Veganism As a Dynamic Trendsetter: Need for Amendment of Animal Laws in India

Gandhi is not the first name that vegans might think of as helping to launch the movement, and yet he did, on November 20, 1931, in London to be precise. But, Gandhi’s principles gave rise to veganism though he did not call it ‘veganism’. This was mainly to put an end to cruelty in case of dairy industry, where the females are mainly reared for the sole purpose of milk production and the males are slaughtered for meat.

In the midst of shocking news reports that have stated death of babies due to starvation and vegan diet ,Vegan trend quadrupled in the 5 years between 2012 and 2017, according to Google search and India took the first spot with veganism encompassing 27% of the population While the concept of vegetarianism can be traced back to ancient Greece, in particular to Pythagoras and his followers, the history of veganism is seemingly far more recent. In 1944, vegetarians who consume no animal or dairy products began calling themselves vegans.A vegan as defined by Merriam Webster’s dictionary is “ a strict vegetarian who consumes no food (such as meat, eggs, or dairy products) that comes from animals also as one who abstains from using animal products (such as leather)”. Veganism when analysed superficially may come across as a possible solution to the current exploitation of animals and thus enable a co-existence between man and nature. Instead if the entire world managed to turn vegan, billions of farm animals which formed their source of food might end up being slaughtered, abandoned, committed to the care of sanctuaries if they are not able to return and survive in their actual habitat from which they had been originally extricated. A number of animals including boiler chickens and cows and sheep that were unnaturally bred at a large rate to meet the constantly growing demand for their meat may be unable to survive when returned to original conditions . Hence, one could safely attempt to infer that the problem of animal welfare and peaceful existence requires persevered analysis through sustainable scientific data and equipments. For the time being, the concept of Creation of artificial meat must be developed and promoted to provide an easy alternative to meat as it shows promise of bringing de nova positive developments to the current situation.

Conclusion:

Certain solutions for protection of animal rights and holistic animal welfare, in addition to the ones mentioned in the analysis are comprehensively compiled as follows:

• A Universal Declaration on Animal Welfare (UDAW) would show a global commitment to making the protection of animals a priority. It would inspire international, regional, and national change. It would drive industries that use animals, to protect animals.
• The mismatch between the existence of good laws and their actual implementation adequately reflects our inability to effectively solve the problem of animal rights violations. The cure to this problem involves not only equipping oneself with the practical know-how of the theoretical knowledge but also working alongside the government and likeminded communities to achieve animal protection. Additionally, learning to plan, planning local campaigns, networking, capacity building, and training at the grass root level can bridge the gap between good laws and effective implementation.