TODAY
Online Only - Kindness to animals is an important value to teach children
07:50 PM Feb 22, 2010
Letter from Abdul Rashid
The intent of this letter is purely to raise our awareness of the general lack of compassion to animals (cats, especially) in our society. Lately, it has been moving to read about the concept of community cats. But here, I hope to bring to the fore the effects of negative behaviour inculcated in our children, through our behaviour.
Here is my observation of things which happen around public places like void decks, coffee shops and even parks - some children's lack of compassion for animals manifested in the way the children treat them. I thought compassion for animals would come naturally with children but I can understand why the forces of nurture can far outnumber nature itself, in children's growing years. I have seen adults in the presence of their children, kicking animals (gently or otherwise,) or throwing things at them. Judging from the adults' behaviours and mannerisms, I can safely say that they were probably brought up seeing such behaviour in their own growing years. They seem to be overly careful about hygiene and disease such that they treat these animals as balls of plagues on four legs.
I was at the vet recently with my kids, to pay our ailing cat Louie a visit. Another cat, Dani, was in a neighbouring cage with obvious bowel control problems. It was such a sorry sight - his fur was wet with urine and we thought Dani had undergone some form of surgery. A tearful elderly lady with her daughter came to visit Dani. After some small talk, we learnt that somebody had brought Dani up to the top floor of a block near the owner's flat and threw Dani off. Dani sustained a fractured spine which rendered him paralysed on his hind limbs with loss of bowel control. Honestly, this note can never paint the horrific picture of what Dani is going through. The situation for Dani is so bad that he may be euthananised.
Getting back to the issue of how this came to be, I have seen for myself the number of times children abuse cats (probably, because they seem to be more ubiquitous in public housing estates) by kicking, spitting, throwing lighted candles at them, shooting them with rubber-bands, etc. Perhaps we can partly blame the media for casting a black shroud on cats. Cats are almost always portrayed as conniving and evil. Such images send sub-conscious negative connotations about cats in general. But how we guide our children remains at the core.
To be fair, I have seen children who are very nice and kind to animals and simply love to see animals at the zoo or some animal shows - but loving animals goes beyond just being entertained by them. Kindness to animals is an important value to teach children and for them to continue to uphold throughout life. In a society bent on achieving A-stars and educational excellence, seeing such cruelty to animals indicates a significant lacking in what we can teach our children at school as well as home. Some people may not like animals, but they can at least learn not to be mean and cruel if there is inculcation of kindness and compassion towards other creatures. Let children grow up to realise how therapeutic animals can be and how good it is to be kind to them. They are after all, a form of life, worthy of respect.
