Every now and then (and too often these days), we read about complaints from certain groups about the presence of street animals, especially dogs, and sadly, the council by-laws allow catch-and-kill. Animal lovers protest and plead for humane and fair treatment of these poor innnocent animals, but as long as the by-laws do not change, very little can be done. The politicians, the only ones who can change the laws, do not seem to care about street animals at all. The enforecement officers and staff are merely enforcing and implementing the laws. We can only hope that there is mercy, compassion and humanity in their hearts so that they will spare the animals. That is all we can hope for.
AWA2015 was implemented and already enforced, but many may not have read the preamble to realise that it is actually meant more for pets and not street animals. Only Section 29 covers cruelty which includes cruelty to street animals but Section 30(2)(e) still explicitly and clearly allows killing for the purpose of “population control”. It is this catch-and-kill that has to be replaced with neutering and caring. Change is needed, not enforcement or execution of said laws.
In the recent past, terribly tragic things have happened to the poor animals and we hear animal lovers shouting for justice after the fact, but the damage is already done, so truly, what justice is there for the victims? Is there such a thing as justice after the fact? Personally, I don’t see that there will ever be any justice for the victims. Consolation for those who are still alive, perhaps; consolation for those who are angry and sad, perhaps; but definitely no justice for the victims. The harm has already been inflicted. Even if there is punishment for the perpetrators, there is no reversal of the suffering of the victims; there is no bringing back of lives lost.
“There is no justice in this world. No single punishment can correct an injustice, because what is past cannot be changed, and those to whom injustice was done remain with their loss. But even if justice were attained in some other world, for what was lost in this one, if in some other world those who had been injured had returned to them what they had lost here, that is not a return of their life’s fulfillment; it is only consolation. What is lost at a certain moment can never again be compensated, because what is lost was needed at the moment it disappeared.”
― Goce Smilevski
Think about the above. It isn’t pessimistic, it’s realistic. It is the sad truth. So, let’s not wait for something irreversible to happen. Let’s help as many street animals as we can. Prevent the suffering from happening. For every animal neutered, thousands are prevented from being born to suffer on the streets and under cruel by-laws which do not recognise that every living being as a right to live safely in this world.
Neuter, neuter, neuter. We offer our Neutering Aid Package, but we need you to continue caring for the animals after that because that is the only way to ensure that they live out their natural lives as safely as possible. Granted that some things are beyond our control, but at least we make the effort to do our best for them.
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