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Stop cruelty towards animals

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An extremely harrowing video was recently trending on social media, showing a man holding a dog by its neck on the terrace parapet and posing at the camera with a smile before tossing the dog off the terrace.  Following the video going viral, the man was identified as a medical student from Chennai.

It was so heartbreaking that someone could wilfully injure a helpless animal. Doctors are supposed to save lives and this MBBS student disregarded the entire living species by engaging in this cruel act. Does this behaviour serve a red flag with respect to extremely violent offenders, such as serial killers?

While it alarms of abnormal behaviour that will someday erupt into far worse violence against people, it shudders to think this man will be a practising doctor shortly. Is it a sign of motivation to shock people for amusement? Or experience sadism?  Is there a possibility that the perpetrator a mentally sick, suffering from personality disorder, or a “psychopath?”  Or, he is a failure in life, so he did this ruthless act for cheap publicity?

Extending the argument, is there any truth to what people say about dogs being able to sense if someone is a psychopath?  Reviews indicate that psychopaths prefer dogs as pets, because they give unconditional love. Even in the disturbing video, one can notice that the puppy was wagging its tail even just before it was flung.

Some studies show that when a human being is aggressive and has “evil” intentions towards a dog, the human is said to “generate particular scent according to the feeling he is experiencing” such as adrenaline. Though dogs can sense human emotions such as fear, anxiety, anger etc., the key element they use to pick up information about someone’s state of mind is sweat. Most people sweat when they are about to act aggressively or violently, the exception being psychopaths, who often do not sweat during an anticipated violence because they don’t experience emotion.

True, dogs cannot communicate verbally, and they do not have the ability to trick human beings. They only use their intelligence and instinct to adapt to survive unpleasant situations by trying to please their masters.  They are innocent. That is why the torture of a pet is more heinous than that of a human, who can call the police, inform a neighbour, escape the scene etc.  The ordeal should be treated like the torture of small children who can’t yet talk. Hopefully, some day, animal laws will have had the death penalty added to them, as well they should.

A boy, once, threw a kitten into the pool at the Polar Bear exhibit at the Vancouver zoo, presumably to watch it eaten. The Polar Bear, instead, saw the drowning kitten, plunged into the water, swam up to it, gently grabbed by its mouth and cradled it protectively. While we may not be able to read other animal’s minds, doesn’t this seem like pretty good evidence that the Bear was more capable of empathy and being a better person than the “medical student”?

Teaching love and compassion for animals in our schools and homes will foster empathy.  Because animals don’t speak, it doesn’t mean they don’t feel the pain.  Remember, dogs are man’s best friend for good reason. Any one that can hurt an animal is capable of far worse.  This is a warning.

(The views expressed by the author in the article are his/her own.)

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