Articles

Stray Animals

“Will he be there- Yes he will be. He is always there. How do he knows we are coming- I don’t know but all dogs know , all good dogs know”.

Above line is from a famous Bollywood movie – Marley and Me.

Stray animals. You throw them something one day and for the rest of the life they will become an ardent slave to you. They will just do anything to impress you. Its true, they need you but more than that you need them.  

Yes they are unruly, dirty but they are lovable, they teach you to love. If you have befriended a dog close to your office, on a stormy night when you are out late and without any company it will be your guide and be around till you safely leave the place.

Your cat or dog will wait in the stairs of your building and when you reach there, they will rejoice by jumping up and down or may be licking you or may be roll into the floor.

My mom tells us a story about her childhood. She had a cat, which had exact knowledge about when she will be home after school. The cat will precisely leave home and will wait for my mother in the corner of a street when the train boarded by my mom will pass the station. Their sense of timing is great.

When my girlfriend was having their house renovated and her father would watch the proceedings and at times would pull a bad of sand or cement around, their dog would try to do the same for their master, so that he might not had to take the trouble.

Each morning I go out for office and bid goodbye to my mom there are 2-3 cats lined up around her checking down at me from the window.

Each morning my father goes out for morning walk near our old house, our cat which had left our new home after about a month we took her into our new apartment, greets my father. Couple of dogs run around my father, wage their tails around only because he has given them biscuits sometime.

I have seen my cousin, when he was a kid would pull our cats with their  tail would fall asleep over them but they would not complain.

Once we had a cat, she was pregnant and it was winter months. She would each day take refuge under my blanket and would lie on my feet. On the day she was about to deliver she shouted and bite me I jumped up and remove the blanket and she delivered one under our study table and one under our bed. So many time we had to carry those minutes old kittens and it tough u feel scared, they lacked fur, looks like rats and have blood round their bodies.

Another time also during the winter month our cat delivered and she wouldn’t go near her babies because of the cold, I had to took all of them in our bed and had to cover them with my arms and body only then out cat would feed her babies.

A cat lost his mother when she was two days old and my mother took charge to kept her alive with my sister goggling and providing important facts to my mother.

When Sound sleep 2-3 cats would also come and sleep over my body and arms and it’s hard to adjust.

In simple words, it’s hard to tackle them but you can’t live without them. Just about a week after one of cat left home about 5 years back my mom got terribly sick and we realise the essence of animal in our house. When we are grown up now and we can’t give time to our mom at least some time it’s comforting to see she is busy in her own worlds with cats, fish and flowers and plants. It’s also comforting to see couple of dogs lining up beside our father when he is out for morning walk at about 5 in the morning and it’s still dark.

You can hug your pets when you are in distress. You can be angry over them and they will forgive. They teach you to love. They can be your friend who can listen to you without providing unnecessary advices. They makes you complete somehow.

 

But with all these there are so many times, cruelty on animals is being witnessed. Cats been thrown hot water. Dogs been bitten, burnt. And it’s hard to realise was those things done by human ?

A community that has dogs in it is bit more secure from burglary. So with all these service they provide is it too much to provide them with minimal food or shelter. Is it too tough to deal with their nuisance. Time has come when we need to consider.