Anyone living in Karachi or Pakistan for that matter is well aware of how animals are treated. The local lot of animal includes dogs, cows and donkeys. The people of our great nation or at least the ones that I have seen could not care less about how each of these animals is treated. Being an animal lover I tend to follow pages that often tell tales of the inhumanities against our furry friends, the creatures that we get so much use out of, the creatures without which we could not have survived or be able to reach the point we’re at now. From these pages I am able to see the atrocities that the people conduct against these noble creatures.
Firstly, The local street dog population. Many feel unsafe with their presence and some are indifferent but one thing that everyone agrees with is that this co-habitation with wild animals is not the way to live for a modern society. So what is the solution ? well every few years the government sets out to rid the city of this so called epidemic, their solution ? a mass killing of peaceful creatures, basically borderline genocide. Now I know that there needs to be a solution but being a human being I cannot endure an act this heinous, an act that can only be described as an abomination.
The lack of empathy our officials have enrages me. While the rest of the populace preaches progress, equality and humanity we can’t even teach ourselves the basics of living a moral and ethical life? This is a classic example of reversal of roles which is irony at its best. Human beings acting like animals.
The reason for killing these strays is that they’ve drastically increased in number; they’re spreading diseases and have become excessively violent To begin with, if the government has enough funds to build a Disneyland in Lahore, how about investing in something that’s actually worthwhile? Like nurturing these strays? Fine, take them down if they’re seriously unwell but instead of shooting them point-blank, why isn’t medication use to reduce their pain? Bury them after in a respectable way instead of shooting them in front of their pups and then leaving them there to die? Why not help fund the very few initiatives we have for these helpless animals like the Ayesha Chundrigar Foundation?
These creatures that you are so easily able to kill have lives, have families and even if they don’t they still breathe and feel and no one should be allowed to take a life, after all isn’t that one of the oldest teaching of islam, infact the oldest teaching of the world.
This is not only the case with dogs they way people treat donkeys in our great country rock me to my core. Almost every day during my commute I am able to count at least 2-3 donkeys that are injured or seem unwell working while the person who holds the reigns doesn’t really care. This attitude is what makes the entire scenario even worse. These noble creature that serve us in every way possible deserve at least a little respect. 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.
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.
It is high time people open their eyes and ask if they are in fact truly humane ? Because remaining silent while gentle creatures are tortured is just as bad.