Going in, I admit to being rather easily astonished, so perhaps it’s not strange that I am completely bowled over by some of the actions one sees ordinary citizens in their daily lives delivering to various animals and birds in their care. As I mentioned in a recent Facebook comment, it is shocking that we dispense such horrors on the very creatures who are adding so much pleasure, and sometimes service, to our lives. The donkeys we have routinely pulling heavy loads around are the very animals we leave tied up to a tree in the pouring rain, or, as we have all seen, being viciously beaten with a stick by their owners for some minor irritation. We see dogs locked up in a small backyard pen, three feet wide, often with a zinc roof, in the mid-day sun, or chained to a tree in the backyard on a hot day. We commonly see birds, one of God’s most alluring creations, creatures born to roam the world on silent wings, but scores of them, confined instead in tiny metal cages by mankind whose only interest in them is to be entertained by their various whistling sounds. We see goats and sheep and even magnificent horses, being beaten by their owners, and with horses and mules suffering daily from pulling carts with hundreds of pounds of items around the city and sometimes for miles in the country side.
I know without asking that persons reading these lines also have their own horror stories of ill-treatment of animals, even house pets, descending on these creatures who we supposedly we acquire for some benefit, or pleasure, that they bring into our lives. If you think I exaggerate, ask the folks like Syeda Manbodh in the various animal care organisations around, about the examples they routinely see imposed on animals, not so much by strangers, but by their very owners. If you live in a residential area, often with a good collection of pet owners, you will be very aware of what can land on these pets as a matter of course. The folks who intercede on the animals’ behalf, in organistions such as Paws for a Cause, and ARAPS, can write a book on this inhumane parade of cruelty and neglect. One of the most egregious examples, a frequent occurrence in both town and countryside, has to do with family pets who have become old or are suffering some affliction; the very persons who have had these animals enhancing their home life for years, will put the ailing animals in their car, drive them to some distant area, open the door, shove the pet out, and drive hurriedly away, leaving them to God only knows what horrors await them. I saw recently a man on a bicycle, on the public road, riding along with a small dog on a rope, attached to his bike, being forced to accompany him. The poor animal was literally being dragged along, sometimes skating on all fours, by this excuse for a human being, and unfortunately with no humane official in the vicinity to have him prosecuted for his actions.
One can only stand in wonder and shock at these displays, and, as I noted in the Facebook comment, we should also be admonishing people who are looking to own a pet to abandon the idea unless he/she is prepared to treat these creatures humanely. The fact that we have organisations such as Paws For A Cause and ARAPS interceding on the animals’ behalf, tells us how vital a role they play in this scenario, and this is a plea to all pet owners, or persons using animals as servants, to be humane to them. Do not let it get to where the SPCA or some other agency is taking you to court for your ill-treatment. Take care of the animals in your sphere; as they’re there faithfully for you, so you should be for them. In the interim, our society should give thanks for the two organisations mentioned above, constantly interceding on the animals’ behalf; they deserve our support. Thank you Paws For A Cause; thank you ARAPS.
