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VRIKSHA is a body for restoration of natural habital of animals. There is FREIENDICOS for animais involved in road accidents. There is Jain Bird Care Centre for sick and injured birds. Various newspapers periodically write for animals. Recently, Delhi TV displayed a Film, "Are we se Insensitive to life?" which depicted the inside of the slaughter houses. October 4th is observed as "World Animal Day". Now, often Runs for Animals are organised.
77. Indeed, massive efforts are going on. But it seems that all organisations stop short of actually demanding stoppage of killing of animals in such an arbitrary style.
78. In fact, now it is difficul to distinguish between the killings which take place for food, and killings which take place for businoss or making a living. In fact a full fledged Meat Industry has come of age with government support. It is all set and ready for expansion, but is not able to take off at a jet spoed because of social prejudices or for cultural reasons. This Industry blames Indian Culture. It draws misplaced comparisons with total trade in meat in world, forgetting Indian cultural base, and laments only 1.2 million tonnes of flesh and export of only 180 crore worth of meat from only 60,000 tonnes of meat. Given the strength and occasion, this industry may at a future date may complain of shortage of animals, in this land which takes pride in having world's largos cattle.
79. In this situation two questions arise. First, whether today animals are being killed for food; and Second, whother those are being cater for food? The answers are clear. When animals aro being killed to meet the aspirations and projections of those involved in exports, those are being killed for economic ambitions or for making a living. Likewise, on eating as fooo, H is to be remembered that now the conditions of Stone Age do not exist, nor is the society primitive. Civilisation and agricultural development has taken strides; and conditions of food shortage no where exist, save in areas where still civilisation is yet to see the light of the day. In this space Age, when poople have enough of everything in big cities, villages and towns, ordering of animals in hotels or houses is not for Survival, but for taste or pleasure alone; or to get along with the fashion or vague norms, which consider diels without meal as domain of eccentric, the bizzare or the deranged or the poor and pitiable ones. The fact that people consume animals for taste is also corroborated by the fact of comparison of various basic elements in plant based food or milk. If one were to go for food value alone, one would on pure economic prudence will go for more food value; at less money value in plant based foods. But this is not so. Now, of course, vegetarianism is becoming a household word. People also do not always go for animal food for health or nourishment reasons. If that were so, the 70 major diseases well documented in medical sciences, associated with various organs of slain animals, would have made the flesh the dirties thing on earth to louch.
80. This Court cannot enter into this aspect of debate to pursuade or dissuade on such grounds except based on legal relationship between citizens and living creatures. However, it is interesting to note that some of the Historys outstanding figures have found it morally objectionable, because to do so necessitates killing animals. Such figures include Leo Tolstoy, H.G. Wolls, Albert Einstein, George Bernard Shaw. Albert Schweitzer. Mahatma Gandhi, Henry David Thoreauu, Ralph Walde, Emerson, Richard Wagner, Charles Darwin, Benjamin Franklin, Voltaire, Sir Issac Newton, Leonard de Vinci, William Shakespeare and in early Rome and Greece, Virgil. Hoace, Plato and Phythagoras.
81. Of course, vegetarianism has also been the rule rather than exception among the World's great spiritual teachers. On pure consideration of economics of production of animal protein, vegetarianism has been advocated on the grounds of economic pressure of feeding the World Expanding population. It is said that from the perspective of land use and efficiency of agriculture, producing meat is much more expensive than producing vegetables food. A beef cow must be fed 21 pounds of
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