Do you call yourself an animal-lover?

Last Sunday, I was overwhelmed by the number of boddhisattvas present at the exhibition on “Responsible Pet Ownership” organised by the AVA at Ngee Ann City. I brought my 8-year-old niece there to educate her on the responsibilities of a pet owner but ended up learning a lesson or two myself. I’m a self-proclaimed animal lover but I was given a face-to-face lesson on the prerequisites to be qualified as a genuine animal lover. It’s not sufficient just to have liking, love and compassion for the animals. You got to be willing to devote unlimited personal time, money and effort to see to the well-being of the animal, from it’s birth right till it’s last breath, especially when it is hurt or sick. That’s a big big sacrifice and I know so far I’m still unable to give an animal that kind of commitment.

My niece looking for answers to the quiz. Very educational.
From young, I’ve been made to believe by vets that any old or sickly animal should be put to sleep to end its suffering but that is all a fallacy. Who ever gave us the right to practise euthanasia on animals? How do we know the animal wants to die? No matter how mentally traumatised or physically sick an animal is, no one has the right to take away it’s life. I have seen how the love and devotion of volunteer animal caregivers can and will help heal a condemned animal back to health. I do know of friends whom have spent more than $1000 to save a sickly stray cat or an abandoned injured dog. Bravo to these true blue animal lovers!

I find it disturbing that animal cruelty is still evidently present in our supposedly educated, civilised society. I cannot fathom how a driver can run over a dog, crushing both it’s hind legs and just drive off without feelingly remorseful or worrying about the pain that the dog is suffering. Sickly dogs have been found to be abandoned or thrown into deep canals and left to starve and suffer in pain by heartless owners who no longer find these dogs cute or cuddly but burdensome.
Some of the owners with their dogs adopted from ASD. You don’t need a pedigreed pet.
I was shock to hear that the dog breeders in Pasir Ris Farmway 2 are notoriously known to be guilty of abandoning their ‘breeder’s dogs’ (i.e. bitches reared solely for breeding purposes) as well. Pedigreed dogs are normally the more difficult to rear as they are susceptible to genetic disorders so when they are no longer able to rear healthy puppies for the breeders, some of them are put down or abandoned in secluded spots or industrial estates. How can these people make use of a dog to rear puppies over and over again, then discard this living, breathing thing as if they are just some useless objects? Even if they don’t believe in the law of karma, don’t they ever look at the dogs in their eyes to see they’ve got feelings too?

It’s sad that we are living amongst many uncaring, even cruel people. But fortunately, there is also a growing number of samaritans who make the effort to round up and rescue abandoned, suffering animals, giving them the love, shelter and medical attention they need. Many of you may ask, isn’t it the job of the SPCA to rescue injured or abandoned animals? For your info, many of these animals you hope to help may actually end up being put to sleep by the SPCA because it cannot afford to house so many strays and abandoned animals. So if you want to save a cat, you may want to call other voluntary groups instead such as the Cat Welfare Society. If you want to save a dog, you may try calling the Action for Singapore Dogs (ASD). And if you want to save a rabbit, you can try contacting the House Rabbits Society of Singapore (HRSS). These voluntary caregivers will try to foster the abandoned pets and heal badly hurt animals back to health, even those with permanent disabilities. Such unconditional love! That’s why I call them boddhisattvas! When the animals are healthy, they are then put up for adoption.
Two or three legs? No problem. Not disabled but able.
Children playing with the dogs.
Will with his caregiver. Will was running around so much, she was so afraid he may fall off the stage.
Will was the star of the exhibition. It has only two legs and is incontinent but it is still full of spirit and was running around the stage enjoying every moment as the star of the show. (That wheelchair was imported from US and cost the ASD $500.) The other dog featured has only three legs but was also having fun not showing any signs of its disability at all. When I saw these two dogs, I was telling myself, we human definitely can learn a lot from animals. We lack the perseverance and survival instincts of a cat or a dog. When faced with challenges in life, our first instinct is often to indulge in anger, resentment and self-pity instead of fighting to live. Perhaps human beings have been having too good a life, so much so that we do not know how to live.

My message today:
If you’re planning to buy a pet, do be careful who you buy from. Instead of just eyeing that pedigreed breed, perhaps you can consider adopting one of those abandoned animals instead. You will be surprised there are actually many pure breds among those abandoned. For your information, “Anyone found guilty of abandonment may be fined up to $10,000 or jailed for up to 12 months, or both.”

If you’re ready to be a responsible pet owner, go adopt a pet from the animal welfare groups. Here’s a link to some of these groups: Link.

ps: I learnt at the exhibition that it is not against the law to feed strays but you must clean up the place after you feed them. ^_^

pps: All the voluntary groups are currently selling calendars, t-shirts, notepads etc to raise fund. Go to their websites and see how you can help.

Attachment to freedom

My biggest attachment in life so far has to be my need for freedom. Not just physical freedom but a free rein in my speech and thoughts as well. I find it stifling to be bound or controlled by rules of institutions and opinions of individuals. But as I grew up, I learnt that this is the way we human live, there’s no escaping it unless you choose to be an island. So I allowed myself to be conditioned into conforming with cultural and societal rules.

When I was young, I abhor being manipulated or restricted. I simply loathe being told what to do:
“You shouldn’t say that.”
“You have to do this.”
“Don’t do that.”
Whenever that happened, unhappiness will quickly arise in me and I will hear an inner voice rebutting “It’s my life. Can’t you let me decide what I want to say or do?” And when my opinion was disputed or overruled, I would notice a mental discomfort in my mind that can lead to my eyebrows converging to form a frown on my forehead. This mental suffering can be short-lived but can also last for days, depending on how long I chose to cling to my thoughts. Why do I get affected by such thoughts? Because I could not understand why I wasn’t allowed to have my personal opinion. My inner voice kept saying “You don’t need to agree with me but neither do you have the right to force me to agree with you.”

As I advance in life, I do observe my opinion waning, my mind relenting. I’m not suggesting I no longer have this attachment. I still do have a strong attachment but I constantly hear KK Tan’s voice reminding me “Nothing in life is important.” I’m gradually seeing cracks on my wall. Perhaps I am accepting, perhaps I’m adapting. Or maybe, I am just tired and choose to surrender instead. Why fight over every single thing in life and create even more affliction for myself?

Why do I need freedom? Who do I want freedom from? Me, others or my “self”? Who is the real constrictor? Read on to see what Krishnamurti has to say about this.

We are not basically free at all – J Krishnamurti
It is one of the fallacious concepts that man is free. Of course, man is free to choose, but when he chooses he is already in confusion. When you see something very clearly, then you do not choose. Please look at this fact in yourselves. When you see something very clearly, where is the necessity of choice? There is no choice. It is only a confused mind that chooses, that says, “This is right, this is wrong, I must do this because it is right,” and so on, not a clear precise mind that sees directly. For such a mind there is no choice. You see, we say that we choose and therefore we are free. That is one of the absurdities we have invented, but we are not basically free at all. We are conditioned, and it requires an enormous understanding of this conditioning to be free. – Collected Works, Vol. XVII - 270

ps: I have always been free. Ironically, I’m imprisoning myself when I insist on choosing to be free.

Keeping silent is lethal

I’ve got a razor sharp tongue. Arguing and proving that “I am right” has always been my forte but recently, I noticed that I’m losing interest in arguing with people. In fact, I think I’m beginning to hate it when I am forced to argue with people.

I still attempt to voice my opinion when required but if the other person refutes it and starts to argue, I just have the tendency to keep quiet even when I know the other person’s argument is stupid and I can rebut it easily. I no longer get the adrenaline rush when people argue with me. The noise I have to make when I argue irks me. I detest that tone of voice. I seem to tell myself, “That person is not listening. I’m wasting my time talking.” Then I’ll just frown and keep real quiet.

But keeping quiet can be so lethal. When one is silent but the other person goes on and on with his argument, the person talking looks foolish because the more he talks, the more blunders he makes. The more you stir the water in the pond, the murkier the water becomes. It’s self-destructive.

I finally understand the meaning of ‘Silence is Golden’. I’m making a big statement when I keep quiet. It says “I do not agree but I’m not arguing.” Because there’s no point in arguing when the other person is not listening. Conversely, I can only truly listen to what others are saying when I’m not arguing.

Geee…I must have been a real idiot for loving argument so much in the past. Yeah…silence is golden because it can reflect the other person’s flaws.

What’s on your mind

Time for some fun again. Want to know what’s on your mind? Click this Link. Type your name in the space provided and you’ll see what’s on your mind. When I used my Chinese name, only one character appeared…hahahaha! Just for fun! Do take it with a huge pinch of salt please. Do share with me if you think it’s accurate.