Born Free

The laws in Singapore are generally quite light on animal abuses, a case highlighted recently where one dog died of heat exhaustion and the owner was left off with just a minor fine.
The AVA (Agri-Food and Veterinary Authority) is also imposing higher annual license fee for unsterilised male dogs, and higher penalties for unlicensed dogs. Traceable microchip tags may be made compulsory too.

The reason why I'm bringing this issue out, is because I have been wanting to write about animals and pets, notably after xiaxue wrote some political incorrect issues about animals.
political incorrect, but how true.


to begin, let me state this statement.
a pet lover is NOT necessarily an animal lover.


People who own pets claim incessantly that they love animals, bullshit. (i'm generalising and will be generalising this whole entry, but i do know that it doesnt apply to all)
you love your pet. you love PETS. its quite a stretch for you to claim you love ANIMALS, isn't it.
as xiaxue would hv termed it, you're a cute-lover, not an animal lover.

to me, you're just a pet lover.

Firstly, being an animal lover mean more than doting on your current dog/cat/fish/bird/small furry creature. to me, it means consciously doing your best to make sure animals are well-treated, or at least reduce ur impact on their lives.

the road to hell is paved with good intentions


they're dying coz they are cute.

First of all, by buying a pet, you are encouraging an industry that actually thrives on trading in animals. although i must agree that your pet may be probably better off, since judging from the varieties of pet food, pet toys, pet grooming etc, i do believe that animals on a whole are worse off. to bring that dog/cat/fish/bird/small furry creatures (aka d/c/f/b/sfa) to the market, chances are, some animals died from birth to transportation to the petshop. even the alives one have to endure pretty bad conditions from his birthplace to your home.

let me give this example. on versak days, some buddhist devouts like to release birds/fishes into their natural habitats. they call it "fang sheng" (放生).
so some enterprising merchants realise that there is a market out there, and there they go, catching wild birds and wild turtles/fishes etc in the weeks before versak day.
i know for certain that the nets used to capture wild birds inevitably maimed and killed some of the birds, deemed not appropriate to sell. of course these birds died needlessly. not to mentioned the luckier alive ones have to live in cages and bad conditions till versak day itself.


Grant them the freedom that was theirs to begin with...


the buddhist devouts' kind intentions have brought much suffering.



More often than not, many pple probably choose their pets on looks.
"oooo so cute!!" blah blah.
how many of these pet lovers would equally dote their love on an uglier animal? not many, i feel. just take a walk around any pet shops, the cutiest, sweetest animals are displayed prominently on display windows. people almost inevitably buy pets based on looks. i mean, i can't blame them, i can't possibly judge a d/c/f/b/sfa's character.....

but reading a few blogs recently, i've came across cases where pet-lovers abandon their rabbits/dogs simply because its no longer cute.....
haih..

i digress a little here.
sometimes for fun, i would like to joke how much I love to eat a dog/rabbit/small furry creatures (rabbits bearing most of my crude remarks since some army course do teach u how to kill a rabbit for food), and then..... people would tell me:

"eee...how can u eat the rabbit? the rabbit so cute!!!"

i absolutely loath it.

what? the chicken deserves to be eaten coz its not nice-looking?? you can eat beef coz cows r ugly izzit? Pork chops for u, madam, coz pigs are disgusting??
how can u discriminate against animals like tat!!! WTF

just because the rabbits cute then cannot eat, then the chicken very kerlian can! they don't deserve to die more than the rabbits ok!!!


now that chicken is cute again, so can we still eat KFC?


Again, when you say you're an animal lover, think again.

Do you try to use comestic or body products that have not been tested on animals?
Think again when u buy that lipstick, it has probably been rubbed in the eyes of lab rabbits.

Do you buy dolphin-safe tuna?

Do you buy paper products that uses recycled papers or from plantations?
Do u stop using Kimberly Clark products after accusations has been hurled that they use trees from ancient virgin forests?

Do you even help out at the local SPCA?


[ed: i'm not against pet-lovers. i do believe that many pet-lovers are having a much better life thanks to their pets. and i know their pets are having a good life too. my stand, however is with animals and to clarify that pet lovers aren't, necessarily animal lovers.]