Animals

[Roman]

Have to get it out of my system.

Last night I was sitting with few of my desi friends, having fun, watching... well sort of MTV spring break and having... well, you know, guys' talk when our commander-in-chief aka guy-with-the-remote-control started flipping the channel during commercial break.

He momentarily stopped at a channel and we started watching what was on. They were showing some part of Europe (probably France) where these bunch of guys on a farm house were beating and kicking animals. The show was probably about cruelties done to animals.

Among other scenes, they showed this little innocent calf being beaten by couple of men. Two men dragged him first to fence and tied him with it after which a man held his head while the other started lashing him on the face and punching him on the ribs.

I must admit that I can be a stone hearted son of a ***** on times but when it comes to animals, I am big sissy. Seeing an animal suffering or treated that way just tears me apart.

They showed calf's closeup when he was being beaten. I just stared at his eyes. For a moment, I could not move or breath. His eyes were full of suffering from pain, misery, and helpless anger. I just looked at him, froze. I can't keep that image out of my mind.

Since last night, I feel like I am crying inside.

[sabah]

A-u-A Roman.

I don’t have anything to say on the topic – or perhaps there is nothing to say, except that the usual stuff we say about these things, ’yeh zulm hai’ an’ stuff. Lekin this ” They showed calf's closeup when he was being beaten. I just stared at his eyes. For a moment, I could not move or breath. His eyes were full of suffering from pain, misery, and helpless anger. I just looked at him, froze. I can't keep that image out of my mind.”
Is so touching and if you replace calf with a child it will be equally true for so many parts of the world – makes me wonder ke if we can’t value a human life how can we care for animals? May Allah swt bless us with understanding for humanity amen.

Btw Nice topic

[NYAhmadiX]

Roman Yar, I would have thought that Europeans were a bit more civil than that. I have seen a lot of sexually explicit stuff on European TV stations, but nothing of this nature. The general perception here is that Europeans are more animal friendly than say Americans, but that is obviously not the case.

It stinks.

In Pakistan, I have seen CockFights that are truly disgusting. But what you have said should not be acceptable in today’s world. I can see that some “lost” souls will do something this cruel, but to how it on TV is also unacceptable (even when the purpose of the show was to educate people. I personally don’t approve of such graphic presentation, no matter what the reason or the message).

[Mr Fraudia]

among the most memorable scenes in my life was in Pakistan.

It was Summer and I was at my nana's place I was at the roof enjoying the breeze and looking at the kites "etc"

I saw this old man wearing glasses, Easily in his 50's and in a kurta and lungi, pushing a cart selling fruit. his clothes were clean but he was denched in sweat.

At this point he was so tired that he was not calling out like the cart people do, people would just come up and buy stuff from him and he would keep moving. Two guys on a motorbike swung by and picked up something and sped...he stopped looked at them for a moment and then just kept going

I have seen beggars and I have seen all sorts of stuff on the TV, but that guy...I am not sure why, is fresh in my mind.

Its going to sound corny but everytime I think of Pakistani work ethic, that guys face just pops up..I was saddened to see him work so hard at such an old age, but I also felt motivated by looking at him and proud that he was a fellow countryman.

[Mr Fraudia]

as far as animals treatment in pakistan goes. try this...while walking in any area, reach down to tie your shoe laces..and all sorts f cats and dogs that you could not even see would appear and run away as fast as they can...

throwing rocks and dogs is a much enjoyed passtime i suppose. Now even these animals know to bail when they see someone picking something up.

[~Amber~]

i know how you feel about being upset about watching animal abuse.....i think i am desensitized to seeing men being shot in movies and stuff, but when it comes to hearing, reading about animal abuse I get very upset, i can't even watch the human society channel where they ask for money to support their cause. all animal abuse is too disturbing for me to see and i'm surprised they would show it on tv like that.

[BoSS]

Yeah! its insane!

I'm getting a little bit off track here but your last line 'I feel like I'm crying inside' reminds me the last time when I felt the same way.

Once in pak I went to this mechanic's shop to fix some alien sounds echoing out of my car's engine. Well I went there and this little 10yr old kid was assigned my car. To my embarassment he fixed the car in no time. I paid my bill and stuff but as I was driving out of the garage I saw the 'ustaad' beating the heck outta the little kid for some reason. Being da BoSS and the show off that I am! I had to interfer and made sure that 'ustaad' got a piece of my word too...but I could see the look in the kid's eye...it said he got the same treatment everyday...I still can't forget that look....just felt kinda helpless...

woops! what I wanted to say was that regardless of the kind of abuse...it shows that we r still not a civilized society yet!

ciao,
BoSS

[Roman]

The reason I used the word 'probably' for France was because when we started watching the show, we did not know which part of the world it was but the people were white, wearing jeans. In the next, different scene, the narrator did mention France so we assumed the whole documentary was made in France.

I agree with you NYAhmadi, I could never imagine something like that happening in a European country since they always proclaim animal rights and do in fact have a lot of organizations working for the cause.

I think we all are talking about the same thing. Whether it's what Fraudia said, or Sabah, or BoSS or Amber. The concept is same. Misery. Helplessness... helplessness and suffering....

Whether it's an animal or a human, it's the most heart-crushing sight.

I have thought about 'tangas' in Pakistan many times. I have witnessed scenes I can't even begin to relate here. It's a poor situation and my heart goes out for the poor horses and donkeys.

You know, we humans do not know how to appreciate life in different forms. We are just so *&^%^% up with the pride of our own conscious and intellect.

[Hum Sa Ho To Samne Aaye]

I must admit that I can be a stone hearted son of a ***** on times but when it comes to animals, I am big sissy. Seeing an animal suffering or treated that way just tears me apart Me Too http://www.pak.org/gupshup/frown.gif
And this is very very common in Pakistan. Every day you get to see something like this, especially the donkey-carts and the tangas. It's really horrible. And just because dogs aren't preferred by our religion doesn't mean that the people have to tie them with a string and beat them up. It's really truly cruel. This isn't just common with the rural people, even the so-called "modernized" people beat up animals. I dunno what they get out of this.
The Edhi Welfare Trust takes care of the sick and homeless animals but that's only in Karachi.
Also, keeping wild animals caged in zoo is inhuman. I hate the "chirya ghar" of Lahore because it's horrible the way the lions have been locked in those small cages. Same goes for the "circus" in Pakistan. Why can't they let the animals stay where they belong?
Once I told people that I wanted to become a "dungar doctor" and everybody really made alot of fun of me. To tell you the truth, I was kinda hurt. What's wrong with taking care of animals? Why don't Pakistanis respect this profession? And now when I say I want to become a lawyer for animal rights, even my parents put me down slightly. Sheesh.
I just wish someone would do something about this...I mean on the official level.

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Beauty Lies In The Eyes Of The BeerHolder

[Elegancia]

Sorry to say this, but how many of you people caring so much for animals are pure veggies, my friends?
If you are non-vegetarians, aren't these the crocodile's tears?

[Roman]

Originally posted by Elegancia:
Sorry to say this, but how many of you people caring so much for animals are pure veggies, my friends?
If you are non-vegetarians, aren't these the crocodile's tears?

Good point.

The question is, is killing an animal painlessly and quickly for food is the same as hitting and kicking an animal on the face and ribs without any reason or purpose?

The answer is NO. One is a 'social necessity' for food, other is manifestation of hatred and cruelty. Big difference.

Now I do understand you point on the killing for food part but world is not made up of two distinct streaks of black and white. It’s a whole big grey area. Same is the case with our emotions and sentiments. Going vegetarian out of love for animals involves a great sense of self-actualization. Common people are not capable of achieving a higher level of self-actualization. Only exceptional people like Mother Teresa or Abdul Satar Edhi are able to get there. It’s just reality of life. We, the majority of people, live at an average level of moral state.

But does this mean that people at the lower end or at the average level of self-actualization don’t have morals or are hypocrites or selfish? No, it does not. We have to consider the limitation and reasonability within which a common person lives in our world. So the bottom line for such a common person is that "It ain't the same".

[Elegancia]

Good point Roman. I certainly don't disagree with that. But there are people who have actually ceased eating meat after seeing the animals slaughtered in hotels or meat-shops. Now, they are not great persons like Mother Teresa; but still, they have changed their habits in order to suit their morals!
Still, I accept your opinion that it's not the same from person to person.


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