IS our nation’s collective conscience dead? Animals are trapped in tiny cages, underfed and deprived of medical attention. You don’t need to go far, just look at the Islamabad zoo, a stone’s throw from the corridors of power.

There is a bear in that torture cell of a zoo, being kept in a tiny cage, maggot-infested and ignored. This is just one case; there are thousands of other innocent beings going through similar suffering with absolutely no hope. But then again, there is not much of a conscience left for us to be weighed down by. There is nothing anyone can do.

Eventually, our nation will be numbed to such an extent that even the greatest of sufferings will bear no impact; the most horrendous crimes will be lost in a news cycle that is too consumed by cricket and celeb gossip I sincerely believe that the treatment meted out to these animals is a crime against humanity; every time an innocent creature dies due to our neglect, we lose a part of our soul.

I repeat, this is a crime against humanity, yours and mine.

Uzair

Islamabad

Published in Dawn, June 26th, 2019