Two court cases, one human judge, many dead cats and one dog doomed to die.
http://www.nst.com.my/nation/general/killer-dog-to-be-put-to-sleep-1.99998
It was the owner’s negligence and something may have provoked the dog to attack. Yet the dog is sentenced to die for an alleged crime where there were no eye witnesses at all to what happened before the attack. Most experts agree that animals do not simply attack unless provoked.
http://www.nst.com.my/nation/general/cat-lovers-cry-as-2-walk-off-with-a-fine-1.99644
So many cats died. It was clearly a case of negligence on the part of the operators, yet they walk off with only a fine.
One man dies, the dog has to pay with his life. So many cats died, two humans walk off with only a fine.
Whither justice?
Until and unless humans develop empathy and compassion for animals, until and unless animals are viewed as equals and deserving of equal rights to live on this earth as we humans do, this sort of injustice will go on.
It is the law of the jungle that the strong will bully the weak. Humans claim to be civilised but those who still bully the weak and defenseless are still living by the law of the jungle. They are tyrants.
The day may come when the rest of the animal creation may acquire those rights which never could have been witholden from them but by the hand of tyranny. – Jeremy Bentham (1748 – 1832)
It’s hypocritical that humans abhor racism but they adopt speciesism.
Comments
6 responses to “And why? Because they cannot speak for themselves.”
Dear Dr Chan,
I totally agree on your statement!
“…..where there were no eye witnesses at all.”
Actually, there were 2 key witnesses in the incident. One lady with a cane & one salesman with an umbrella who both tried, in vain, to stop the dog from biting the jogger.
Nevertheless, I truly agree that the dog’s life should be spared (because it couldn’t defend itself in a human’s court of law) while the existing laws should be amended, to give a stronger bite to those irresponsible owners/guardians/abusers of all kinds of animal. Not forgetting, these laws must also be strictly enforced by the relevant authorities.
No eye witnesses to what happened that made the dog attack the man. These 2 witnesses saw it happening. Nobody saw what happened BEFORE the dog attacked the man.
Or maybe the defense lawyers did not or could not bring in witnesses who regularly saw what the jogger did everyday when he passed by the dog.
The defense lawyers were not defending the dog, they were defending the owner of the dog. This is makes a big difference in the court decisions.
That’s right. If the owner is found guilty, the owner pays the penalty. Why does the dog have to die for it? Nobody saw what happened before the attack. Nobody saw what happened daily when the jogger passed the dog’s house.
For the 2nd case above….The other disappointing thing about the case is the many owners who decided not to come forward and say things like “nevermind laa, it’s over and i’ve moved on”. These owners were supposed to come forward and be DVS’s witnesses. They were initially very gungho and was crying for blood last year, but when contacted by DVS this year to appear in court, most just cited all sorts of reasons.
As one of those who actually went on-site to rescue and care for the cats, i feel so disappointed in their lackadaisical attitude now. We spent days to help your pets…Some spent months fostering while waiting for the owners to be located….And this is how you respond now. Indirectly causing the outcome of the case to be such. A 6K fine for the many lives lost.
Yet again, humans have disappointed me.