All too often we see domesticated animals – cats and dogs and their offspring – abandoned by their owners at car parks, eating places, and even kittens in boxes by the roadside.
If lucky, some kind soul would adopt the animal or in rare cases, send it to the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals or SPCA.
If not they most probably would be squashed by a vehicle!
I’ve spent a lifetime saving these creatures of God from the day I was a young boy.
Even though my parents were Christians, they were brought up as Buddhists and taught us to love animals.
My father was 12 when his mother died of bubonic plague – better known as the “Black Death” where 25 million people died in Europe in the 1340s spread by rats carrying the yersinia pestis bacteria.
It is said that more than a third of the people of England died in one epidemic in 1348.
In Ipoh the first casualty was a six-year-old boy followed by my grandmother three days after she nursed the victim. The disease had found its way to Malaya through disease-carrying rats hidden in ships with wooden crates bound for the Far East.
Ever since then my father hated rats and I followed suit until I realised it was fate that killed by grandmother and not rats.
It was “karma” that brought my parents together because they were childhood friends during the pre-war years.
They finally got married during the Japanese invasion of Singapore.
Even though I was baptised in church, I was officially ordained a Christian at the age of 35 by a pastor from the Borneo Evangelical Mission (SIB) but continued to follow in my parents’ Buddhist footsteps.
In my younger days I often accompanied my Chinese friends to Buddhist temples and even prayed for “good luck” during my Senior Cambridge examination.
Even though I was always one of the last students in my class at the Sultan Abdul Hamid College in Alor Star – and even my parents expected me to fail – I passed with flying colours.
Over the last 47 years as a journalist I have learnt many lessons about life and realise that as long as you breathe, you can still make something of yourself if you have the right attitude and aptitude.
In the twilight of my last years on this earth and almost three score and 10 – I often ask the question, where do I go after I breathe my last?
One thing I have discovered in this short life is man’s capacity to be cruel – the ability to hurt, maim and kill as if we don’t have to face any consequences!
In the last year I have been distraught at the wanton killing that took place in my state – the removal of more than 10,000 stray dogs and hundreds of stray cats following the outbreak of rabies.
In the latest move to contain the epidemic, 600 dogs were killed in one week alone.
According to Dr Julian Caldecott in “Hunting and Wildlife Management in Sarawak” (1988) dogs are considered as our most prized asset of the natives of Sarawak because of their ability to help us hunt for food, namely wild boar.
In the developed world, canines are placed high on their list of respected animals because they regard dogs as man’s best friend.
To the westerner, dogs represent unconditional love, loyalty, and companionship.
Sadly, some people living in housing estates feed hungry strays who chance upon their homes hoping they would be rewarded with “good luck” for their kindness.
Mostly, the dogs are left outside, rain or shine, to fend for themselves.
But with the rabies outbreak a large number of canine species in Sarawak are seen roaming the streets – some with collars and licence and have been considered as “pests”.
However, I thank the Almighty for Save Our Strays (SOS) president Kitty Chin, a devout Buddhist, whose agenda is to save rather that destroy.
In a recent press conference she said the wholesale removal of strays could have dire consequences because instead of helping to resolve the issue it would compound the problem.
She opined: “The indiscriminate removal of duly vaccinated dogs will likely result in the migration of stray dogs into the newly vacated area. There will be a threat of rabies outbreak since these migrating strays are not vaccinated.”
Back to the question of “Karma”. Buddhists believe in the rebirth of mankind as an animal in the next life.
Ancient Egyptians worshipped dogs because they protected humans and helped provide food through their hunting skills.
But cats were extra special because the Egyptians believed they are magical creatures capable of bringing good luck to people who kept them.
In fact Egyptian royalty dressed their cats in jewels, fed them with the best food and they were mummified when they died.
If a cat was accidentally killed by its owner, the penalty was death.
If reincarnation is to be believed, and I could choose, what would I like to be?
Certainly not a dog or cat if I were living in Kuching. But why not a rat?
Rats are social animals and if I were one, I could dance the nights away happily with the millions of happy rodents in the city of the cat.
Or if lucky, I may be able to hitch a ride out of the city on a flight from the Kuching International Airport!
The views expressed are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the New Sarawak Tribune.
