Animals Matter : My Little Effort Towards Animal Welfare by Understanding the Animal Behavior

" Our bonds with our animals brings deep joy to our lives ."

Thanks to animal welfare programs the new generation consider the animals as a part of mother nature's creation , not just a thing meant to be used by human race . Animal welfare is not just about taking care of your beloved pets but about a human mentality that being an advanced part of nature's creation its our duty to love and help other aspects of the nature . But thinking is not enough , its what we do that impresses us . We need to utilize this human intelligence to observe the different animal behaviors and understand what they wants so that we can help them .

For that we must know some very important aspects of animal behavior :

Psychological Factors : Some bird species are found in woodland and others in open fields or on water due to the fact that they fly widely over different areas and then decide to settle down or move on depending on whether a place has what they want . What animal wants can be measured by where they go and what they avoid . These factors are an important tools in anybody's hands who is willing to know about animal behavior .

What animals like and dislike and Why : Good old fashioned observation still has its place , you can tell about anybody's likes and dislikes by noticing the difference in their behavior . Same applies for the animals , Do Dolphins want tourists around ? No they don't , At least their actions say so . When visited more then they can tolerate, dolphins are often observed to stop feeding and leave the area when noticing too many tourist in the feeding area . Clear indication that in their private time they don't want any disturbance like any human would .

What plants want can be found looking at where they are found growing , same applies for the animals. Where plants show their likes by growing well , the animals show that through their behavior .

Asking them what they really want : To find what an animal really wants , leave it at a place where it has some options and free to choose any of them . For example leave some cows at a place where they have a pasture full of green grass at one side and house where their usual ration is freely available at the other . From the choice point most cows will go inside the house . The reason is simple as though pasture offers more attractive environment , but not good enough for their nutritional needs . Its a question of designing the right experiment to get the answers you want .

Like humans animals too wants to obtain rewards and avoid punishments so rather than just studying what animal do by choice , we can find out what they want by way of rewards and what they avoid by way of punishment .

Getting them to do something : Once you understand your cow's behavior it becomes simple to know when to milk her . Isn't it ? The idea that finding out what animals themselves want, to design better conditions for them is increasingly implemented in zoos and farms . It is usual for an animal to be attracted(or repelled) to something new . But looking at their behavior when they have experienced something over and over , allows us to see what animal really wants when it knows what it is choosing .

Code Book : Someone who is willing to take the trouble to observe animal carefully is surprisingly good at interpreting the body languages of animals . Everybody has his way of interpreting things that comes his way and whether its a human expression or an animal's body language you need intelligence and your experience gathered over time to interpret it .When animals do not get what they want , they show signs of frustration . A dog licking you is a sign of appreciation , similarly when locked it starts barking is a sign of anger and frustration . And there's no code book for that , you will need to learn that yourself .

"Actions speak louder than words."

Seeing our response to an animal slaughter one would get an impression that we are very concerned about it and we are very dedicated to the cause of animal welfare . But if asked the question , what have you done to support this cause ? , sadly the answers will not be very satisfying . Its time that we realize our duty towards our mother nature and start giving it something back in form of animal welfare .

If you have something to post as your "act of animal welfare" , please do so by posting it as a comment and share it with everyone . Lets make it a trend and see how aware people are about it .