VT’s blog

My cute litte Doggie

November 14, 2006 By: V T Category: Pets

I don't own a pet.

Did anyone notice anything wrong with the above statement? Well, I see a problem. You own pets; and that; precisely, what my problem is.

I am not an animal right activists, not a PeTA member, not a pro-vegetarian activist - none of that.

Animals are born free ' and they should be left that way.

Cats are supposed to climb trees, steal milk, eat rats, hunt for birds and be free. They are not supposed to lounge around in front TV sets.

Dogs are supposed to chase cats and hang around; not to be stuffed in your 2 bedroom-hall-kitchen.

Probably the best way to domesticate and treat this beautiful animal is the way farmers do it. Dogs roam around the entire village. Eat what they get. Enjoy their mating seasons. Help the farmer drive away foxes from the field. Play with children. And get fed in return.

Rabbits are supposed to jump around in fields and jungles and do what they do best ' procreate. They are not supposed to be caged in your balconies.

Parrots are supposed to fly ' not be hung in a cage and try to look cute.

Turtles are supposed to hang around in swamps and rivers - not hide under your bed. I could never figure out why people keep them at home. They don't respond to you; and care two hoots about your presence anyways. May be; owning a turtle is a cool thing to do.

On top of that ' you howl your hearts out when the pets die. Poor thing could have lived a bit longer and better had it been left to itself.

In spite of all this pet mania, the level of knowledge the educated middle class seems to have about animals is abysmal. Try visiting any of the National Wildlife Reserves to watch emergent India in action.

Parents visiting Jim Corbett National Park telling their kids; "Beta, we have come here to see lions". All of them dressed in the brightest of red-blue-orange, complete with iPods and cell phone cameras. The resort facility (swimming pool, sauna) is more important, who cares about the tigers (oops; lions!!) anyways.

I will never own pets ' at least as long as I dwell in bedroom-hall-kitchen types of dwellings (aka flats); and do a 9 to 5.

6 Comments to “My cute litte Doggie”

Think Tank says:

Well VT, thanks a lot. I don”t like pets too. But until now I didn”t like pets because I didn”t like people showering them with love, which they don;t even show on fellow human beings. But now I got a better excuse.
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dilip krishnan says:

you said it absolutely right; you don”t own a pet! we humans make ourselves masters of all we survey, and then prescribe norms for everyone and everything under our tutelage, how they should behave, what they should do, rather what they shouldn”t do. in the process, we mess with the law of nature.
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jack jai says:

Very true each of us are meant where God deigned us to be ..I liked ur post . please do read mine on love birds .something similiar to urs….
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Jissy Thomas says:

You can never own a pet just the way you never own a child. I don”t have a pet but I agree with you that animals are born free. I had seen a programme where it was stated that many of the dogs were thrown out of their masters” houses simply because they grew up to be too big for the house. Felt really bad to know that humans are so inhumane. I wanted to have a pet dog but my family members were against that simply because they said that having a pet is easy but taking its care is very difficult so better not to have one.
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Kanchan Bhattacharya says:

Very logically stated! And quite right too…
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The Princess says:

And look what I was searching for , in this post! Your cute little doggie –where is it ?? . Honestly , we should not own pets but pet them in their natural habitats . A thoughtful post , Vikas .
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