Poor Little Dog

As the old man walked the beach at dawn he noticed a youth ahead of him picking up starfish and flinging them into the sea. Finally, catching up with the youth, he asked him why he was doing this. The answer was that the stranded starfish would die if left in the morning sun. "But the beach goes on for miles and there are millions of starfish, "countered the old man. "How can your effort make any difference?"

The young man looked at the starfish in his hand and then threw it to the safety of the waves. "It will make a difference to this one," he said.

My friend's neighbour keeps a dog, Biby, in his house who's only purpose is to act as a guard dog as he is chained 24 hours to the side of the wall, in the heat and rain. I recently saw Biby and he was in a terribly pitiful state. The dog was painfully thin, so much so that his ribs were protruding and his spinal bones stuck up against his thin skin. Biby's a mongrel, and not a very pretty one, but still it is no excuse for starving the poor dog.

Biby has a bowl of water, one that's hardly changed for weeks and from what we see, he's hardly ever fed. Once the owners went off for several days and not once did they spare a thought for poor Biby's welfare. Instead, my friend ended up feeding him some leftover dog food that he had because he couldn't bear to see the piteous sight. Last weekend, I fed her a stale sandwich and it broke my heart to see the way she leapt at it so eagerly and gobbled it down in 2 seconds without leaving even a crumb.

It's very sad to see her malnourished and neglected state. Biby's probably known no love, affection or warmth in his miserable life. The owner beats him sometimes when he barks too loudly at night. I don't profess to being much of an animal lover but such cruelty makes me very angry and sad. No animal deserves to be treated in such a manner. I've started keeping whatever scraps I have from dinner for my friend to feed her. And maybe the butcher in the market might be willing to spare a bone or two.

If there is a dog heaven, then I guess all dogs should be loved the same way Precious Pea and Pumpkin are treated. Unfortunately, we know this is never the case so although I can't help all ill-treated dogs out there, I hope to at least make a difference to this one. Let Easter which was just over and Wesak Day around the corner, be a reminder to show a little compassion. I hope to update an improvement on her condition soon!

"The greatness of a nation and its moral progress can be measured by the way its animals are treated."

~Mahatma Gandhi~