacity for these helpless creatures at the earliest possible as “little drops of water make the mighty oceans”.

"The truth is I love being alive. And I love feeling free. So if I can't have those things then I feel like a caged animal and I'd rather not be in a cage. I'd rather be dead. And it's real simple. And I think it's not that uncommon." ~ Angelina Jolie