Cruelty Towards Crabs

Crab scurrying across beach

When I was small I used to see crabs scurrying across beaches or near water. At that time all I knew about crabs was that if you try to grab them they will pinch you with their claws, so I never tried to grab them. Anyway, I wasn’t interested in grabbing them.

Me and my mum would go for long walks with BNHS (Bombay National History Society). On one walk we went to a stream and the guide showed us how to catch a crab then released it. Then I learnt that people could catch crabs and also eat crabs.

I soon learned that catching and killing crabs is painful for the crabs. A crab isn’t an animal who cannot feel pain. They clearly can feel pain.

So how do the fishermen catch the crabs? Surely they cannot catch the crabs one by one by hand.

To catch the crabs fishermen use several methods. They drag huge nets across the sea beach, ocean floor, river banks and river beds and set traps in the water. Often these two methods catch non-target animals like fish, birds and marine mammals. These non-target animals are thrown back in the water often dead or dying.

The crabs which are caught suffer injuries from rough handling. Many of them have their legs injured or torn off when the fishermen quickly rip them out of the nets. Lots of crabs die each year before even reaching the market.

Crabs are territorial animals so naturally when they are packed in containers they are scared and confused and may start fighting each other.

Crab with its legs torn off

I stay in Panchgani. In Panchgani town people come to sell live crabs. They bring them in a huge crate. When a buyer comes and tells the crab sellers how much crabs  he/she wants they will take out a plastic bag and put the crabs in it and then weigh the crabs in the weighing balance.

But the plastic bags they use are very weak. The crabs are pretty big so they can easily  break through the plastic bags. So what do you think the crab sellers do to prevent the crabs from escaping from the bags?

A clue is that it is very cruel.

Well, the answer is that the crab sellers grab a crab and snap off its legs, then weigh the crabs and put them into the bag.

In many places people don’t break of the crabs legs. But still the crabs suffer a lot.

Another very cruel thing is that how people cook the crabs. They directly drop them into a pot of boiling water and cook them alive. The crab is fully conscious, so it can feel all the pain. It is very painful.

Some people freeze the crab first to put it into a dormant state. But I personally don’t believe in that as the crabs live in pretty cold water so it might not put them in a dormant state. Even if they get into a dormant state they will very much feel uncomfortable until they become dormant.

So to save crabs from all this pain then people should better stop eating them.

Crab in a crate

Birds Want To Be Free

I have always gotten excited by the sight of birds. I love to see them flying around happily. In the place I stay there is a type of bird called paradise fly catcher. It would sometimes come and sit on the trees near my window. I have always been very excited by its sight.

Many people like birds, so they keep them as pets. They keep exotic birds usually. Most people usually keep their pet birds in cages. But do you think these birds like to be kept in cages and not live in their natural surrounding, even if their owners like them a lot?

Most people don’t catch their pet birds themselves. Then how do they get their pet birds? There is a full industry around catching birds and selling birds as pets. In Mumbai city, Crawford market does a thriving business out of birds by selling them. Globally buying and selling illegally caught birds is a billion dollar business. 

But how do bird catchers catch these birds?

There are many ways of how bird catchers catch birds but I am only telling you one way. A bird catcher spreads a net and wounds one bird. The bird catcher then puts the bird in the net. As the bird cries out in fear and pain nearby flocks of birds responding to the injured bird's calls come to its aid. Soon the birds get entangled in the net and the net is drawn in with hundreds of struggling birds. Some birds break their wings from getting stuck in the netting while some others die of fright. Then they are stuffed in sacks one on top of the other because of which many birds die of suffocation.

Many more birds will die during transportation.

60% of birds die before reaching international destinations. This is what scientists estimate. Up to four times as many birds are captured than those that make it to the market.

Many exotic wild birds are getting extinct in the wild because of extensive bird catching. It is said that almost a third of the world’s 330 species of parrots are threatened with extinction due to being caught for the pet trade, combined with habitat loss.

The largest trade of wild birds in the world is in India. All of it is illegal, according to Mrs. Maneka Gandhi.

Anyway, once the birds have been sold then they will spend the rest of their life in cages unless they manage to escape. But would they be able to fend for themselves if they escape?

The poor bird now has to spend the rest of his/her life in a cage without her natural habitat, food, family and freedom.  Also the bird will be frightened, bored, lonely, hopeless and frustrated.

Many people don’t know how to take care of a bird. As a result, the bird will suffer even more.

These pet birds often are just an amusement for children. They are to be thrown out and replaced like a cheap toy. Often children might not be very kind to them. Once again the bird will suffer.

Many people have a desire for exotic birds, but very few people can cope with their exotic needs. As a result when their interest in the exotic bird wears off the birds become a victim of neglect or abuse. They are isolated in basements, passed from home to home, relinquished to a shelter or simply abandoned. Other birds end up in breeding facilities that resemble little more than warehouses.
Caged birds often become aggressive, neurotic and self destructive because of being driven mad from boredom and loneliness. They mutilate themselves,  scream more than usual, pull out their own feathers, bob their head, regurgitate, pace back and forth, peck at cage bars a lot and shake or even collapse from anxiety. 

Clipping wings to prevent birds from injury and to keep them under control is a common practice.

Because of having a horrible life like this the pet birds suffer a painful and premature death. So whoever are keeping pet birds are not only torturing them but giving them a painful and premature death. For example a parrot in the wild usually lives till the age of twenty, but a parrot in captivity is lucky to live till the age of 6 years according to Mrs. Maneka Gandhi.

Birds are always more amazing in the wild than in captivity. If we continue to catch birds for the pet trade than there will be very few birds left in the wild.

So let us stop keeping birds as pets. Birds want to be free, so let us let them be free. That way we can always watch them in the wild happy and free.

The Problems Zebras Face

In Africa there are striped horses who roam the wild free. These wild horses are called zebras. Zebras belong to the horse family.
Zebras have an excellent eyesight and hearing.
Plain zebras, Mountain zebras and Grevy's  zebras are the three main species of zebra. Plains zebra (Equus quagga) are also call common zebra because they are the most common zebra and are geographically widespread.

But what troubles are zebra's facing?
As we all know zebra's are prey to lions, hyenas and to a lesser extent cheetahs, leopards and wild dogs. But this is natural.

But what other threats of extinction are zebra's facing?
The Burchell's zebra is in danger of habitat loss and competition for water with livestock.

Grevy's zebra is the wildest, largest and most untamable of the three main zebra species. Historically they roamed the scrublands of Somalia, Ethiopia, Eritrea and Kenya. Grevy's zebras have suffered a lot of reduction of range. Grevy's zebra are now forced to inhabit semi-arid to arid ecosystems which are dominate by livestock and their owners.
More than 15,000 Grevy's zebras inhabited Africa, a few decades ago, but today less than 2,500 remain.
Habitat fragmentation, loss as more land is converted into agricultural use are the greatest threat Grevy's zebra face. Livestock overgrazing is leading to environmental degradation. The Grevy's zebras compete with the ever-increasing livestock population and agricultural crops for water.

Are zebra's poached?
It is true that zebras are poached. They are poached because hunters want their skin to make blankets, snuggies, carpets, clothing and various other items. They are also poached for their meat.
In Bodhswana the hunting season lasts almost till the rains.
Another cruel fact is that the hunters choose the best and healthiest zebras who have survived the migration, unlike the lions.
But no zebra skin, snuggy, carpet, clothing and blankets will look as good as a wild zebra.

So we should try to stop the poaching of zebras, the beautiful, striped, wild horses of Africa.

About This Blog

Animals have always given us what they can and have served us faithfully. Animals such
as cows and chicken give us food, but now we want more from animals and are being
cruel to them just for our greed.
We have all studied in our textbooks that animals are living things. A living thing needs
food, water, grows, and has feelings. So have we forgotten that animals have feelings and can have pain? It seems so because humans are being ruthless to animals.
This cruelty to animals is worse than a horror movie or book.
When I was nine and a half I watched a movie called ‘Earthlings’. This movie is on animal cruelty. It showed how people were being cruel to animals and some of the images of animal cruelty were so terrible I will always remember them. It showed how some people were even cruel to animals for entertainment, for an example ‘bull fighting’. After watching this movie I decided I must do something to help animals so this is how I started this blog.
I also have made an earlier blog on animal cruelty. If you want to see it refer to this link http://www.animalcruelty-india.blogspot.in/