Jail kids amused at cost of helpless fishes

Hindustan Times, Ranchi, March 09,2007: FIVE–YEAR–old Bholu (name changed) went blank when he saw a dog barking on the streets of Ranchi. He had never seen one before. Later, this group of 21 children, including Bholu, squealed with joy to see colorful fishes at the Ranchi’s Aqua World. The children even got the opportunity to actually touch a few fishes.

With all my sympathies for the children who are growing up in the jails of Jharkhand and are being deprived of the little joys of their childhoods, I have a point to highlight in the copied part of the article that was published on the date mentioned in the Mumbai edition of the newspaper. The last statement which talks about the excitement associated with the “opportunity” of touching fishes kept in Ranchi Aqua World, is unfortunately, promoting something that can be labeled as a legal offense. According to the zoo rules, it is illegal to touch animals housed in zoos and I presume that a fish kept captive in an aquarium is covered under the same.

For those, who are wondering why such a rule even exists and how touching a fish could possibly be harmful, I have an example. Why do we not enjoy the touch of a harmless house lizard, or let’s say, a gorilla? No matter how much a snake wishes to smother us with his love by walking over our body, we would still choose to remain miles away from him. From what I know, it is because firstly, we are perturbed and uncomfortable. Secondly, we cannot anticipate what could be the outcome such a physical contact with a stranger. Now, are we not causing the same fear and uneasiness amongst those creatures who are already challenged due to constant captivity?

It is understandable that the viewers i.e the jail kids did not know the rules. But those who were in-charge of them can be questioned for their vigilance over them and also about their knowledge of the law. The guards of the aquarium who are responsible for the safe-being of the fishes and their sense of duty should be brought into focus.

Though it must have been amazing for the children to touch the creatures whom they had seen for the very first time, but we, as adults should make sure that they do not learn to extract fun out of deeds which, firstly, could be illegal and secondly, harmful to others.

Stray Dogs! a product of OUR mistakes

BMP decides to kill them.

Before taking up such an easy-to-execute decision, have they thought what caused the dogs to even exist? How much more time are we going to take to change and not punish others for our deeds?

Stray dogs, belonging to a breed called Pariah, are and have always been scavengers, that is, they live on garbage created by humans. That’s why, countries like Singapore, UK and USA, where it is a legal offence to throw garbage in the open, do not have stray dogs.

Coming to rabies, if killing the creatures spreading rabies is our way of eradicating the problem of rabies then dealing with AIDS, a disease much more challenging and dangerous than rabies, can totally be in control by eradicating the creatures who are spreading AIDS. But we would never take a such a drastic step towards those who have AIDS and is a peril to our society, only because, they belong to out own species, whereas, the former, who are as sensitive and intelligent as we, but only differ from us in their shapes and sizes, are starved and left to die.

Just as we spread awareness about AIDS, cancer and many other contagious and non-contagious diseases as attempts to deal with them, can we not do the same for the problems that we face because of the presence of stray dogs?

Keeping all the emotions behind, people of Bangalore who do not want them to die a cruel death, can do the following:

1. Form a group of as many like-minded people as possible.

2. Include a few Animal Welfare Organisation representatives in the group.

3. Fix up an appointment with the BMP authorities.

4. From what I see, neither emotional nor legal threats can be good enough a threat. So, if they request them for some considerable time and funds and giving it in writing to them that the AWOs would be dealing with the stray dog issues(by sterilization, adoption or whatever) in the pre-decided time. If they fail to keep up to their words, then the authorities would be free to take their own course of action without any protests from their side.

This is just a suggestion, which, I feel could just work!

Monkey "menace" is what its always called!

Monkey menace: Residents file PIL for relief
Anand Bodh
Chandigarh, February 14: With no effort by the Administration to curb the monkey menace, the Resident Welfare Association (RWA) of Sector 15 has now approached the Punjab and Haryana High Court for relief.
In a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) filed by the patron of Sector-15 RWA, Satpal Sewak, the residents have asked for the relocation of monkeys.
"In the Public Interest Litigation, we have pleaded with the court to ask the UT Administration to relocate the monkeys in the forest area,'' said advocate Manu Devgan.
Sewak said earlier there were 20-25 monkeys in the area, but over the past seven-eight months their number has gone beyond 100.
Sewak himself was attacked by a group of monkeys in December.
Surti (53), another resident, said they keep their doors shut most of the time to prevent monkeys from entering their houses.
Area Councillor Anu Chatrath told Newsline that the issue had already been brought to the notice of the forest and wildlife department.
“I have called a meeting on February 18 to discuss the issue with the residents as well,” she added.

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I wonder why people always want only the best to happen to them no matter what their deeds are. They feed the monkeys living around their homes to be blessed by the mighty God Hanuman and when that brings in a consequence of increased dependency of the animals on them and thus a rise in their numbers then they do not want to face that?there is no need to approach any high court in such cases. Just stop feeding them and they'll flee!