There’s no beating around the ethical bush this month – how people treat animals says a lot about who they are as an individual, don’t you think?
Call me soft in the head, admittedly sometimes my brain feels like Play-doh, but I believe all creatures should be treated with respect and kindness.
A recent incident had me pondering this further – when a neighbour’s cat was involved in a fatal road traffic accident and while tending to the poor love, it was suggested by a third party that I throw her into a black sack and let the bin men dispose of her the following day.
Given my neighbour was on holiday at the time it didn’t sit comfortably with me to discard her beloved pet in this manner, so a short blessing and sturdy cardboard box it was…I’d work out the next steps later.
The individual who made the albeit practical, yet perhaps rather insensitive suggestion, made it clear I was verging on insanity, in professing I wanted to provide the cat some dignity. But how would I feel if someone I barely knew binned my pet without my knowledge or permission? To be honest, I’d blow a gasket; hell would break loose in sleepy Staffordshire.
But it doesn’t have to be domestic for my heart to melt. For example, I can’t bring myself to despise a fox, despite having lost plentiful poultry to the predator during the years. RIP Cedric the wellsummer. I can only think it’s because foxes belong to the same biological family as dogs – Canidae, plus they are rather mystical.
If I come across a roadkill hedgehog it actually shatters me, as does seeing a fledgling baby bird who hasn’t quite made it.
Here’s another one – corvids. I’m laughing as I’m typing this, but I adore animals so much that I could find the merits of an old crow if I tried hard enough. There is some logic – my nickname is J (do I look like a Jan?), thus I’m often presented with Jay-related items. As such, I absolutely cannot dislike Corvidae.
Of course there are occasions where I have to draw the line – usually pest-related – and I’m certainly not naïve to the benefits of population control. But on the whole, if we can’t exercise the best version of ourselves towards a defenseless animal, well, there’s no hope for the human race is there.
Yet you’re not a vegan, I hear you cry! Well that’s a subject for another time, friends.
Individuals like me don’t want to be millionaires, they want scientists to find a way to make dogs live longer; for people to be responsible pet owners and to care for the nature which we’re blessed with.
They say being unkind to animals is the gateway to being a serial killer – well that’s one thing society does not need more of.
This article was taken from the latest issue of CPM. Read the article in full here.
For more articles like this, subscribe here.
Sign up for Crop Production Magazine’s FREE e-newsletter here.
