“The greatness of a nation can be judged by the way its animals are treated.” Mahatma Gandhi
I had always been scared of dogs in the past. But my mother always used to make chapatis for cows as well as dogs too. I never asked her why she did it, and she never told me either. As days passed by, I too started enjoying giving food to the dogs and it reduced my fear towards them. But even then, I was afraid of touching them.
Last year a terrible thing happened to me, and it influenced me so much that it made me want to write about it. There is a female dog in our colony to whom my mother gives chapatis. She became pregnant and gave birth to four cute babies to whom everybody living in my colony used to provide milk and other foodstuffs. Everyone started taking care of them and somewhere along the way they got attached too. Gradually, as time passed, her first baby died after eating some kind of venomous plant, and consequently the mother dog was left with three babies only. Soon after that, all of them got vicious itching everywhere, and their situation became worse day by day. As a result, everyone stopped giving them food except for a few, and to make things worse, some people even threw stones at them. Their bodies became pale, their fur fell out, and there was swelling and reddishness on their skin.
I had started loving the mother dog, gradually. She loved her children very much. She used to walk behind them, and to lick their wounds to heal them faster. Nobody knew how, but she herself had a big wound on her backside. Both my mother and I thought that she was going to die, and we were left with no hope at all. My mother and I wanted to help her and her puppies, but due to a lack of money we were not able to take a bold stand. I know this sounds like a flimsy excuse for not helping. Maybe we didn’t have the guts to do it. The itchiness on the mother dog and puppies’ bodies became worse and we found no solution except providing food to them.
All three babies died, and the mother dog was left alone with the big wound on her back. It was the first time I remember crying so much. I was crying over the animal whom my mother and I feared earlier. I don’t know how to describe the bond between us. Whenever she came to me, I felt overwhelmed. When her babies came to us, I stopped doing all other work to watch them play, and to try and understand what they might have been thinking. In fact, it was beautiful to look at their naughtiness, and their wagging tails when they are happy to see you or want something from you. It seems like they are saying “I may be just a dog, but when you feel sad, I will be your smile. If you cry, I will be your comfort, and if someone breaks your heart, you can live on mine. I’ll always be your best friend.”
But perhaps this too was their destiny; they had to go. What made me feel so bad was their terrible situation, which they had to suffer, and which led to them dying.
The mother dog’s wound eventually healed. It was like a miracle. I had felt that she too would die, but now she is in a good condition and we thank God for this.
My mother still makes chapatis for cows and dogs too, and we miss the puppies whom our eyes still yearn to see.
Through this article I want to draw people’s attention towards stray dogs and cows roaming here and there without food. It is time to show some humanity towards animals. They need us. God made us humans so that we can help the needy, and they could be human or animal. Every family can begin by making one chapati for a cow and one for a dog. May be to some extent the situation will improve. After all, we are all children of the same God.
For God’s sake, don’t beat or throw stones at these stray animals, as they have souls too, they have feelings too.