Abandoned After Lockdown, Hundreds Of Caged Animals Die In Pakistan Pet Markets

In Pakistan¡¯s once-bustling metropolis, howls and cries for help have been echoing from inside locked pet stores. Soon after the country went into lockdown, pet shop owners shuttered their doors not knowing what to do with the pets.

According to an AFP report, animal activist Ayesha Chundrigar arrived at Karachi's sprawling Empress Market she said she could hear the cries of animals that had survived for two weeks after the lockdown was announced.

Post the lockdown, only market stalls selling essential goods such as food and medicine were allowed to continue operating.

It left pet shop owners blocked from their businesses, some resorting to sneaking in at night to feed the animals. "When we got inside, the majority of them were dead, about 70 per cent. Their bodies were lying on the ground," Chundrigar, who runs ACF Animal Rescue, told AFP.

"It was so horrific, I can't tell you." Starving and locked in cages with no light or ventilation, the surviving pets sat among the dead, trembling, reports AFP.

A Facebook video shows animals being rescued from the pet market. In the six-minute clip ACF Animal rescue volunteers can be seen unloading dozens of animals.

Chundrigar told Geo.tv the current situation and how some animals are still stuck in the area while the ACF team is being denied access to them as they cry for help.

¡°At present, about 70% of the animals in the shops are dead and the other 30% are in a bad state. The shopkeepers still are not giving us many that require help,¡± she said.

¡°Many have been hidden away that we haven¡¯t gained access to because the day after we first visited suddenly half the animals had disappeared. Dead animal carcasses were strewn outside the market,¡± she added.

AFP

Chundrigar and her team of vets and volunteers came to the aid of hundreds of frail cats and dogs caught in crammed cages for days and starving to death. After the desperate rescue, Chundrigar has now convinced the Karachi authorities to allow pet shop owners and her team daily access to the animals.

"Social distancing is something we were very cautious of and the number of people out on the road. So we had just a handful of volunteers divided into different areas, covered in protective gear who were speedily trying to get the work done as quickly as we could and bring those animals to safety,¡± Chundrigar said in a GeoTV interview.

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Taking care of the rescued animals from Empress Market. About 60% of the animals at the market were dead. The other 40% were barely alive. Some are hidden away somewhere and we were not able to access them. The DHA pet shops refused to allow us in but animals were screaming in agony and despair inside. We are trying our best to help today as well. There were countless dead bodies of animals strewn outside the market creating an unbearable stench. If COVID-19 doesn¡¯t kill us, this kind of cruelty towards animals that leads to decay and toxicity will eventually. A lot of people are calling us heroes. We don¡¯t see ourselves as heroes. Or animal rights activists or animal avengers. We simply see ourselves as decent human beings who know that the world doesn¡¯t just belong to people, but to all living beings. The COVID-19 outbreak only began because of severe cruelty towards animals. This is commonplace, in fact a norm in our country as well where animals are seen as private property rather than living beings with rights of their own that must be respected. And any decent human being should be able to see that rather than creating a separate type of human called an ¡®animal lover¡¯. You shouldn¡¯t have to be an animal lover to care about the suffering of others. That should be indoctrinated into our culture as a norm of being a decent human being, as normal to us as eating because we know we are hungry. Or not touching the stove because we know it¡¯s hot. If this time should teach us anything, it¡¯s not self-care, it¡¯s self-challenge. Challenge your beliefs, your norms and your mindset to understand why we are in this position we are in today where cruelty towards other species has brought the whole human race to a standstill.

A post shared by ACF Animal Rescue Official (@acfanimalrescueofficial) on Mar 30, 2020 at 12:32am PDT

In the eastern city of Lahore, animals met with a similar fate. The bodies of about 20 dogs were found dumped in a sewer near Tollinton Market, a hub for pet businesses which had closed leaving animals to starve.

Kiran Maheen was able to rescue more than two dozen dogs, rabbits and cats after convincing officials at the market to let her in, but a large number had already died.

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Good news! We have been in touch with the relevant people and hopefully things are going to work out for the betterment and protection of our street dogs whilst protecting people at the same time. More updates tomorrow when we know more and discuss our proposal. Street dogs are the best friends one can hope for. Loyal, loving, so funny and intelligent. Each one unique with a personality of their own. To experience that, all you need to do is just not hurt them. Kindness should not be that difficult for us to practice. We have rescued and spent time with thousands of street dogs. Abused, aggressive, angry, scared, insecure, depressed and sad. With just a little bit of kindness, they become these happy babies you see the photos above. They are just regular dogs, just our Pakistani breed. Goodnight everybody ??

A post shared by ACF Animal Rescue Official (@acfanimalrescueofficial) on Apr 2, 2020 at 9:51am PDT

"When the police opened up the shutters, a lot of animals were already lying dead inside," Maheen told AFP, adding that many had suffocated from a lack of air.

Pakistani authorities have confirmed about 2,900 cases of COVID-19 and 45 deaths, though the tally is thought to be many times larger because of testing limitations in this impoverished country of 215 million.

All Inputs AFP