As in previous years, Ananda Marga (Malta) is calling on all animal lovers to celebrate Imnarja in a humane, cruelty-free way.
The majority of the Maltese still celebrate this traditional feast by causing a lot of suffering to animals, be they rabbits waiting to be slaughtered at Buskett or horses racing on the hot tarmac. Instead, friends of animals are invited to a one-day boat trip on the Hera sailing boat, visiting Ramla Bay in Gozo and the Blue Lagoon in Comino. All food served throughout the day will be vegetarian.
It is not surprising that a recent survey concluded that Maltese people do not think about animal welfare when buying and eating meat products. If people did think about the welfare of animals they would not eat meat products at all.
The findings of the survey show that we need more educational initiatives with regard to issues concerning animal awareness. The fact that 12 per cent of the respondents said they never buy any meat products is probably not out of choice but simply because somebody else does the shopping in their household. I am happy that at least one per cent responded that they never eat meat products.
While the majority of respondents from EU member states were critical of the welfare and protection of hens, cows and pigs, funnily the general perception about the treatment of farm animals in Malta is positive. Maybe there is one area after all in which we can be models for the other EU states! Sarcasm apart, even if conditions on farms in Malta were ideal, which is not the case, a lot of meat and meat products are imported and all the sources are undoubtedly factory farms.
It is also not surprising that the majority of consumers are not willing to pay extra for products sourced from production systems that are animal-welfare friendly. Living in a culture which promotes animal cruelty for the sake of tradition, it will probably take many more years to reach the stage where all life is respected. In truth we don't actually need to pay extra for eating animal-welfare friendly food. All we need to do is to remember that animals do not choose to give up their life and liberty for people to eat them. They are bred in the most unnatural conditions and are slaughtered, and throughout the whole process they suffer.
People turn vegetarian for a number of reasons, the main one being not health but the issue of animal welfare. On a positive note, vegetarianism in Malta has grown in recent years and will continue to grow with more education and raising of awareness on animal-related issues.
Ananda Marga has been at the forefront in teaching the principles of Ahimsa (non-harming) as one of the tools for self-development. Harming other living beings is not a human quality and whether people think of animal welfare or not when eating meat, animals are suffering anyway.
Anyone who wishes to spend a cruelty-free day on June 29 is welcome to join like-minded people on the Hera trip. The price, all inclusive, is Lm12 for adults and Lm6 for children. All proceeds are in aid of Centru Tbexbix. For more information call 2131 0830 or 9984 2282.