LAHORE: A protest against violations of animal rights was held outside the press club here on Sunday.

Organised by the Better Pakistan organisation, the protest was joined by animal lovers.

Social activist Sarah Gandapur said the event was actually a peace walk to highlight the issue of animal rights in the country.

“Our campaign ‘Stop Animal Abuse’ seeks to change society’s perception of animals. Donkeys, dogs and wild boars are the unfortunate targets of often extreme abuse in the country’s rallies and protests.”

Talking about an incident of torture of an animal during recent election, Ms Gandapur said it was not the first time that an animal was tortured or killed during a protest, and the practice of bringing helpless creatures out to the large public gatherings – a form of torture for many wild animals in itself – continued with next to no criticism.

Through this campaign, she said, they wanted to educate the people and put pressure on the government pay attention to the issue.

Better Pakistan Chairman Kashf Shah lamented that the country lacked laws to prevent cruelty to animals. He said the campaign was aimed at creating a relationship between humans and animals.

Published in Dawn, August 6th, 2018