While humans have their own plights, as Pakistan can be a laborious and challenging place to reside in, animals go through the same, and often worse, struggles than we do
They do not have the capability to speak up for themselves, and so their circumstances are often not considered One such animal, that I am sure most of you have heard about, is Kaavan, the 31-year-old elephant and his 28 year ordeal of being chained at the Karachi zoo
We can only hope that he will recover from his psychological and physical damage because of his traumatic experience
Although this animal survived, there are millions more who fall victim to the harsh reality of Pakistan; the fact that not many care about animals and not all cases of animal cruelty are documented or addressed
Dogs, cats, cows, donkeys — animals that people abroad can only find in homes, shelters, petting zoos, or farms — are roaming the streets, some born there, some abandoned
Ordinarily they are seen with their ribs showing through their lank fur; their sad eyes and lolling tongues are commonplace in this city
Donkeys, especially, suffer on a day-to-day basis
Although people do not usually pay these gentle, hardworking creatures any mind, I know I cannot be the only one who has noticed the cumbersome load they carry
Donkeys live and breathe just as much as anyone of us, and no creature was built to perpetually carry such heavy load
There have been numerous cases of donkeys dying on the spot
They face other dire circumstances
It is sometimes a tradition to smear henna on the fur of donkeys
The harmful chemicals present in the henna are potentially fatal for animal skin, and can seep through the fur into their sensitive hide, thus poisoning them and taking their lives
I am also compelled to mention the similar use of coloured dye on chicks
The dyes are the reason those innocent chicks, that children buy excitedly from some street vendors, perish so abruptly
This reduces their already short lifespan, leaving them to expire within a few days
Let me shed light on another situation which is truly barbaric
Just last year, Karachi University left out meat laced with poison around campus for the starving stray dogs that had taken residence there
Subsequently, about a hundred dogs died before the citizens of Karachi decided to take action and remove the strays from the grounds
It does not stop there, because 2015 was also the year KMC started the mass murder of every stray dog in the city
Yes, I will call it murder
Thousands of dogs were mercilessly shot, with their blood staining the streets
Dog owners such as myself, became afraid to let their dogs out of the house, for fear that they too might suffer this terrible fate
The horrible reality is that it is still continuing — just last week hundreds of dogs were poisoned by the Karachi authorities
The authorities have claimed to be solving the issue of rabid dogs, but is this really the answer? Even in our neighbouring countries, like Nepal and India, who have a population of strays as large as ours; they have set up sterilisation and immunisation centres for stray dogs
Why are dogs being killed for a disease they cannot control, while thieves, cold-blooded murderers, and rapists are given a few years of jail time at most for their intentional, premeditated atrocities? They should be treated, like all patients and victims of illnesses are
Chickens, cows, and goats are cramped in small cages only to await their bitter fate at the hands of the very same man who is currently butchering their sibling
It really disgusts me how people feel that animals, just because they cannot speak, or because they do not have opposable thumbs, do not have feelings or thoughts
Anyone who believes that has clearly never heard a female dog cry for her dead child, or heard chicks creating a pandemonium after being taken away from their mothers, never looked into the sorrowful eyes of a goat as it watched its companion being slaughtered, or gazed at the genuine love in the eyes of a loyal pet or an attached stray
Humans have no right to decide whose life is more important
We are not as important or indispensable as we think we are, and it is time to let go of our ego and show a bit of empathy
| Date: | 31-Aug-2016 | Reference: | View Original Link |
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