By: Ayesha Mehmood
We often find compassion and kindness to be limitless and immeasurable attributes. However, the atrocities committed in Pakistan against living creatures would make one rethink humanities so called “infinite kindness”. Did it even ever exist in a country where dogs are routinely killed, donkeys are left on roadsides to die, cats are raped or thrown out when they get too old. The horrifying news one hears about animal abuse in this country should make any decent human shudder with fright and shame. When I hear these graphic, heartbreaking stories I am always left perplexed by the magnitude of callousness demonstrated by the people who carry out these horrendous acts and those who easily turn a blind eye.
The number of animal abuse cases in this country should be an alarming situation for each and every individual. A complete and absolute hell is descending on animals in Pakistan and very few people are actually fighting to help these vulnerable, innocent living beings. Why is it so difficult to relate to the pain of a mother dog whose puppies were ruthlessly killed before her? Is that where compassion ends? Why is it so difficult to feel for a cat who was crushed by a raging car?
One look at the ACF page on Instagram or Facebook further solidifies the urgency of this matter. Every day the organization shares harrowing cases they are faced with, from dogs being poisoned to donkeys being overworked to the point of death. Kittens being thrown in a pile of garbage, puppies being suffocated. The organization even reports cases of animals in zoo’s being mistreated. Recently two lions from the Islamabad zoo passed away due to severe mishandling. The several cases reported by ACF provide an image of war, a war humans have waged against animals. It is only recently that animal abuse cases have been given some limelight and importance, these disgusting acts have been ongoing for an extremely long time, a shamefully long time.
While the situation is quite dire and it will remain so, regardless of whether people choose to acknowledge it, all hope is not lost. Organizations like ACF are doing tremendous, groundbreaking work. They not only rescue animals but educate people on how to respect animals. Humanity has a tendency to believe that human consciousness equals sole right to inherit this world. This line of thinking is wrong and it is exactly these wrong assumptions ACF challenges by educating people to give animals their space, not to harm them and to treat them with kindness. Though it feels quite absurd that people need to be educated on this matter when it should be an understood concept, it has become an important step in steering Pakistan to the right path. And if you ever find yourself thinking why we should care about animals, make sure you re-evaluate how far your compassion really goes and if your compassion works on compartmentalization, then it’s not compassion, it’s narcissism.
