Across the media we’re exposed to in Guyana, one is seeing what seems to be a resurgence of the horrendous ill-treatment that Guyanese display towards animals and birds in their care and even to each other in their circle of family and friends. In recent weeks there have been several reports of shockingly brutal treatment so much so that many of us are now calling for laws to prevent such persons from owning pets and for fines to follow when these cruelties occur. It is distressing to hear of seemingly responsible adults guilty of this kind of illtreatment towards the animals and birds in their care. There are frequent reports of GSPCA officials telling of adults leaving animals chained up all day long, exposed to the sun and the rain, without food and even drinking water. Similarly, it is a common sight to see horses or donkeys, used to pull various carts, standing tied up by the roadside, while the owner is busy off somewhere, for hours, leaving the animals standing exposed to the weather. Even more astounding are reports of dogs, in their declining years, being casually abandoned on the streets by their owners, and many voices are now being raised for laws to prevent such persons from ever owning an animal as a pet or to pull a conveyance of some kind. There are photographs online of dogs actually set on fire by their owners to get rid of them. It is long past time for such actions to result in people being fined for such behaviours and for them to be barred from animal ownership, period.
Brutality, in whatever form it takes, brings unimaginable suffering to the animal or person it is targeting, but is also demeaning to the perpetrators. How could rational, responsible human beings be behaving in this way? What horrible company they must be in their own family or circle of acquaintances?
Indeed, we don’t have to speculate. Along with the media coverage of ill-treatment of animals and birds, we are seeing recently a spate of comments, in a range of social media platforms, with citizens openly calling for individuals in families to be using beatings, and other forms of violence, in the name of creating “good behaviour” in our young.
When it comes to posts about guiding lives, about learning proper behaviour as we progress through life, one can deal with references to the occasional tap to the back of the head; what are revolting are those brutal assaults, sometimes in public, and sometimes using a belt or, worse, a piece of hard wood, on children and even animals. If we take the time to look, there is abundant evidence that wise parents can bring up balanced, polite and impressive children with no recourse to violence or beating. I have seen examples of it in my own life and in the lives of others I have known. I recall, as a young student at Sacred Heart, a student who was having trouble with maths having to take a lash with a wild cane for every mark below 70 he got on a maths test. On one occasion, with 15 lashes due, his mother was brought in to administer the sentence to her son prostrate on the piano before the assembled school. That is the kind of “don’t spare the rod” philosophy that reasoned human beings should say “no” to, including having the mother or other adult handed the rod. I won’t divulge the name of the young student here, but I remember like yesterday that sinking feeling in my chest watching his mother beat him in public and wondering what must happen to him at home. Like most Guyanese, growing up here one would often see examples of this “attempt to control” philosophy that abounded in our society towards children, as well as the animals that served us (donkeys; horses; mules; etc.) and the corporal punishment methods that were rampant in our schools and similar institutions. It is a shameful part of our history.
What is even more shameful is that apparently the attitudes remain. I grew up in a Guyana rife with examples of how to guide and influence and lead the young without resorting to brutality. The evidence was all around us. Guyana was rife with examples of it. From the logie on the estate, or the wooden room in the ghetto, to the house in the country, or the two-storey in town, or the benab in the interior, that way of living prevailed. It was part of everyday life in Guyana, and in other Caribbean countries I visited. There was discipline and respect for elders, but punishments did not descend to the level of brutality that we now see falling on people as well as animals. The incident with the guy at Sacred Heart School, prostrate on the piano, may have been extreme. I remember the shock it created among us, the students. The kind of inhumane treatment of animals in our care that seems to be frequent now was equally unknown, or at least very rare, then. How did we get to the scenario of ill-treatment and even brutality we are now seeing? One can see why children, as thinking beings, would not turn on their own guardians, but I find it surprising that cats and dogs do not respond to abuse by attacking their owners.
From my youth, I was an animal lover, drawn to the two dogs we had as part pet/part watchdog, and when I became an adult, living in Canada, then Cayman, and now here, dogs have been a constant in my life, and there have been many people in my circle, wherever I lived, relating to animals that way.
It seems we need to take the lead from individuals such as animal activist Syeada Manbodh who are calling for specific legislation to repair an obvious aberration in our society. A child being beaten with a belt buckle, or a dog or cat being tossed out on the parapet, or an animal, God forbid, being set on fire, are not acceptable behaviours among people who profess to be honourable in their dealings. We should expect order and concern to prevail, but if we’re picking up a bludgeon or lighting a fire to make it happen, our behaviour is off the rails. We may not like the term, but such is the behaviour of rogues.
