Human beings are the species that engage in different acts to exhibit their power over their fellows. It is done in different ways and one of the most appalling ways they have found is to keep exotic animals as their pets and show them off. In Pakistan, the elite class partakes in this culture brazenly and often cruelly. The media is littered with different examples of it and no matter how much of an uproar is created by the masses against this heinous practice, the rich tend to get off scot-free. Just a couple of years ago, a businessman named Saqlain Javed was arrested for taking his pet lion out on the streets of Karachi. The animal was tightly harnessed down in the back of his pickup truck. Senior police superintendent Muqadas Haider explained the basis of the arrest, “The man was driving around with his lion near a local market and it was a matter of endangering public life and property.” The man was later freed on bail and his excuse for tying down the lion inhumanely and parading it out on the streets was that they were coming back from a vet visit. The police commented that Javed has a license for raising lion cubs and even has a personal zoo but did not possess one to transport these animals. The lion was taken back home but and Haider further added, “We have a security detail monitoring the property to make sure the lion is not removed.”
The sad state of affairs in Pakistan is that there are not many laws in place for the protection of exotic animals that are kept as pets. Hence, no matter the level of outrage that was created by the public over the lion being tied down by Saqlain Javed, it did not factor in when the arrest was made.
A few months ago, users of different platforms of social media were livid when a picture of a lion being used as a prop in a wedding photoshoot went viral. The photo was originally callously shared on Instagram by the photography studio doing the photoshoot in Lahore. Soon, it started circulated on many platforms where people started raising their voices against this vile act. The lion club was not chained but seemed to stay in place which suggested that it was drugged. Activists all around the country gathered and labeled it as cruelty against animals.
The studio later issued an apology with the statement that the club did not belong to the couple or the studio itself. When talking to an animal shelter organization named FK Animal Rescue and Shelter, they presented the argument that the club’s owner was the friend of the people who run the studio and happened to be in the studio at the time of the shoot whereupon they decided to use it for a few pictures. The studio further tried to prove their innocence by claiming that the animal was never drugged and does not reside at the studio. They boasted that the owner takes the club everywhere. A spokesperson from the studio tried to reassure the public that they would not be using any animal in their shoots in the future and would try to spread awareness against animal cruelty in their circles.
The above is not an isolated incident; a lion was sedated and chained down on a sofa to be a source of entertainment in the party hosted by a Pakistani influencer named Susan Khan. After seeing the video, Syed Hassan, who has been rescuing animals for some years, lamented, “If you look at the paws of the lion, they are stubbed, meaning they were declawed…. I’ve seen people in Pakistan showing off wild cats in public and social media. I find it messed up that people get pleasure from seeing an animal that is shackled and sedated.”
Many Pakistanis with deep pockets pride themselves on having “personal zoos”. These zoos tend to host several exotic animals; being non-native to the land, these animals tend to suffer a lot. Bilal Mansoor Khawaja is among the people who run his zoo in Karachi. Khawaja’s residence and personal zoo are located in the middle of the populous city of Karachi where he has other species like flamingos, horses, and even zebras. He has been known to proudly photograph himself with his pet ivory lions and more, saying, “These are … (some) of the rarest animals I own” As per Khawaja, the reason behind the captivity of his pets is not for him to become a powerful symbol at all. He calls his pet lions and one tiger his crown jewels. Instead, the reason that he gives for importing exotic animals and keeping them in cages is, “We Pakistanis have a problem: where our heart is soft, it’s very soft. Where it’s hard, it’s very hard.”
The laws that surround the import and possession of exotic animals are pretty lax. Even though the Wildlife Act of 2012 is still in effect and contains certain regulations regarding the import of exotic animals, the act itself is outdated. As Summaiya Zaidi, an animal welfare activist and lawyer, pointed out, “Sindh does have a specific law which regulates the import of exotic species which was passed in 2012. This law is based on the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) framework. One of the appendices of CITES states that lions are not allowed to be imported. But the Sindh High Court (SHC) order is only applicable in the province of Sindh and it is thus up to each of the provinces to come up with their own legislation in light of CITES.”
The owners of these pets claim and possibly even believe that they are keeping the animals in the best conditions; all of them boast that the animals are living their best lives. Khawaja believes that he is doing a service to the future generations of Pakistanis as he said, “A lot of animals, either they’re extinct or they’re on the edge of being extinct…. I don’t want the next generations to not see these animals.”
The reality of the situation is that these animals are not thriving. Isma Gheewala, a veterinarian from Karachi who has given treatment to around 150 big cats, reported, “The bones become extremely brittle…. And even if they jump like a foot down, they will injure some bone or the other and then it takes a long time for the animals to recover.”
The import of lions is increasing in Pakistan and local breeding of big cats is also emerging. Aleem Paracha, an importer of exotic animals has commented, “In Karachi, lion farming is going very well.” The disturbing habit of possessing lions is so prevalent that Paracha claims that he can legally give a client a white lion in under 48 hours for Rs. 1.4 million. Uzma Khan who is a technical advisor of the World Wildlife Fund has aptly worded the public’s concerns regarding locals owning exotic animals, “An animal in captivity is not the way it is in the wild…. What’s the point of having an animal which is not hunting, which is in a cage not showing its natural behavior?”
Renewable energy has emerged as a game-changer in the global energy landscape, offering sustainable and… Read More