Perky

Perky, a small lil dog on my campus always used to hang about our college fast food joint. She was so full of life, that she had been given a number of other names by different groups of students. Another favourite was kekdi.. although im not sure what that means.
One fine day perky no longer jumped in joy when she saw any of us…the reason? Somebody had whacked her so hard she lost the function of both her hind legs. They are turned over the opposite side and to move about she drags them across for a few metres and then collapses. She s neither dead nor alive. She s just existing.
I study in a college which is run by Jains, the very motto of which lies in the concept of live and let live. I have nothing against their culture and norms. However, when you do not eat meat because it goes against ur motto and u also go to the extent of not eating honey… why is it that today if I tend to a hurt animal, I do not find help from any quarters. On the contrary, im told that im flouting rules.
The population of the dogs on campus started increasing causing a little disturbance only in the minds of a few students. This led to an order of driving all the dogs away or rather ‘getting rid’ of them. The idea of poisoning them was thought of by the workers but luckily they did not put it into practice. Of my 7 years in this place, there has been just one case of a dog bite. Now, tell me. Is that a dog menace in reality? If we have road traffic accidents do we ban vehicles?
I know there are a lot of people who think dogs are just a nuisance. Fine, don’t feed them, don’t pet them. Don’t even look at them. But please don’t be vicious and sadistic. Don’t throw stones. Don’t beat them. Atleast don’t paralyze them. Live and let live.
Perky has lost her perkiness because of some inhumane brute. She might lose more than that too.
Every time I see any form of animal abuse, the first feeling that my mind encounters is disbelief.. How can somebody who looks just like me, talks like me and lives life like me also be capable of heinous and violent things? Is he really different from an ordinary criminal who is branded by society and its lawmakers and sent away to another hell hole which we all call ‘prison’? the same malice, the same violence and the same nastiness …. The only difference- its directed at another form of life. If he s capable of that much violence against another creature, what could guarantee that circumstances could possibly not lead him to direct the above mentioned feelings to a fellow human being too.
I came across so many kinds of responses in my endeavor to help little perky. Some were amused that I was carrying a common ‘street’ dog and tending to it. Some people stood there and watched. I just have one small request. When you teach your children how to say excuse me and thank you, kindly drop in a word about avoiding animal abuse. If keeping them off meat is not your cup of tea, Atleast tell them that street dogs are not meant for stoning or whacking with a club or for tying crackers to its tail. We need a more tolerant society. Even a small kind gesture can make the world a much better place for animals.
You don’t really need to be a crazy animal lover to have compassion in you. The person who informed me about perky being hurt is someone who is paranoid about dogs. Yet, he was considerate enough.
Perky is being taken to the vet today. And I hope she gets back to her perky self.