THIS is apropos of the letter 'Paying attention to animals' (March 4). I agree with the writer that mistreatment of animals has so permeated the fabric of our society that most people do not even regard it as mistreatment.

I also agree that the government has some responsibility towards alleviating animal suffering. However, it is up to us as individuals to work at the grassroots level and educate the public.

Throughout history, cultural advancement has most often come through the exchange of ideas via people-to-people dialogue -- even through such interchanges as the letters in these columns.

We can change the world and make it livable for all beings - human and otherwise. Today there is plenty of information on the Internet that can show one how to take the first step toward making ours a more humane society. But as always it has to start with an individual listening to his own conscience.

In 1980 a grassroots organisation, People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (Peta), was launched in the US, with the sole purpose of raising animal rights awareness among the public.

Today Peta has many branches all over the world, including one in India. Peta in India (http//www.petaindia.com) has been putting out some excellent literature, some of which is also in Urdu.

There is no reason why we Pakistanis cannot benefit from such a wealth of information right next door. We already have organisations like the Pakistan Animal Welfare Society (http//pawspakistan.org) that, in addition to helping animals directly, works towards raising animal awareness among the people.

There are also academic organisations like the Animals and Society Institute (http//www.animalsandsociety.org) whose studies have shown that by harming animals we are harming ourselves, both physically and spiritually.

As American philosopher Henry Beston (1888-1968) so eloquently put it “They are not brethren; they are not underlings; they are other nations, caught with ourselves in the net of life and time, fellow prisoners of the splendour and travail of the earth.”

SYED RIZVI
San Jose, California