PROTECTION OF LAME BURRA GAME RESERVE- TORO LOCAL GOVT- BAUCHI STATE

BEING THE TEXT OF THE ENLIGHTENMENT CAMPAIGN ON THE NEED FOR CONSERVATION OF FLORA AND FAUNA OF LAME BURRA GAME RESERVE IN TORO LOCAL GOVERNMENT AS BARRISTER SIKIRU OLANREWAJU’S PERSONAL COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT SERVICE DURING NATIONAL YOUTH SERVICE CORPS(NYSC) PROGRAMME 1997.




INTRODUCTION



The scope of the Campaign involves the management and the use of Lame Burra Game, Reserve under the name of Conservation. This is not however unconnected with call on the Local Government in the exercise of its power to designate the area as Game Reserve thereby elevating its status of proposed to real Game Reserve which is supposed to be under the close supervision and adequate regulation by the law enacted for the same.



It suffices to state here that Lame Burra Games reserve is located in Lame District with the Capital at Gumau as one of the three Districts in Toro Local Government Area and it specifically falls under Lame Village Area. This Lame Burra has been proposed to be Game reserve by the Government before 1978 among others like part of Borgu, Kamuku, Ogin Land, Wase, Ibi, Pandam, Nasarawa in the Northern part of the country and Opara, Ivi Oda Obi, Ohosu, Okomu, Ologbo, Anambra, Akpapa, Udi/Nsukka, Stubbs Creek, Obudi and Ghasaka in the Southern part of the country to proliferate the number of the existing Game Reserves such as Kwiambana, Alawa, Kamuku, Dagida, Kanji National park (Zugurma and Borgu), Yankari in the Northern part of the country and Old Oyo (Upper Ogun), Ologbo, Kwale and Orle river in the Southern part of the country.



This place which inhabits rare species of birds, monkeys and other wild animals has been adversely interfered with by the inhabitants of the area and neighbouring towns to the extent that some species have become extinct while others are facing the danger of extinction. The implication of this is that if no quick and adequate effort is taken for the conservation of the Lame Burra Game Reserve’s treasure and natural resources the history of and the record of the reserve and the pleasure there will be thrown into the forgotten heap of lost treasure.



It is highly imperative to look at some of the technical words associated with this campaign for better understanding of the concept. If not elaborate, but at least should be adumbrated for reason of profitable assimilation and appreciation of the gravamen of this programme. Efforts will also be made to make explicit explanation of some key words depending on their significance to the topic.



Preliminarily, there is need to define or at least explain what is meant by Game Reserve. This may mean wild animal sanctuary or where wild animals are conserved in their natural environment for future use of the individual citizens and the country as a whole with one of the major aims of regulating human dealings with them and their natural environment through the law in force that is, “Game Law or Wild Animals Law”. Federal Government laws on wild animals were in existence right from 1961 – 1956, and the first indigenous law on wild animal preservation was enacted in 1963 until in the current 1990 laws of the Federation when Wild Animals Preservation Law was ‘omitted’ but not repealed. But solace could be found in other Federal statutes which directly or indirectly regulate human dealings with wild animals and their conservation for the future benefit of the country as a whole. For example, the promulgation of Federal Environmental protection Agency Decree of 1988, The Endangered Species (International trade and traffic) Decree No. 11 of 1985, Environmental Impact Assessment Decree of 1988 signifies Federal Government’s interest in the conservation of wild animals and this is further enhanced by the establishment of some National parks like Yankari and Kanji.





It may be noted in passing here that no legal rule will cease to be operative merely by reason of its disuse. Thus in the English case of ASHFORD V THORNTON, a murder trial in the early 19th C, the defendant was allowed to take the advantage of the medieval procedure of trial by battle, which had not been used for centuries but had never been expressly repealed.



Judging from the above, it is submitted that our old Laws of the Federation 1958 and Wild Animals Preservation Law of 1963 are still operative so as to complement the spirit and letters of the above mentioned Federal Laws on animals. This is because the old Wild Animals Laws was only omitted in the current 1990 Laws but not repealed.



Apart from the foregoing, nearly all the states have provisions for wild animals in their laws and Bauchi State inhabiting the Lame Burra Game Reserve is also not excluded. For example, there was provision for wild animals preservation in the Western Region Laws of 1958 and Oyo State Laws of 1978 (applicable in Osun State) similar to those of other States like Ogun, Edo, Delta, Ondo, Kwara, Ekiti and Lagos States.



Wild animals on the other hand may be defined as animals not generally domesticated or tamed in Nigeria. These animals naturally live in the wilderness i.e., their natural environment but wild animals may become domestic animals when captured from the wild, and tamed for domestication whilst conservation on the other hand means the system of management use of wild animals for future use.



Flora means the plants that naturally grow in the area which plants form the abode of these wild animals and it is usually referred to as habitat. Fauna means the wild animals inhabited by this natural environment. Both Fauna and Flora are interdependent. One may not survive without the other and destruction of one adversely affects the existence of the other. For Example, if their natural environment is polluted or destroyed, it harmfully affects the animals through their exposure to inclement weather and this makes the animals vulnerable to human attack, thereby encouraging high rate of casualty which does not augur well for the country as a whole because they form a sizeable proportion of the country’s natural resources and if mismanaged, our economy will be the poorer for it.



Before leaving this preamble, this enlightenment programme is divided into stages and each stage has its peculiar heading. Efforts will be made to paint the vivid picture of the situation of things as best as humanly possible.



INTRA LOCAL GOVERNMENT SECRETARIAT CAMPAIGN



Local government is the best tier of government in any part of the world because it brings government closer to the people more than any other tier of government. This importance has long been realised and has culminated in the establishment of the Local Government Commission and promulgation of the Local Government Reforms Act of 1976 by the then late General Muritala Ramat Muhammed in order to allow uniformity in the operational frameworks of the Local Government throughout the Federation. This realization was further strengthened in 1985 and 1997 by General Ibrahim Babangida and General Sanni Abacha respectively through the creation of more Local Governments which number has risen to 779 this year.



For proper understanding of this campaign, there is a need to have a cursory look at what Government means. Government may be loosely defined as the person or group of persons charged with the responsibility of controlling and directing the affairs of a State.



This definition takes us to another concept of ‘State’ which means the group of heterogeneous people living together in a particular geographical area and within a defined boundary. The relevant key word in the above definition is the geographical area which may be expressed in terms of environment in which people live.



Environment is the most important concept of this discussion because it forms the vocal point of the topic. Definition of environment may be borrowed from the interpretation section of the Federal Environmental Protection Agency Decree as comprising of human beings, plants and animals. Apart from the foregoing, some disciplines accept human beings as higher animals in every aspect but that the only distinguishing factor is the gift of reasoning ability bestowed on higher animals by the Almighty God.



Essentially, it is the duty of the government to protect the said environment and this has been clearly manifested by the government through the establishment of various agencies and encouragement of other organizations, existing for the benefit of this environment. In this respect, wild animals will be the main subject – matter of the discussion. One may wonder a little why the Federal, State or Local Government’s involvement in the regulation of human dealings with wild animals. The answer to this question will not be adequate without recourse to erroneous belief some of us about ownership of animals as God’s gift to mankind and to deal with them as we want.



This belief is prevalent among the land owners as the rightful owners of the wild animals found on their lands at any point in time. It is high time we set ourselves free from that mistaken belief because in a legal parlance, wild animals are subjects of government’s proprietary interest and not subjects of private ownership. Furthermore, the defence of latin maxim of Quid Quip plantator solo solo cedit (i.e. he who owns the land owns everything underneath and other things attached to it up to the sky) cannot avail any land owner of the wrath of the law, if caught. This is simply because wild animals are not caught by this maxim hence they are not attached permanent to the Land.



To further corroborate this, Land use Act of 1978 has directly conceded the ownership to either the State or Federal government depending on which tier of government it falls since all the lands in the country have been taken to the custody of government (either Federal, State or Local) with the purported land owners having only lease hold interest which may be determined at any time, albeit, with the laid down rules and regulations as contemplated by the Act.





The most instructive statute on this campaign is the Federal Environmental Protection Agency Decree No. 38 of 1988 which makes several provisions on matters incidental to the conservation and protection of wild animals. It is instructive in the sense of its composition which involves Ministry of Agriculture, Works and Housing, Forestry and Natural Resources etc. Some of which have wild animals as part of their subject matters.



On the question of power of the Local Government Chairman to declare any area within its jurisdiction as forest or game reserve, the above Decree also incorporates provisions conferring on the Local Government Chairman power to do so especially the area experiencing pollution or that needs protection within its jurisdiction. Apart from the foregoing, some State Laws also make provisions for the exercise of this power of declaration, that is, byelaws, rules and regulations in respect of the same.



It may be argued that the moment such an area is designated as either forest or game reserve, it becomes illegal for anybody either poachers, pot-hunters, game dealers to deal with such animals in a way not contemplated by the law and other laws either Federal or State laws do not cease to operate as well. For example, all federal laws are applicable throughout the Federation, so that if any animal is caught, or killed illegally, that is, without licence or consent of the appropriate authority put in place for the enforcement and such animal happens to be among the ones protected or prohibited by any law in force in the country such law will be adequately applied.



Some of the relevant laws in this connection are the Endangered Species Act 1985 prohibiting the sale and transportation of some wild animals in the danger of extinction in the country, Federal Environmental Protection Agency Decree of 1988 regulating human dealings with plants and animals through air quality, water quality and Land quality provisions so as to save birds, fish and land animals from the agony of human pollution. This FEPA Decree also applies to other types of pollutions like deforestation which directly destroys the natural environment of these animals and expose them to excruciating agony. This Agency seeks to provide for the welfare of humans, plants and animals of any type in the country. The efficiency of this Agency was manifested recently as the high-water mark effort in the history of Animals’ Welfare and protection in the country when it was shown on the NTA Television News Line on the 3rd of August, 1997 edition when two monkeys smuggled out of the country to Philippine two years ago were repatriated back into the country aboard a free flight and through the assistance of International Communities.



The above points to the fact that governments at various levels have demonstrated their keen interest in the conservation of wild animals for the benefit of Nigerian citizens. The said laws also provide penalties or punishment in cases of violation of any of the provisions of the laws. The cases of violations are tried by various courts mentioned in the Statutes depending on which law is violated. In case of the Federal laws, the cases are triable by the Federal High Court and if the State law, the State High Court has original jurisdiction except cruelty to animal cases and other animal related crimes which are triable by the Magistrate Court as contemplated by the chapter L of the Criminal Code. Some of these penalties range from seizure, revocation of licence, destruction of the trophy and weapons, fine to other appropriate punishments as contained in the various laws in force for the protection and conservation of these wild animals.



Before leaving this area, there is the need to make succinct explanation on the essence and rationale of game reserve. The major significance of game reserve is to afford better atmosphere for the preservation of fauna and flora in the reserve. The rationale behind the idea of conservation is to have management plan and use of the wild animals as part of the country’s natural resources for the benefit of all Nigerians in the field of Agriculture, Science and Technology, Energy, Religion, Economy, biology and particularly for environmental and humanitarian reasons. For the Local Government, it serves as a major source of revenue as it becomes a tourist centre.



VILLAGE HEADS AWARENESS CAMPAIGN:



The Awareness of the campaign among the village heads is considered to be of paramount importance to this enlightenment programme in the sense that village heads hold a sensitive position especially in the Northern part of the country. If this campaign is appreciated and approved by the heads, it is as good as being approved of the same by their subjects or followers.



Considering the instrumental roles of the heads to the efficacy of the campaign, it is important one mentions the usefulness of wild animals’ conservation for profitable assimilation of the message. First and foremost, as it was said earlier, conservation is for the management use of wild animals and in the course of doing this, certain benefit accrue in terms of development of Agriculture, Science, Medicine, Energy, Economic development and Environmental protection. This conservation is backed by statutes so as to give it force of the law in order to make such conservation a reality, after all, where there is no law, there is no sin. It is also pertinent to note that these various laws do not exist only for the sake of such conservation but also seek to realize numerous benefits.



The analysis of the advantages accruable to the protection of flora and fauna of Lame Burra Game Reserve will be done concurrently with the dangers of extinction in terms of purpose of conservation and effect of loss extinction. For Agricultural development, wild animals serve useful purpose because most of today’s domestic animals throughout the world have their progenitors in the wilderness, that is , there first generations were captured in the bush and tamed for such a long period of time before losing their wildness, for example, dog which has become man’s longest standing companion was originally taken from the bush and if such animal has long gone into extinction, there would not have been any opportunity of capturing them for domestication and the entire world would have lost the benefit of the wonderful assistance or benefits provided by this animal in terms of guard, security, herding, pet, sport and scientific experimentation instrumental to pharmacy and Medicine. Recently, a big wild animal called “eland” has started undergoing system of domestication in Kenya and an averagely matured eland is twice the size of a fully grown cow and even more productive than cow. Also, water buffalo in some parts of Asia and Southern America are undergoing domestication. Emu, a big wild bird has also witnessed the process of domestication in Australia and this process has yielded positive results. Emu has high carcass value because of its size; it is as big as Ostrich, less in fat and rich in protein with all its parts useful even the claws are made into ornaments for women. In essence, there is need to conserve these wild animals because animals that are not useful today may be useful tomorrow. They appear not useful today because the world has not discovered the value inherent in them.



For plants, many of the domesticated and commercial plants that we rely on for medical remedies depend on their wilder ancestors that still thrive in such forests. These wild strains are used are used at times to breed newer strains that aare more resistant to diseases band pests. The genetic diversity found in in wild varieties is therefore essential.



Some animals are also useful in field of science, technology and medicine. Some animals like Bears, Lions, Bat, Vulture, Armadillo and Civet cats have proved useful in these fields, while many more will still be useful in the future as the science and technology progress. Categorically, one inevitable danger and hazard of extinction is the loss of these irreparable of this nature’s gift. Worse still, lack of medicinal, scientific and technological advancement due to the uncontrollable loss of fauna will adversely affect human survival and existence. Our religious faiths will even be poorer for it. The indiscriminate killing which directly leads to extinction constitutes a misuse of God’s creatures entrusted to us and on the day of account, God’s judgment which commensurate each misuse will be visited on the wrong doer.



Cropping scheme will be jointly discussed with the nomenclatures of close, open and breeding seasons of wild animals. Cropping scheme of animals is a system whereby the animals are strictly conserved for a stipulated period of time, that is, nobody is allowed to have any contact with their natural environment for whatever reason, for example, the Old Oyo games reserve (Upper Ogun) was strictly conserved for 10 years so as to allow the procreation and growth of the rare species of animals inhabited by the reserve as the animals were nearing extinction and this period of 10 years witnessed a considerable increase in the number of the animals.



In essence, the rationale behind cropping scheme is to allow recuperation of animals who have almost gone into extinction, and encouraging the growth of young ones especially during breeding season and multiplicity of animals with high economic value for economic gain. This cropping period deals with the idea of input and harvest, input in respect of strict restriction to the reserve and harvest after the end of the restriction period although not without regulations in terms of licence, the number of animals to be killed, payments in respect of species, animals not to be killed at all for example, young animals, pregnant and, or female animals, nursing mother animals, the type of weapon to be used, days and time of hunting, method of killing, and host of other form the bases of such Regulation. However, open season is when licenced hunters are allowed into the reserve while close season is when the reserve is under perfect restriction, this latter season is closely associated with the breeding season of these animals. The former also is performed under the close supervision of the game or forest wardens.



Before leaving this second stage of the campaign, it is important I examine the bad effects of poaching method and the use of dangerous weapons on animals. The latter is catered for by some Statutes in the country, for example, the old laws of Nigeria 1958 made provision for Wild Animals (Trap) Regulation so also the Old Western Region Law of 1959 and even the 1978 Laws of Oyo State on wild animals which other States presumably have, albeit, not without modification. The discouragement of the use of dangerous weapons such as muzzle-loaders, poaching machines and others was provided for in various laws of the country since, 1958, 1961 and 1963.



The government must have realised the evils inherent in the above before enacting various laws prohibiting the same. Some of the bad impacts of those weapons on animals, human beings and the country as a whole are under listed as follows? Poaching is the crudest method of killing because it involves sizeable number of animals and worse still; the victims of this cruel method are the large animals such as Elephants, Rhinoceros, Buffalo and Warthog. This is so due to the exaction for their trophies.



Trophy means some parts of these animals with high economic value such as ivory, tusk, horn, etc. To arrest the spread of this dastardly act government enacted the above mentioned laws prohibiting the sale of these trophies and the killing of these large animals which take long period of time before they are fully grown. Apart from this, it also encourages environmental protection because when these animals are killed and their trophies obtained, the carcass are left to decay thereby causing pollution which is harmful to human and animal health.



Trap and other dangerous weapons are discouraged because they injure more animals than they kill them thereby leaving them in excruciating agony. Some laws protect this obnoxious act on humanitarian ground and it is considered as cruelty to animal. Our Criminal Law makes this obnoxious act a crime but it saddens one’s heart to see that this law has not been effective in this country due to the ineffectiveness of the machinery put in place for its enforcement. Illiteracy, poverty and public insensitivity to the lots of animal also do not help matters. Up till now, no recorded successful prosecution has been made on cruelty to animal in Nigeria.



Is it that no animal has suffered any form of cruelty in the hands of man? This is not true as each and every society experiences these multifarious acts of cruelty to animal on daily basis.



In a nut shell, the overall effect of the use of dangerous weapons and poaching method is that it quickens the unwarranted extinction of rare species, the aftermath of which have been discussed earlier in this paper. In this sense, pot-hunters, game dealers, hunters and sportsmen are to be conscious of the rules and regulation guiding their conduct in the reserve and be humane as much as possible in their expedition so as not to be caught by the webs of the law. The enlightened public should appreciate the fact that animals are for all Nigerians and the unborn generations.



RELIGIOUS HEADS AWARENESS CAMPAIGN

ISLAM



This is another important stage of this campaign. Significant in the sense similar to the Village Heads, this is presumed to have edge above the former because of the peculiarity of this society as a seemingly religious community. This stage of enlightenment is predicated on two major predominant religions in this area. As a starting point, Islamic Religious Head share a duty of vicegerents of Almighty Allah, the worshippers and servants of the Allah. The duty is to do what God enjoins and abstain from what He forbids.



It should be noted that Almighty Allah is the created of all things both humans, plants and animals, also mountains, rivers and other things within and outside the comprehension of human perception. In this Wise, God created human beings and elevated them over and above all other creatures because of His love for us. All other creatures He creator for a purpose were entrusted to our care and not to deal with them in a way not approved by the Almighty Allah. These are well documented in the Holy Quran and the teachings of the Holy Prophet Mohammed (S.A.W.).



Glory be to the Almighty Allah who has tamed this object (animal) for us, which, in no way we have the power to tame by ourselves indeed to our Lord we shall return. In this connection, we should be mindful of our conduct when dealing with them that we are trustees of these animals which God has created for purpose best known to Him. Undoubtedly, Allah created all these all these animals for various purposes for example Chapter 105 of the Holy Quran (Suratul Fil) says in one of the verses that Almighty Allah sent the flights of birds to men of Elephants to deal with them among other punishments. This is enough evidence that Almighty Allah created all these for purpose and can make use of them any time, among other purposes is that they (animals) are created for our use (food, leather, sacrifice, etc.) it should be noted at this juncture that these animals are not only for our selfish use but for the use of generation unborn. Here, God contemplated conservation because without it, many species of animal would have become extinct and nothing will remain for the generation unborn and the wrath of Almighty Allah may come for misusing what Allah has entrusted to us.



Another instance of Almighty concern for animals generally with wild animal is contained in the requirement of sacrifice. For example, Allah enjoins us not to kill any animal that is less than seven (7) months as sacrifice because such animal has not attained the age of maturity, the similitude of this with conservation is that such young animal should be left alone to grow for future use.



It is God’s commandment that before an animal is killed, the object prepared to take its life must be very sharp and be such that would kill the animal at once so that such animals does not feel any pain before the termination of its life. The requirement also has similitude with the conservative measure of discouraging the use of weapons which injure animals rather than the outright termination of their lives. This second requirement applies to both domestic and wild animals.



Another instance of God’s injunction pointing directly to conservation is the dos and don’ts of pilgrims and those performing Ihram, Prophet Mohammed (S.A.W.) said that it is prohibited on the Ihram for a man or woman to kill any land game, to assist in hunting or frighten it from its place as long as they are in the state of Ihram.



Another instructive aspect of Allah’s injunction is on the type of animal acceptable for sacrifice during Ed-el-Kabir festival. God discourages the killing of female animal for sacrifice is as not as rewardable as male animal. The logical argument or rationale behind this and which has similitude with conservative measure is that the female animal is spared so that it can continue the production of its species for future use. It is a trite that rams are the most common animals for sacrifice during Id-el-Kabir festival save and except in some circumstances where Cattle and Camels are killed for the same. However, they are often male animals because it is more rewardable than the females.



It may be noted in passing that God’s disaffection for cruelty to animals as enshrined in the Holy Quran and teachings of the Prophet” also abound. Some cruel acts such as starvation, kicking, overworking etc, are discouraged. This is because some people use wild animals like leopard and other tamed carnivores for hunting during which they starve them prior to the expedition and subsequently, overwork them during hunting expedition. All these are also discouraged by our criminal law. If conservation is put in place, the unfortunate cases of cruelty to captured wild animal for expedition would not have arisen.





God’s concern for conservation is also traceable to the act of Zakat in Islam, that is, religious tax. This is because Allah exempts wild and other tamed animal as object of Zakat, for example, tamed antelope is out of Zakat, this is because antelope is a naturally wild animal and the state of its captivity or being tamed does not avail any Muslim to use it for Zakat.





Almighty Allah also gives an impression that animal that are useful for a purpose should be conserved when He claimed that no Zakat should be made out of horses, mules and donkeys for reason of their use for transportation. It should be noted that these animals are conserved for their future use, so also all the wild animals should be conserved for future use with the belief at the back of our minds that animals that are not useful today shall definitely be useful tomorrow for some of the reasons advanced earlier in this paper.



CHRISTIANITY



It suffices to state categorically here that all requirements of the above heading are in conformity with this one. The two Holy Books are pointing absolutely to the same message.



The scope of our enlightenment here will be limited to wild animals generally with little or no digression to other types of animal which are not within the gamut of this campaign.



To start with, there are relevant provisions in the Holy Bible in Deuteronomy, Exodus, Genesis, Isaiah and other chapters which reflect God’s concern for animals particularly the idea of conservation. The Bible says “God shall bring to ruin those ruining the earth”. This quotation may be expressed in terms of pollution of the natural environment of the wild animals through deforestation via bush burning, tree felling, overgrazing by cattle and other acts of deforestation.



This act visits more harm than what human memory could contemplate because when this environment is destroyed, some smaller animals are forced to leave their appointed place to meet their death in their encroachment with the environment of large animals conversely, where the larger animals are forced to leave their appointed place as a result of the destruction of their environment, they prey on smaller animals.



If such destruction does not occur, every animal except migratory species of them will remain its appointed place and follow the instincts from God to take its prey independent of the handiwork of human beings. And this is antithetical the aims and objectives of conservation.



In Deuteronomy, chapter 22: verses 6-7 of the Holy Bible, God says that mother birds should not be killed but should be left to continue the species; however, the eggs may be taken away. This is another indication of God’s concern for conservation for the opposite is extinction as brooding can never take place because the mother bird is being killed. All these are the requirements of conservative measures and this is applicable to female animal.



The Bible also says that to all its creatures, He has created of weather and vegetation for their use. Wild animals are by necessary implication part of these creatures and this expression suggests that the natural environment should be protected against tree felling, overgrazing of the area by cattle, bush burning in the name bush meat and other destructive acts. The overall effect of this is nothing but avoidable depletion of the population of wild animal owing to their exposure to larger animals preying on them. In fact, Exodus 23:10 – 11 accounts for the care of wild animal.



The Bible also claims in Deuteronomy 23: 4 that we should take care of our neighbour’s beast that is in pain even if it meant doing some work on Sabbath day. The word Beast was implored as a generic term which applies to all types of animal. The understanding of this expression is not unconnected with the infliction of injuries on animals though the use of dangerous weapon.



The gravamen of this commandment borders on God’s disaffection for animal’s injury. Since God disapproves of it, we must run away from the temptation of inflicting injuries on these animals and this precaution may be taken care of by obeying or observing the rules and regulation guiding the reserve and suffices to state here that the trap is among the dangerous weapons prohibited for hunting in the reserve, it is illegal to do so. It also dictates that human beings should show care and love for animal.



In conclusion, the above discussed issues cannot be dismissed by a wave of hand due to the divine injunction attached to it. No sin is small or big, sin is sin. It is better to stand on the side of caution and abstain from any sin no matter the degree of its perceived frivolity or triviality. Heaven is certain just as hell is real. The day of accountability is also no negotiable.



The wrongdoer’s excuse on the God’s injunctive order on the right of animal not being specifically stated in the scriptures will not avail them as God has given us the analytical mind to understand his words. This mind determines what is good from what is bad and it is left to us to choose between the two. May God give us the deepest understanding of His words more than the way it was presented and the God in his infinite mercy forgive all our sins in respect of the varying acts of cruelty to animal in the past and assist us in obeying his words for the rest of our lives.



Thanks for listening.