The question is not, Can they reason?, nor Can they talk? but, Can they suffer?

Expanding the circle of ethical compassion beyond opposition to racism, caste-ism and sexism, activists from FIAPO (Federation of Indian Animal Protection Organisations) and AFTA (Activism For The Animals) a local group of Pune volunteers, organised a visual & informational outreach against speciesism recently at Sambhaji Park."Speciesism" refers to the idea of exploitation and oppression of sentient beings merely based on the species they are born in. Visuals of brutal oppression of non-humans driven by our demand of everyday lifestyle, highlighted the deeply seated bias of human supremacy in our society, one which is not very different from other forms of supremacies like those based on gender or colour of skin from the days bygone. Self proclaimed human supremacy tends to view non-humans merely as objects of utility than as sentient beings who can and do have capacity to suffer. Central theme of the entire outreach was aligned with the famous British philosopher Jeremy Bentham's popular quote - “Dairies in India are cruelest places for the humble bovines to be in. Calves separated from their mothers, artificial insemination of cows by inserting veterinary's hand in cow's anus, beef exports driven by dairy are some of the aspects far too common and yet cunningly hidden by the rhetoric of milk's sanctity. Egg industry crushes day old male chicks in crushers while raising females with extremely cruel practices like chopping off their beaks in a hot vice and captivating them in tiny cages for life.People were not only shown videos of what really happens in Indian dairy, meat and egg industries but were also informed about the connection it has with our regular lifestyle based on use of non-human animal products and our perspectives to view non-humans merely by their utility. Veganism , a way of ethical choice to abstain from any non-human animal products from food to entertainment and beyond was also a subject talked about.