Save the tigers - PLEASE!

This is an appeal to all of you individually. And if any authority ever comes across this and they should, I wildly hope that this "park" is shut down, the tigers rescued and treated and their dignity, restored. The fate of my favourite animal literally moved me to tears. You can read and see evidence of this ridiculous cruelty here - http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1252500/Exposed-Dark-secret-farm-tigers-bodies-plundered-make-185-wine.html. And please, please spread the word.... Blog it, Buzz it, FB it, whatever... The power of the word is greater than we think and it's the absolute least that we can do.

Animal love unleashed

Tribute: May Michael Jackson rest in peace. The King of Pop truly defined western music in our hearts.

Note: This post may sound absurd to most of you.

Seen a dog on leash? What am I talking about, of course you have. Most dogs as pets are on leashes when they're taken out for walks or basically when they're taken out. Normally this hasn't affected me much. I mean the dogs I've normally seen are the frisky playful varieties who pretty much control their leashes and totter along happily with their owners at their heels or vice versa. Yesterday I saw an older dog. He was leashed to a dustbin outside a bank, presumably to wait while the owner finished some business on the inside. And the dog might have had no complaint for he sat there, spine straight and impassive, patiently waiting. But I did. I felt unreasonably disturbed, and got very irked with the insensitive owner. No, the garbage wasn't full and the place wasn't stinking. Yes, it was open air and the leash was reasonably long. I couldn't place what was troubling me. Till I could. It was about the visible and invisible shackles. It was about that leash. I knew I'd have had lesser trouble with a pet dog just waiting by himself on the outside than one that was forcibly chained to a dustbin. But here was the thing. That owner inside probably took good care of his dog... fed him, entertained him, took him to the vet, kept him happy and all of that. But it was the whole concept of the leash. How we as the thinking animal have assumed superiority over every other species and condemned them to a life of captivity (or domestication) to get what we wanted from them, be it company or food. No, I don't know what dogs would do if we didn't "domesticate" them and keep them as pets. I know they don't live in the "wild". As a matter of fact, I don't know what I want to be done with them. I bet you're saying to yourself - I don't know why she wrote this post anyways. But I guess my point is, when humans were put on leashes (Abu Ghraib torture), it created mass upheavals of protests as it should but it's perfectly okay for animals. And isn't around the neck a pretty cruel place to put a leash (I know the leash is cruel indeed, but the belly might hurt lesser albeit be less controllable)? And it's mostly just the poor dogs. The rest of the animals seem to get away with it (cats, rabbits, etc are gingerly carried around in cages - which is not so comfy either but it's just during transportation). While pet owners truly care for the welfare of their animals, I don't know where the cut-off is between providing food and shelter for an animal and then subjecting it to a leash. For all I know, the animal isn't bothered so much about the leash as I am. Like I said in the beginning, this post may sound absurd to most of you.

Open but caged

Gloomy captives. Those are redundant words. Of course those in captivity are gloomy. This time I am not referring to people alone. We’d been to a wild life animal park near Paris yesterday. I was initially very excited. The whole experience promised to lend a safari feel to an otherwise ordinary day at the zoo. We were told we could drive along the premeditated trails in our cars and get a glimpse of the animals in “an artificially recreated natural habitat”. The main attractions were the lions and the bears. The others were pretty normal and the “collection” included giraffes, zebras, strange-looking African elephants and other herbivores with a sprinkling of hippos, rhinos and American bison. So we drove at snail’s pace and had the opportunity to pat zebras, ogle giraffes, have ostriches block our car and many a Grand Koudou gaze steadily at us in close quarters. The lion “habitat” took the longest to get to and once there, I felt inexplicably sad. There was a full pride of lions. Yet, they were all determinedly looking away from the crowds that were oohing and ahing and clicking away to glory less than 50 feet away. It was almost as if they didn’t want to be seen. The bears were more at ease though… maybe because of the dense trees around or because they had a very large number of their own. And once we took the walking trail within the zoo to gain access to more animals like cheetahs and tigers, I was more convinced that zoos like these weren’t working out, for the animals or for the perceptive public (they were great for kids catching their first glimpse of real animals outside the LCDs and HDTVs). Sure, they maybe safer here than in the wild where they’re likely to have been hunted down… but the second we saw a happy and playful gibbon skip into it’s enclosure to eat it’s piece of bread in solitude and away from the ogling eyes, I felt sure that these zoos weren’t necessarily doing the right things. I mean, imagine living in a glass enclosure, being fed time to time, with millions of animals/people/insects walking around you through all hours to look at you eat, sleep, or just sit and you’ll know what I mean. Even though they have just 5 senses, the more animals I saw, the more convinced I became that they hid themselves away in far corners, behind rocks, under shrubs and what not; simply to shield themselves from the millions of prying eyes, much like what we would’ve liked to do if put in a similar situation. It was sad really. And it was a testament to the animal intelligence. Seldom have I seen the animals at ease in these recreated habitats and there’s little wonder why. And that makes me wonder why I’ve ever enjoyed going to zoos. Something should be possible - maybe there should just be vastly spread animal sanctuaries/reserves rather than stand-alone zoos. As in every case, it’s easier said than done. Can something be done? PETA, anyone?

I heart Animals

For as long as I can remember, I have been a friend of the Animal Kingdom. Right from feeding a day old Kuttan, the cat we found in Vrandavan, to the hag kitty in Kuwait to the recent-most Kittadhri in Ames, I have had the biggest soft corner for all animals, though sounds more like just cats. But truly, we've had our share of pets, my brother and I... the first actual ones, Meenu n Cheenu, our pet fish in Kuwait and then Pintoo, our parrot in Ghatkoper. And while we lived in Kuwait, our neighbour-kid Ritchie who lived opposite our house would bring home all these exotic pets, a duckling we had the best time playing with, a rabbit that waddled into our house ever-so-often and even a woodpecker. All of these incidents and the fact that we at home are strict vegetarians instilled a deep love and respect for all animals in me from when I was a kid.

And so some of the very first encyclopedias I got were Animal Encyclopedias. And long before other kids even knew they existed, I'd read all about Ocelots, Meerkats and Gila monsters and what not. And add to that, we soon had Animal Planet and everything and the fascination grew. I have been a big fan of zoos. And the Singapore zoo and Night Safari were amongst the most amazing experiences I've had.

I guess the purpose of this post is not to express my unsolicited love for animals. It's sort of the answer to many people's questions as to why I am not non-vegetarian. Is it purely cultural or is it religious or is it choice? At this stage of life, it's choice of course. But the fact of the matter is that I have never ever been tempted to even try anything non-vegetarian. And what I don't get is that when it doesn't bother me at all, why it would bother anyone else. And to every person who is non-vegetarian, I'd like to talk to you all after you've seen Earthlings. For the same reason, I cannot imagine buying any other animal products - fur, leather, ivory and what not. And no, I don't own a single leather article myself and yes, I am trying to influence others around me. And when faux leather looks just as good (though it may not feel as good), I cannot imagine why you would have to buy "the real thing". Finally, it's everyone's personal choice. And I know I've made mine. I heart animals.