A Cruel People

MAY 1999 - There can’t be many other nations who have achieved the high level of animal-hating that we have. If there are any, I certainly haven’t heard of them. It is common knowledge that when it comes to animals or trees, we are without equal. We treat the first with contempt and cruelty and the second with indifference and ignorance. We care for neither and that is a fact.

Those who care for animals and reside in Pakistan can be counted on a few hands. The campaigners for animal rights are few and far between and any effort they make is treated with general disdain. After all in a country where people die like flies and sometimes without reason, who cares what happens to animals ? Barring the odd Mrs. Sheikh who single handedly fought for years to secure some decent rights for animals, there have been no crusaders in this part of the world. When Mrs. Sheikh passed away, the SPCA passed away too. I may be mistaken but I doubt anyone has even considered reviving it. Arguably when you need an SPCP, Society for Prevention of Cruelty to People, animals have to take second place.

So next time you are on the road, take a little time and observe the hunted look that dogs wear, particularly those not blessed with doting owners and safe homes. They have been treated with so much cruelty and contempt that they fear every thing that moves, particularly if it’s on two legs and has two arms. Dogs look through narrow eyes and always with fear at anyone who passes them. Nine out of ten times they are prudent to observe this foreign policy because just as there is a sunrise every day, there will be a brick, stone, stick or projectile that will be hurtled in their direction. Those with slower reflexes carry the scars; broken limbs, maimed eyes, chopped off ears, body wounds and wounded personalities. They have not known perhaps, even a single day of affection and it is their lot to have been programmed to appear on this planet in a country which has no room for them. So widespread is the fear and so deeply implanted it is in their collective psyche that even domestic pets are wary of others of their species. A few years ago I had the chance to be in a huge public park in Italy where almost fifty dogs and cats of various sizes and breeds where galloping about on the grass, engaged in a hundred games, egged on by a hundred owners and friends. It was a community of friends and it was something to see. Spaniels giving Shepherds a run for their money, cats chasing dogs and dogs chasing other dogs and between all this crazy activity, babies rolling about, teenagers throwing Frisbees, footballs tossed up and tennis balls flying all over the ground. It was a fantastic vision and it would have done a few some good here had they seen it too.

Those who have pets in Pakistan live in something bordering on dread. There is so much garbage and muck about that all kinds of infections are on the rampage almost all the year round. Should you require something as advanced as x rays, you will soon discover that there is no such thing. Labs that carry these machines will not x ray any animal. Don’t ask me why, but that’s the way it is. A friend who had to have an x ray done finally persuaded a lab to do it, but had to sneak in like a thief after midnight when the x ray was carried out in frightened haste by the lab. Why the cloak and dagger affair had to be enacted and for whose benefit, I am unable to say. Vets have for years asked owners to pool in resources and have a dedicated x ray machine put in, but nothing has happened. In another instance, when my Spaniel started to go blind, I ended up with my eye doctor, who refused to see him. When I became unreasonable, he relented but maintained a safe distance and pronounced judgement from afar. When you are not looking for reliable vets, you are looking for any ground or open area where you can take your pet for a run. There aren’t any. The city parks are out of bounds for pets even if on leashes. Ironically, strays have a free run of these places.

Of course while our choicest cruelty is aimed at dogs, others don’t fare much better. Horses, particularly the ones that toil and pull tongas and carts all day, carry the most hideous wounds, the result of total indifference of their owners, who keep them working long hours in the most inhumane manner, yet care next to nothing for their physical well being. It is amazing that while their precarious livelihood depends entirely on their horse, they couldn’t care less what condition it is in. Small wounds become large, septic and create agony for the animal, who cannot complain but can only suffer in silence. Next time you see a horse or a camel go by, take a closer look. What you see will not give you much to cheer about, but even if you want to do something, where do you think you can go ?

The government has too many other problems to think about animals. Last year, in Lahore, an ill-directed, vicious and utterly inhuman campaign was unleashed against the city’s strays, who were killed in the most beastly fashion – pardon the expression. Hundreds of animals suffered horribly before death finally gave them relief, but those who were responsible for it, saw the whole gory drama as another landmark achievement for the Chief Minister. As we cut and destroy trees in Lahore, almost on the scale of a carnage, there are feeble protests about what’s being done to us. The great lunacy at work here is; ‘broader avenues, better traffic’. There is no such thing as any one will tell you, but then we are not calling the shots. In this crazy land, dogs, horses, camels, birds, trees, rivers – all are the mercy of that crazy animal, man, which reminds me. Where’s Hussain Haqqani ?