About animals

Chanaka Bandarage

We humans must create a society that is also kind to animals.

Helping a helpless animal is a noble act.

It is really good if every home rears a dog, cat or other pet. The good that could come out this is priceless.

But, if we cannot give time for them – it is better that they are not reared.

From the time we bring them home, we must look after the pets like ‘children’. We should speak to them in our own language: Sinhalese or Tamil.  If you love them once, they will love you ten times more.

You can teach them how to eat, sleep, catch pests, guard the home etc. Talking to animals lovingly is an art. It ought to be learnt and nurtured. If you teach them – 'it is time to go to the kennel and sleep'; 'you must catch deadly rodents'; they will learn in no time.

Talking to your pets will not only purify your blood, but creates a positive and a happy environment at home for all.

Dogs should not be kept in kennels and/or chained for 24 hours a day.  By that way, you will not create a happy dog. It is important to take them for walks and give them exercise, by doing so you too get your exercise.

We must raise our own indigenous dog/cat breeds rather than looking for imported breeds. They are the best as they are authentic to our native soil.  People spend big money in buying foreign dog/cat breeds.  This is ridiculous.  These breeds become often sick. They rely too much on meaty and high quality food. True, foreign breeds are beautiful, but our own breeds are more beautiful.

A top Police officer once told this writer that if our local dogs are well trained, they will do a better Police job than the foreign dog breeds. All depends on training and how well you handle them, he said.

By studying the behavior of animals - looking at home pets including fish in tanks; one could learn about the world - the environment, nature and life at large.

It is strange - it seems at times animals have more kindness and gratitude to us than what we humans have for them. Ask people who have pets – they will say yes.

Is this because of our arrogance?

The dog that left home, if not lost or not in any other condition (stolen, met with an accident), will definitely return home.

If there was no danger, the pet pigeon who left home, will definitely return to their cage at home.

Those who chase away or kill the home pet when they are sick or old are evil people.

Anyone who ill-treats animals, abandon them or kill them in various ways are sinful people.

The animal loves the place where it is raised. Once they know it is their home, they will do various things to help you.

That is why the dog guards the house and the cat catches mice.

The dogs reduce at least 75% of the threats of thieves; cats will take care of unwanted pests.

There was a cat who saved the lives of people by killing a deadly snake inside a house.

Animals are much smarter than we think. Our pets always try to understand us. For this, they constantly study us and think about us. 

True, we show less regard to them.

Many animals, even sometimes snakes, come to befriend us. Often we chase them away or kill them.

Dolphins who fall in love with us follow our fishing boats; but we kill them.  Who is heartless – we or them?

If a stalker (garandiya) comes to your compound, just throw kerosene oil near them, they will move away.  But, please do not throw kerosene oil on their body as it will burn their skin. They are one of the most harmless animals one can find.

Chimpanzees and our DNA are about 99% identical.

A healthy cow gives 12 kg of cow dung per day.

Stealing of pets has increased in our country. No one should be encouraged to do this. The owner of the pet knows how painful it is to lose that pet. Most of the animals that are stolen die quickly as they are unable to bear the grief of losing the master.

Our Governments should be more concerned about protecting innocent animals in the wild; we lose innocent and precious animals because we lack proper laws/standards. Most politicians only think about their luxury. Politicians do not care about the wellbeing of the animals – whether in the jungle or domestic. This is mainly because the animals do not have a vote.

The need to protect innocent wild animals is becoming more important. Often wild animals such as elephants, leopards, sambhurs and deer have died before the wildlife officials arrive to rescue/assist them. Most of the time they come late.

We have laws to prosecute those who kill wildlife like deer and wild boar; but it is not unlawful to serve their meat in hotels or eat at home. This is a loophole in our law.

Killing the leopard is prohibited, but the law does not work against the Aristocrat who keeps a stuffed leopard at home.

It is best if a law is introduced to stop displaying elephant tusks near coffins at funerals. This practice serves no purpose and is out of touch.  Our Elephants are constantly being killed for the tusks.

The fact that wild elephants are still coming to human habitats and that they encroach people's private lands is a reminder that we have not done our job of protecting them.  We have the Human – Elephant conflict now for more than 40 years (started mainly thanks to the accelerated Mahaveli scheme).  Rather than solving the problem, it has exacerbated.

Villagers complain that Elephants destroy their land/crops. And, that the Elephants should be chased away. Where should they be chased to?  When, we humans go and settle in the forests that the elephants ought to live.

Elephant Corridors have existed for thousands of years. It is stupid to expect that the Elephants would start using new Elephant Corridors that we humans build for them. 

How can we build Corridors for the Elephants; and why should we anticipate that the Elephants would take those tracks that we build for them? 

It is sad to see the plight of the Elephants in Hambantota. Due to massive forest clearings in the recent past, one can see stranded Elephants on the middle of the road leading to the new Airport.

Thanks to the new Hambantota projects like the Airport, cricket ground, cinema village etc many wildlife have lost their habitat. Noteworthy are the Peacocks, Monkeys, Deer, Wild Buffaloes, various Snakes and of course Elephants.

In or around 2012, a new road was built from Buttala to Kataragama (B35), across the Yala National Park. Many Elephants now flock to this road to eat food served on them by those who pass by in vehicles. It is not surprising if this road would 'kill' Yala one day.

A wildlife enthusiast told the writer that almost every Elephant living in Sri Lanka's jungles carries some sort of a gunshot wound in their bodies. It is something that we should be ashamed of as a nation.

The Elephant fence ought to be of a low-capacity power line (110 volts). The writer has heard that Elephants had been electrocuted at 230 volt fences.

Some evil people deliberately increase the voltage.

The garbage at the Manampitiya hospital is dumped near a wild Elephant jungle. Among the rubbish is blood soaked bandages, injection syringes, and empty medicine/saline bottles. Many Elephants in that area had died. Their postmortems have revealed that these articles were entangled in their intestines. The noteworthy thing is that this happens in an electorate represented by an ex-President.

Let us hope that never ever would calf Elephants living in the jungle with their mothers be stolen by evil humans.

Often, the Elephant has shown superiority over the man.

A man who lived in a house in the middle of a jungle in South Africa, and loved Elephants died.  It is stated that over 50 Elephants of this jungle 'attended' his funeral.

The fact that the Batticaloe – Colombo train kills so many Elephants shows that we have miserably failed to solve this important problem. The Elephants get on to the train track in the night at points near Elephant corridors. Can’t we at least run the train in these areas at 5 – 10 km per hour in order to save the Elephants?

When Elephant calves were caught in the Batticaloe train and died, the adult Elephants who had survived had stayed on the spot and lamented for several days.

“Sorry if I have done any wrong. Oh God, don't kill me. I have three children. When the children return home from school and do not find me, they will also die of starvation”. So said a mother to the female Elephant who had held her in captivity. 

But, strangely not a word came out of her mouth, as she was so terrified. The mother could only stare at the Elephant's eyes and stay in deep thought. 

The Elephant took the leg away that she was holding on the mother.

For about 2 minutes, the Elephant starred at the woman and thought.

The Elephant lifted her leg up again, showed a willingness to trample the woman.  The woman then with much difficulty joined her hands together and bowed the Elephant. Tears came out of her eyes.

The Elephant slowly moved away from the woman, after taking the leg away from her body.

'How many of my children/family/friends that you have mercilessly killed, and surely you will kill me one day too – the corrupt humans'; wasn't this what the female Elephant was thinking for those 2 minutes?

The Great Elephant left after saving the woman's life, without causing her any harm. 

A lesson for all of us to learn from the Great Elephant.

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