{"id":105102,"date":"2020-07-31T16:36:45","date_gmt":"2020-07-31T23:36:45","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/?p=105102"},"modified":"2020-07-31T16:36:45","modified_gmt":"2020-07-31T23:36:45","slug":"election-manifestos-must-carry-commitment-to-protect-animals-and-take-the-cue-from-the-objects-of-the-justice-for-animals-and-nature-organization","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/2020\/07\/31\/election-manifestos-must-carry-commitment-to-protect-animals-and-take-the-cue-from-the-objects-of-the-justice-for-animals-and-nature-organization\/","title":{"rendered":"Election Manifestos must carry commitment to protect Animals and take the cue from the objects of the \u2018Justice for Animals and Nature\u2019 organization"},"content":{"rendered":"

by<\/strong> Senaka Weeraratna<\/strong><\/em><\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n

All major political parties must now recognize that animal\nwelfare is a key issue for a growing number of voters in Sri Lanka and so it\u2019s\nessential that they adopt sound, evidence-based policies in their Election\nmanifestos.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In a country which takes pride in proclaiming that it has the\nlongest uninterrupted history of Buddhism in the world and accepts fostering of\nBuddhism within and overseas as a fundamental duty of the State (Article 9 of\nthe Constitution), it is sad to note that despite such national commitment to\npropagation and protection of Buddhism, the mainstream political parties in Sri\nLanka have failed miserably unlike their counterparts abroad to mention a\ncommitment to protect animals and repeal archaic legislation by enacting the\nAnimal Welfare Bill, in their Election Manifestos. Moreover, what is glaringly\nlacking is a pledge of a real commitment to action on such matters.\n   <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The newly formed ‘Justice for Animals and Nature’ headed by Ven.\nDr. Omalpe Sobhita Thero, the founder of the Sri Bodhiraja Foundation that was\ncommenced in 1991 to ensure the well – being and happiness or all beings, both\nhuman and non-human,\nhas\nformulated a set of objects that provides a guide for all political parties in\nSri Lanka to adopt.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We need cross party support for these animal welfare measures in\nour Objects such as the updating of the laws to protect animals e.g. enactment of the\nAnimal Welfare Bill, and promotion of\nhumanitarian education and awareness programs commencing at\npre-school level, aimed at securing animal rights, protection and welfare.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The\nobjects of the \u2018Justice for Animals and Nature\u2019 organization are as follows: <\/p>\n\n\n\n

       \ni.           \nTo strive for Freedom and Justice for\nAnimals, and creation of a Just Society.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

     \nii.           \nTo rebuild an animal-friendly cultural\nheritage in Sri Lanka, by fostering and caring for the well – being of animals.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

   iii.           \nTo campaign for reform of the\nConstitution and updating of the laws to protect animals, nature, and heritage,\ncommensurate with modern standards of care and treatment, and engage in legal\nadvocacy and public litigation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    iv.           \nTo liaise and support other organizations\nwithin or outside Sri Lanka engaged in the promotion and protection of fauna,\nflora and nature. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

     \nv.           \nTo promote\nhumanitarian education and awareness programs commencing at\npre-school level, aimed at securing animal rights, protection and welfare.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    vi.           \nTo work towards ending cruelty to animals\nand the use of animals in entertainment, zoos, slavery, sports, races,\nexperiments and religious activities including ritual animal sacrifice(s).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

 vii.           \nTo promote plant – based food\nproduction and consumption, and propagate the benefits of Vegetarianism and\nVeganism.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

viii.           \nTo call for a ban on the export of live\nanimals from Sri Lanka for slaughter, entertainment and as gifts to other\ncountries, and export of meat products and seafood from Sri Lanka.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    ix.           \nTo encourage the public to not earn a\nliving by rearing animals for slaughter or killing animals, including\ninvertebrates such as crustaceans<\/a>,\nand to call for a ban on slaughter of cattle and other animals.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

     \nx.           \nTo create awareness on environmental\npollution and environmental degradation, and their injurious effects on human\nhealth, climate change and bio \u2013 diversity, and campaign against all such forms\nof pollution, including noise pollution.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    xi.           \nTo advocate preservation of remains of\npre-historic and historic cultures and heritage, archaeological areas,\nresidual forests and natural habitats of non \u2013 human living creatures, elephant\ncorridors, and engagement in sustainable development.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

  xii.           \nTo promote \u2018Ahimsa\u2019 as a cardinal tenet\npervading all activities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Senaka\nWeeraratna<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Founder\nmember of \u2018Justice for Animals and Nature\u2019 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

by Senaka Weeraratna All major political parties must now recognize that animal welfare is a key issue for a growing number of voters in Sri Lanka and so it\u2019s essential that they adopt sound, evidence-based policies in their Election manifestos. In a country which takes pride in proclaiming that it has the longest uninterrupted history […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":true,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[165],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-105102","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-senaka-weeraratna"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/105102","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=105102"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/105102\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=105102"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=105102"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=105102"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}