Guest guest Posted October 24, 2008 Report Share Posted October 24, 2008 *Thank you Nilesh for posting this enlightening article. There is a lot of truth in the substance of this article. I like animals very much and hate to see them suffer and would fight for their rights but from my experience in the West I can truly say that there are individuals who care more about animals than humans. I felt that the work done in Baghdad and Kabul zoos as illustrated in the article are good examples of animal welfare/rights going overboard. The money which flowed for these institutions was more than was required to aid them although the efforts to help the captive animals that were suffering for no fault of theirs was laudable. In both US and UK many people are obsessed with pets and there is an excellent book(now out of print) called PETISHISM by Kathleen Szasz that elaborates on the pet keeping fad in the US. Desmond Morris has written about people caring more for animals than humans in his book 'INTIMATE BEHAVIOUR'. I concur with the ethologist Konrad Lorenz who said, " Love of animals and hatred of humans makes a very dangerous combination. " Jane Goodall has also spoken out on people who put animals above and before humans. Compassion has to be all embracing if it is to be effective. I hope you agree.* On Thu, Oct 23, 2008 at 5:33 PM, NileshBhanage <NileshBhanagewrote: > > http://www.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/meast/10/22/backstory.animals/ < > http://www.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/meast/10/22/backstory.animals/> > CNN. 22 October 2008. > Do we care more about animals than humans? > By CNN's Michael Holmes > > (CNN) -- Over the years, I've found myself in some dangerous > places, from Baghdad to Kabul, Ramallah to Rwanda. > When I've reported on human suffering from those places, > public reaction and feedback has usually been what you'd > expect: sympathetic, heartfelt thoughts for the innocents. > Unless there's an animal within camera range. > Then, almost without exception, it's the pooch or the lion or > the gorilla that steals the show, pushing the humans to the > empathy backburner. Don't get me wrong, I'm a big animal > lover, but it's curious how critters tug heartstrings harder > than human beings. > Phil Black in CNN's Baghdad bureau this week gave us the > BackStory on their coverage of a pet store where the unusual > animals include lion cubs, alligators and even a vulture -- > merchandise that might raise eyebrows in the West. Watch > BackStory on wild animal shop report » > In Iraq, where I have reported from regularly in the past few > years, there are entire pet markets where you'll find > everything from exotic birds, snakes and monkeys to domestic > dogs trained as guard dogs. I even saw a wolf in a market one > day. > Sadly, that market was later the scene of several attacks -- > mortars, and suicide bombings. Lots of people died, but I > remember getting far more emails enquiring about innocent > animals than innocent civilians. Phil's story also reminded of > a visit to the zoo in Kabul during my coverage of Afghanistan > during the early days after the fall of the Taliban in 2001. > There we found animals in a pretty sorry state, including a > lion named Marjan that had become a local celebrity after > losing an eye when man threw a grenade into his enclosure, > reputedly in revenge for a deadly attack by Marjan on his > brother. > That story aroused an incredible response from ordinary people > and animal rights groups, who launched a campaign to save > Marjan. Sadly, he died not long afterwards of natural causes > -- but by then he was quite a cause célèbre. A full funeral > was arranged, complete with government officials and media > coverage. > My experience in Kabul inspired me to visit the zoo in Baghdad > following the U.S.-led invasion of March 2003. So, once we'd > done our more traditional stories after arriving in the city, > we went to see the animals. > It, too, was in a sorry state. Some animals had escaped and > there were reports a lion had been shot by U.S. soldiers who > found it wandering in nearby parkland > Again this story created an amazing response from the public > and animal rights groups, some of which sent experts into Iraq > just to help out with the animals. > A few months later, I returned to the now somewhat improved > Baghdad zoo to report on the transfer of some cheetahs and > some lions that had been kept as pets by Saddam Hussein's > notoriously brutal son Uday (there were rumors he'd fed his > rivals to the animals.) > It was quite a sight -- a civilian vet sedated the beasts, and > the U.S. military loaded them on humvees and trucks and slowly > drove them the few miles to the zoo. It was, to say the least, > the most unusual military convoy I'd seen. > Of all the stories I have covered during my frequent trips to > Iraq, most of the viewer feedback I received asked about the > animal victims of war rather than the human ones. I make no > judgment on that -- it is just an observation. > On my last trip to Iraq, I reported on many acts of violence > and spent time with the military for days on end. > And the story that ran the most during my tour of duty? Got > the most reaction? One about a military " therapy dog " named > Bo... > > > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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