Muted genius

Golden Sniffer - Lucky

I've stated on many an occasion, through my writing and otherwise, my love for animals.  And as staunchly and passionately as I believe in animal causes, surprisingly, this wasn't the case until a few years ago. Why, you may ask? I have been motivated to be kind and considerate towards the non-human species by my 8-year-old, prodigal golden retriever. For someone whose life has been enough of a revelation, and has managed to tap into my family's unexplored love for animals, he (using "it" for animals is one of the greatest miseries of life) has ably managed to convey what the purpose of his existence is in a way that would ask for altering every individual's outlook, when he/she takes into consideration the animal race. So, after having been a witness to my pooch's concerns and servile demeanor for over eight years, I've decided to make an attempt to decipher his emotions and idiosyncrasies through his letter I imagine him to write to the human species.

Hello humans,

I'm an eight-year-old, four-legged being, or as y'all call me, "dog". My life revolves around my human family, food, and my toys. Although I love to play fetch, I often end up running away with the ball/frisbee. I dread going to the vet and being put on a diet. I like being called well-behaved and disciplined by people, and that's because it helps me believe that I have not let my family down. I get deeply pained when I see stray dogs being ill-treated and abused. I sometimes feel like asking if y'all are doing the right thing by breeding us, when there are thousands among us who are severely disregarded and often left to die a dog's death. Literally.

I was bought by my family from a breeder in Pune when I was 6 weeks old. I feel fortunate to have come into a family who loves me and shows concern for me, but there are animals who have been abandoned just because their families found it rather difficult to look after them. My sincere request to y'all is that please don't make us a part of your life just to look cool or to up your status. You may move on in life after abandoning us, but our lives become a wreck. We feel like our soul has been sold. Not many people would be aware about the impact of abuse in our lives. We obey your commands out of love and respect, and, at times, out of fear, but that in no way takes away from the instances when we are forced to dance to your tunes. We are not puppets.

I have often seen people lift us up and run after those that fear us for their own entertainment. We get absolutely terrified, and often fear for our lives, when this stunt is performed. Have you experienced the irritation of loud music that is blaring from a speaker placed right next to your ear, combined with someone screaming his/her lungs out at the same time? That's exactly how much the noise gets amplified, when it reaches our ears, every time crackers are burst. A lot of you may wonder why it is difficult for us to accept the permanent entry of other animals into our foster homes. In this case, we are just like those kids who remain the cynosure of their parents' eyes for a long time until a younger sibling comes into their lives and takes away all the attention from them, except, in our case, we face a much worse battle, and, sometimes, we find it almost impossible to part with our family's care and attention.

I have no qualms in admitting that the human species is the most superior and developed of the animal species, but do you ever wonder what the point of being the most evolved species is if all that we see happening around are wars. We, animals, are grateful to all of you for supporting the non-human race in the way that y'all have, but there are times when your ego levels inflate to such an extent that y'all end up relegating us to a place under the carpet, and consider us to be second-handers, who, because of their inability to convey emotions, are thought to be mere spectators. All I would like to say, through this note, is that let us all work towards creating a world that is truly fair and compassionate towards all the species that form a part of our life's journey.

Regards,
A muted soul