Some drivers and riders deliberately run over animals on the road to punish them for being on the road. They justify this act by saying that animals are not supposed to be on roads in the first place.

This act lacks basic reasoning. To punish someone, that person should commit a mistake. To call an act a mistake, some form of intimation must be communicated informing that the act is not allowed in the first place. This is the basic reasoning behind road signs, "no trespassing" signs and laws made in the parliament — to intimate the concerned of what is and is not allowed.

The animals are not aware of the fact that roads serve a purpose for humans and that they aren't supposed to be on the road. We haven't figured a way out to intimate animals of this thought, thus depriving them of the knowledge that their presence on roads is not ideal for us. Given this case, running over them as a form of punishment is an unjust and unreasonable act that puts human intelligence to shame.

Some argue that once animals are injured on the road, they will not appear on the roads again having learnt of the danger. This is true only in the case of individual animals or of small herds. Causing an injury to animals in one herd will not trigger a learning process among all these animals in the locality, district, state or country.

And if these counter arguments are not good enough for you, consider the fact that running over animals in fact puts you in danger and financial loss. There is a good chance that your vehicle can be damaged or end up in an accident injuring you; especially if you are on a two wheeler.

The solution to traffic diruption by animals is not running over them. If you are travelling on a road that cuts through forest areas, you have the second preference here. It's their land. Make way for them.

But if you are on any other road, hold the owners accountable, which will warn other owners too to take care of their animals. In the case of stray animals, hold the system accountable.

The epidemic of stray animals are human caused. When pets misbehave, get old or sick and becomes a liability, many so called humans abandon them in a far away street such that they don't find their way back home. Some of them die. Of those who survive, they breed and proliferate.

The case of stray cows, oxes and goats on roads are more pathetic. Some are ownerless and surviving by foraging food from food waste dumps. Others are let out in the morning by owners and never checked till they forage around and return in the evening.

A proper pet ownership system is the only way we can end animals causing traffic disruptions; not running over them.