Man's inhumanity to animals
15/02/2011
For as long as I can remember we have had a dog in the family. As a boy I was an avid reader of the Romany books. Romany was the first BBC naturalist and his favourite walking companion was a spaniel named Raq.
Not surprisingly we chose a Springer Spaniel as one of our first dogs and of
course gave him the name that was so familiar to me as a child. Raq has been dead many a year and today we have two more Springers, Holly and Blossom.
Holly has exceptional intelligence for a Springer and Blossom, who was rejected as a show dog, is more than a little on the dim side. They are both 14 years of age now and reaching the end of their lives so in case one died leaving the other alone we recently acquired a little border terrier.
What a transformation we witnessed in the older dogs! They seemed to acquire a new life and in no time at all had trained the young exuberant puppy to behave himself and understand his proper place in the order of things.
A dog is such a wonderful companion but they do need looking after. In London we live close to a Royal Park and each day my wife must walk at least five miles and has done that for years. As a consequence she really is fit and healthy. Blossom is too old to manage the full journey now so she gets a small walk and the other two do the full circuit.
Apart from the exercise benefits dogs are wonderful companions. You may have heard the old joke - How do you know if it is your wife or your dog that loves you the most? Lock them in the boot of your car and see who greets you when you let them out!
For those who live alone it can be a blessing to have a pet providing that you can care for them properly. I am always sad when I hear that certain apartments or residences don’t allow animals. I can understand why some take such a decision but providing that the owner is responsible that ought not to be a problem. They are a tie of course and boarding kennels can be very expensive as we know to our cost!
I guess that many of you reading this article will, like me, get really upset when you read of cruelty to animals. It is not soft or sentimental to care for animals. It is simply a reflection that we as human beings have a respect for all life. Recently I narrated a video called ‘The Performance’ for the Animals Asia Foundation.
Produced by a film company called Environment Films, the video outlined the dreadful treatment some of the circus performing animals received in China. The makers of the film had been able to get behind the scenes to witness and film some of the training sessions and I have no intention of repeating here what they saw. It was terrible. If you wish to you can watch the film here:
It was therefore a really pleasant surprise to read in the newspaper the other day that China is now cracking down on performing animals in circuses. I don’t know if the video helped but I like to think it made a small contribution. So, if you have a pet why not write in and tell us about it. How have you coped with some of the restrictions a pet imposes and what benefits do you think they have brought to you?
I am pretty sure many readers will be interested in what you have to say.