I came upon this via twittering @shazahakim today.
I'm enraged. Not only for the fact that the puppy was killed senselessly for wandering into a house compound, but also for Sri Indria's comment: "What they did was wrong but I understand why they did it. It's the culture and religious beliefs."
Dear Sri Indria, killing a pet and threatening its owner was no way stemmed from cultural & religious beliefs. It was pure sickness which knows no cultural or religious boundaries. Why do I say this? Because I have a neighbor (who I won't mention what culture or religious belief this family is from) who owns a beautiful husky but leaves him under the pouring rain day by day on leash. The dog whines all day long, and when he asks for food, they yell at him and sometimes the kids even hit him for fun. Azry and I often sneaked in some cat food (much to Michael the cat's dismay) by the fence so he would scoot over and eat some.
I am considering calling the SPCA because it looks like they don't need him. He deserves a better home.
And we all as for sure do not deserve another humiliating generalization. (Photo from Myoung Ho Lee)
6 comments:
Thanks for the post, Zana.
It's going to be a long comment - bear with me - so let's start with Sri being a Muslim.
My first understanding of "dog is bad" was preached by my religious teacher. I was a child of only 9 and therefore not offered any reasoning why dog is bad. As I grow up, there comes the further lesson of dog being najis (impure) and the ritual of cleansing upon touching them. But the seed was sown - dog is bad.
Until I met Sri and Irshad. They are peaceful people, who waged an uphill battle trying to educate the community around them about the importance of life. That we're the steward of this world, and it is upon us to ensure the wellbeing of all other living things God has entrusted us with. Anyone who had read the holy book can vouch for that value.
In that sense and many other, I see them as more Muslim than myself and other preachers I know. We're sometimes more concerned about the concept of individual rewards in the after-life (pahala) and cares little about what makes us human here in this world. When it comes to animal cruelty especially towards dogs, people in this country would probably go "Muslim? Oh, I see."
And yet we condemn the slayings of Palestinians. We call Israelis "binatang". How do we fare better when we condone the killing of innocent animals without remorse? Animals hunt and kill for survival. Surely we humans with God-given conscience can do better than that. So when we kill animals for misguided beliefs or (worse) because it's convenient, that puts us in a different league altogether.
I was there and Sri was far stronger than I would have been had the same happened to me. I know Maya was still alive when the local family got her out. The house had been soiled and they decided it best to put an end to their misery by strangling her. There was nothing spontaneous about it, strangling is not an accidental act.
I think that was the reason Sri cited "cultural and religious beliefs". It's not yours and mine but it sure prevails among people in this country. Only this time, Maya had to pay the price for being born a dog who lost her way home.
Thank you for the explanation, Shaza. It is undoubtedly unfortunate what Sri had to go through, and how these people can sleep every night committing the benefit of the doubt.
Send my love to Sri.
Isn't there a story told by the prophets about a Muslim who saved a dog from dying of thirst? I remember being told that story when I was a kid.
:(
Yes, Suff. There was such story. It was about a prostitute who use her shoe to contain the water and got down a well by herself, just to feed the thirsty dog. With her simple (but sincere act) rewarded her a heaven.
I don't like Maya's remark. Not a single religion/belief said killing animal is a good deed.
Darling! My neighbor also got a husky too! Such a beautiful dog when he first arrived. Unfortunately husky does not do well being left alone at home. He's a friendly dog. How I wish I could do something for him. He's in a very bad shape. Yes the owner walk (cycle actually) twice a day but his fur is dropping and I can see his skin at some point. He definitely need a visit to the vet. Whenever the owner took a long trip or vacation somewhere, the caretaker only come to walk and make sure he got his food. But little did the owner knows that his sweet husky would be howling calling for him. It is so sad that some people don't what dog breed suits them best.
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