Hyderabad: Calls to end coronavirus lockdown for caged animals

Hyderabad: For millions of people around the world, lockdown during the global coronavirus pandemic has meant several months of isolation in the interests of protecting public health. But for billions of animals caged and confined in factory farms, laboratories, marine parks, roadside zoos, fur farms and circuses, lockdown lasts a lifetime.

Animals can spend all or much of their existence locked in cages, crates or tanks denied enough space or stimulation, all for our entertainment, food habit, fashion whim or scientific experiments. That's something animal protection organisation Humane Society International wants to change, and has teamed up with Belgian production company Fledge to create a thought-provoking social media video urging global citizens to take action on behalf of animals confined in a lifetime of lockdown.

With a soundtrack donated by Belgium-based band Svínhunder, the 120-second film titled 'End the Lockdown' for Animals asks the viewer to reflect on their own feelings of frustration and isolation during the pandemic to relate to the billions of exploited animals suffering in confinement. Alokparna Sengupta, director of Humane Society International/India, says: "Our collective experience of lockdown during this COVID-19 global pandemic has surely given us a small insight into the frustration and monotony these animals must endure and so must be a pivotal moment for change. Our powerful film asks us all to harness that connection to make a change for animals and end their lifetime of lockdown."

Fledge says: "This unprecedented and global experience of being in quarantine has made people realise the importance of living freely, and gave us a unique opportunity to tell this parallel storyline. We hope that distilling this shared experience into a two minute film will help people empathise with all these animals that are suffering in lockdown, and hopefully act as a catalyst for change."

HSI offices across the globe will be promoting the film across social media channels. HSI has identified six keyways in which ordinary citizens and national governments can implement changes to end a lifetime of lockdown for animals.