Pets on the street, endemics of Baikal, animals in circuses – what problems do they have and how to make their life easier
The material was provided to Trends by the Need Help Foundation.
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The publishing house “Need Help” published a book by journalist Henry Mance “How to love animals in a world created by man.” The author analyzes the relationship between man and fauna from the point of view of ethics, economics and ecology, and also suggests ways to make life easier for animals. In connection with the release of the book, the Need Help Foundation talked to representatives of charitable foundations and public organizations about the problems animals face in our modern country and how they could be solved.
Animals on the street
The best way to help a homeless animal is to take it home. Cats and dogs are pets, companion animals tamed by man. The situation when they live on the street is not normal, because cats and dogs are not adapted to this. In this case, the animals are left to their own devices, they experience a threat to life and health every day, they cannot defend themselves, find food for themselves, and get help if they get sick. Their life on the street is shorter, more dangerous and harder, there is no comfort and safety in it.
Natalia Tsvetkova, coordinator of charitable programs of the RAY Foundation:
“To help an animal on the street, there are many different ways. They require different resources, different participation. You need to look at whether a person has a desire and what opportunities he has. If we walk down the street and see an unfortunate and hungry homeless animal, then the first thing that almost every person can do is feed it and leave water if it is not around. In winter, the water freezes quickly, so it is better to feed the animal with wet food: canned food or pouch (a small bag of foil and polyethylene, such packaging is also called soft).
If we want to feed, this does not mean that we can take expired food out of the house or share a bun. We fed the animal and left, and when he starts having health problems due to inappropriate food, no one will solve them on the street. It is better to buy animal food or give something that cannot harm – meat, offal without spices. Bones, scraps of human food, expired food are not suitable, it is dangerous. It is better to feed in places where there are no crowds of people, this will not attract attention and the animal can eat in peace. After that, it is better to take out the garbage.
There is a financial way to help, that is, donate money to a fund that helps animals. It is well suited for those who do not have the opportunity to help on their own. For example, if it is not possible to look for homeless animals and feed them constantly, or come to a shelter, or take an animal for yourself forever.
Attacks of homeless animals on people are very rare. Homeless dogs that stray in packs are usually wild, fearful, they have a developed instinct for self-preservation. They do not approach people, otherwise they simply would not have survived on the street. They live by the principle “you don’t touch me – and I won’t touch you.” Packs of such dogs live remotely near forests, in industrial zones, in the area of garbage dumps, construction sites. Capture and sterilization services should work in our country, for example, in the Moscow region they work, solving the problems of reproduction of such animals.
Most likely, after an attack by an aggressive dog on a person, we learn that such a dog has an owner who does not follow it, raised it inadequately and used cruelty. The dog may be on its own and have mental problems. This problem needs to be solved by legal means – to hold the owners accountable, to confiscate dogs, to carry out behavior correction with the help of dog handlers, to find other families for them. But this is not being done, there are no such precedents.”
Wild animals in nature and captivity
In 2019, the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES) released the Global Assessment Report on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services. It says that about 1 million species of animals and plants are endangered. Many of them may disappear in the coming decades.
Animals in the wild face different types of anthropogenic pressure. They may vary depending on a particular natural area, but there are also common problems: fires, ecosystem pollution, poaching. For example, for Lake Baikal, the narrowing of the habitat under human influence is not very typical, since the Baikal natural area has a protected status and is a protected system. It prohibits the construction of tourism infrastructure and the conduct of economic activities. Anastasia Tsvetkova, General Director of the Lake Baikal Foundation, spoke about the problems animals living in Baikal and its environs face.
Anastasia Tsvetkova, CEO of the Lake Baikal Foundation:
“Animals are threatened by fires, which are often deliberately created by humans. Unfortunately, they happen in the forests of the Baikal natural area. Fires can have a climatic cause – for example, very hot weather, and fires occur due to drought, and often high thunderstorm activity can be the cause. But there is a problem that is associated with illegal felling of trees. To do this, a fire is artificially created, after which it spreads to protected areas and destroys forests where animals live. In addition, hot weather can further exacerbate the effects of human actions, creating the conditions for the further growth and spread of fire.
Another problem is poaching. Sables, deer, roe deer are of interest to poachers. Despite the efforts of specially protected natural areas employees, poaching groups sometimes succeed in extracting meat and fur.
If we talk about animals that live in the lake and interact with its ecosystem, then there is an anthropogenic factor influencing the habitat. For example, the lack of treatment facilities or the poor quality of those that have already been built in settlements in the coastal zone of Lake Baikal. We conducted a study of the blood of Baikal seals, found heavy metals in it. They enter the lake with sewage along with the rivers flowing into it. This affects the fish, the seal, which feeds on this fish.
It is necessary to build treatment facilities to preserve the unique flora and fauna of Baikal. The more wastewater gets there, the more the quality of the environment changes. Endemics are beginning to be replaced by cosmopolitans – those species that already live in other water bodies and which are sometimes less demanding of the environment. Baikal has a unique water temperature, a unique oxygen composition. Endemics are adapted to the current habitat.
It is necessary to create infrastructure for ecological tourism in national parks. This is necessary for the transformation of wild tourism, which exists now and which also exerts anthropogenic pressure, into civilized tourism with a conscious educational pastime and organized camping.”
Wild animals are also involved in the entertainment industry. According to the organization PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, “People for the ethical treatment of animals”), animals in circuses suffer from training, performances and conditions of transportation. Activists believe that when animals do not train and perform, they are not provided with conditions for a comfortable life. PETA urges people not to go to the circus with animals and draws attention to the fact that there are circuses where animals are not used. According to a 2019 VTsIOM survey, 41% of our country believes that numbers with animals in the circus are not required.
Irina Novozhilova, President of the Center for the Protection of Animal Rights “VITA”:
“The humane, limited use of animals in the entertainment industry is impossible. Circuses are banned in 2022 countries as of 50. Dolphinariums, aquariums are closed. We see that the institution of zoos is changing. More and more programs to transfer animals to the reserves of reinforced concrete walls. In our country the situation is more complicated. We are behind.
There are steps that the state takes in response to the formed public opinion regarding something. Public opinion has formed – opinion polls show that people began to treat circuses with animals differently. The reaction from legislators has been very lackluster so far.
Nothing prevents a person from getting away from cruelty completely. The number of vegans and vegetarians on the planet is approaching a billion, which means that not only is it possible to live this way, but we also live luxuriously.”
Animals used in agriculture
People who do not eat or use animal products are called vegans. There is also vegetarianism – in this approach, people do not eat meat, but they can consume some animal products. PETA believes that factory farming harms animals and the planet, and that animal products can be safely replaced with plant-based ones.
According to the UK National Health Service (NHS), most of the nutrients can be obtained from a varied and balanced vegan diet. If you don’t plan your diet properly when going vegan, you run the risk of becoming deficient in calcium (found in dairy products), iron (found in meat) and vitamin B12 (found in meat, fish and dairy products). On its website, the NHS provides a list of foods where vegans can get essential micronutrients and other recommendations for a vegan diet.
Irina Novozhilova:
“You can only refuse [animal products] – this is happening all over the world. They will not humanely treat a creature that is perceived as a cutlet on a plate.
In nature, 50/50 females and males are born. To maintain the egg industry, males are not needed – they are immediately killed at birth and sex recognition. As for the dairy industry, the situation is the same. To prolong the lactation period of a cow, she must be periodically forced to give birth. What will the bulls be for? Traction power – no. As inseminators – also not, for this there is a sperm bank. They go for meat. There is no dairy industry as such, there is a meat and dairy industry.
We are following the path of industrialization, the areas where animals are kept are shrinking. This will lead to even more cruelty. There is no humane exploitation of animals.”