Zirrehmah Imran, a Cedar College student on animal rights: There comes a time when silence is betrayal (Martin Luther King). We at Cedar College support SPAR, the society for the protection of Animal Rights. All around us animals are subject to violence, mistreatment, objectification and indifference. They too, very much like humans, are sentient beings, which is to say, they too have feelings, and are conscious to the way they are treated. Our society has been desensitized, we live in an environment where cruelty towards animals has become a part of our culture. We watch people whipping horses, loading donkeys with burdens triple their size, we watch people throwing stones at dogs, and we fail to raise eyebrows at these atrocities. But times have changed now, the age of ignorance is over. We, the youth, have a huge responsibility. We need to speak up, we must speak up. Animals are suffering, only because they cannot stand up for themselves, and we humans, have to undertake the responsibility of ensuring they are taken care of. Shrugging off our duties, and blaming the government, the masses, or other authorities, is blatant refusal to play our own parts. Let us all pledge to try our best in our own personal capacities, to protect animals and their rights.
