aNt aNgle:
SORRY I've been away for a while.
It's not that I've been glued to the TV watching groups of grown men kick a ball with black spots across the field in South Africa. Actually, it's more that I've been preoccupied working on disabled and elderly issues all last week.
Details about that coming up later this week.
And speaking of the upcoming week, my attention will be turning once again to dogs in the middle of the week.
That is when the Canine Advisory Team from the Petaling Jaya City Council meets to plan for another major and exciting event later this month.
Whilst I was journeying back from Rawang, Selangor, yesterday I caught sight of several stray dogs on the street.
One was poking its entire head into a garbage bin of a resident desperately looking for a morsel to satiate its "hunger-panged" body.
Another was sleeping on the grass just outside the home of a very rich house owner. The only explanation that I could come up with as to why the canine was attached to that particular house is that it is because the owner was obviously feeding it from time to time.
A third was being shooed away by a man. He threatened it menacingly with a large piece of rock in his hand. The dog was gone in seconds.
All the animal wanted to do was to escape from the burning sun for awhile by snoozing under a parked lorry.
The chap clearly hated the sight of dogs in the neighbourhood. Much like some of us hate the sight of cockroaches in our homes.
The moment we set our eyes on those creatures from hell, we just want to see them killed.
Yet another, thin-and-frighteningly-scrawny looking creature was on the highway. It had its tail well under its hind legs in fear as it tried to dash across the speeding vehicles on the highway.
Nobody cared enough to stop and help.
Several thoughts dashed across my mind at that moment.
1) Was the life of the dog with its head burrowed in trash worth it as a stray? Many of these canines end up with a cruel fate with house-owners throwing boiling water over them in anger.
Then there is also the fatal "banana-surprise." A piece of the popular fruit stuck with needles meant to poison dogs.
Who would care for it then or nurse it back to health?
2) What life did the stray sleeping outside the house of its feeder enjoy when anytime dog-catchers of the Selayang Municipality could just turn up and send the poor animal to a sure-death situation?
3) And then, number three: how could dogs survive as strays when there is obviously so much prejudice based on fear by many? By contrast I came across a number of cats and kittens at a public market in Taman Medan earlier on in the day that received a much better reception than the canines.
4) The last dog that was courting with death really should not have been born, in my opinion. What dignity is there for such animals entering a world that is so biased and downright cruel against them?
In such situations, isn't it more humane that these homeless animals that nobody wants are put down painlessly than to be made to live as strays in the streets?
Will all those who condemn the putting down of unwanted animals be willing to "walk their righteous and ridiculous talk" and take in all these animals into their homes and lives?
What would happen to all the animals that have been put down if they were all alive and running about today?
I am in no way suggesting the eradication of dogs. But coming to solutions are not easy or simplistic as some animal-lovers think.
PET+BLOGSPOT is the official online blog of the Malaysian Animal-Assisted Therapy for the Disabled and Elderly Association (Petpositive). Our contents are ACCURATE, RELIABLE and THE LATEST. We offer both local and foreign news on animals, disability and the elderly. PET+BLOGSPOT was first established in October 2007. Our hits since then is 40,000 hits and counting. PET+BLOGSPOT is updated daily. Kindly take note that views expressed in this blog are not necessarily those of PETPOSITIVE. You may also visit our Webpage by browsing: www.petpositive.com.my
No comments:
Post a Comment