June 17, 2004

Humans consider themselves the owners of this planet. As its most intelligent beings they take for granted their position and behave in the worst possible manner when it comes to dealing with other beings in this world. Even religion teaches us that other living organisms have been provided to humans for their companionship or for their survival.

This may be the case but do humans treat animals and plants in a humane way? No, they do not. As the supreme organism, man tends to forget that the rest are at his disposal and that they should be treated in ways that extinction of a specie becomes a thing of the past.

The treatment of other organisms is poor both in general terms and on an individual level as well. Keeping pets or having gardens does not absolve people of their crimes against other living things. This state of affairs should be expected as human rights violations are common in every country. So the other organisms would be of little or no consideration anyway.

In case of animals, we cuddle up to certain species but hate a whole lot of others. Domesticated dogs and cats are a popular choice for pets and are certain people’s companions. So are parrots. When was the last time you saw someone keeping crows, rodents or donkeys as pets? Most people would say never.

Can anyone tell me the reason behind this? Most people would say the animals you are asking us to keep as pets are undesirable. I ask them, how can one animal be good or bad when nature has created them equal?

If one says that they don’t want to keep crows as pets because they are not so friendly and are freedom loving creatures, then that’s understandable. But if they don’t want to keep a crow because it utters a disgusting sound when it crows or it has a sickening black colour then that explanation is outrageous. I believe the latter explanation would be the one most people would give. This is totally unacceptable as crows are very useful animals since their job in nature is that of a scavenger. Even that is not acceptable to some people who shoot crows to death.

Donkeys suffer the same fate. They are not kept as pets; instead they are owned — at least in this country — by dhobis or cement or iron sales ‘persons’ as working animals. Donkeys have to suffer unbearably as they are hit by sticks, to make them move faster, and have to draw very heavy loads. These donkeys are not kept or treated as pets but are seen as just parts of the cart in a role like that of a car engine. All the owner thinks about is getting to his destination faster and cares little for the poor animal.

We see numerous stray dogs on the roads of our cities. These are dogs which will never have homes and will always live on the streets where anyone can harm them. The right thing to do would be to have dog pounds where stray dogs could be picked up and taken to lead a healthy and disease-free life. In this way we will be doing the animals a favour. However, it is common to find people throwing stones at these innocent animals. If we had dog pounds, these mongrel dogs could still end up in someone’s home as a pet.

There are also those animals which cannot be kept as pets but whose role in nature should be appreciated. These include house-flies, lizards, vultures among various others which to most people think don’t deserve to live. House-flies are indeed germ producing but if they were not around then the filth in the world would just collect on and on. Similarly lizards balance the amount of insects that are present any place.

The way we regard animals is evident in the way we use their names as a means to abuse other people. Telling a person that he is a donkey or an ass is itself a bad thing but it shows that these animals in their minds are associated with bad things. The number of connotations these expletives have is just remarkable.

The way people act towards plants is just as bad. Only devoted gardeners believe that talking to plants would enable them to grow better. Although plants can’t hear, the act shows the person’s fondness for their plants. The observed action towards plants is to break their leaves, flowers or branches, or worse, to never ever water the poor creatures ever.

As a matter of fact, the way humans treat animals and plants is just deplorable. Environmental treaties don’t focus on these issues. Even if they did the protocols of these treaties are not adhered to. Mankind is just not friendly towards other beings.

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