In the past in Asia, Buddhists often bought and released captured animals they found in local markets. This was obviously good because the animal would otherwise have been killed. Since the animal—often a fish or bird—was captured in the wild, it would be able to survive since it had gone back to its natural environment.
Today, many Buddhists still follow this tradition. But as with everything we do, we need to use wisdom in releasing animals.
- Buying animals, like fish, encourages those who caught the fish to catch even more. Thus, more animals are at risk of capture. Also, when the animals are released on a special date, those who catch them will catch even more in anticipation of increased demand.
- Those who release the animals must know they will be able to live in the wild. Domestically raised animals do not have the survival skills that wild animals do. Releasing domestic animals can endanger their lives.
- The animals need to be released in their natural environment. Introducing them into an environment that is unsuitable for them will endanger them as well as upset the natural balance of that environment.
Times change. A kind act wisely performed in one situation may turn out to be neither kind nor wise in another.
As Ven. Master Chin Kung has said on releasing animals, “We need to understand thoroughly the situation so in our attempts to be kind, we do not unintentionally cause harm instead.”
Article originally appeared on a buddhist perspective (http://www.abuddhistperspective.org/).
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