“Life without compassion is as lifeless as a wilted flower”:
Anonymous
Walking past the bushes on an early morning walk out on a grocery run, have you come across a wagitty tail following you or being called out by a small kitten yearning for milk. Remember the cows often mooing at your doorstep in the afternoons asking for their share of grub, their schedule running clockwork like an army general. If you are blessed with greenery you would have also found birds, squirrels greeting you with their sweet calling. Such is the life for most of us here, blessed truly with the elixir of happiness flowing like a stream of unconditional love; from these so called Stray, some of those we consider wild or those who are easily domesticated finding themselves coexisting with us humans without much ado. Have you ever thought how you can facilitate in driving a peaceful coexistence for the lovely creatures, these Strays in your vicinity?
Well, a lot of people are kind enough to have the intention of helping out these strays, but they don’t really know how to go about it or whom to approach for the guidance. If you are one of them too, it could be worthwhile to check on your local community for volunteer groups and be a part of their network. There are multiple ways in which one can contribute; from being a feeder, a rescuer, a first aid provider, a foster to even doing a simple job of being just a vigilant informer. It’s important for all of us doing these noble deeds to remember that all animals are creatures of habit. Just like us humans they also need their feed, their share of livelihood as per their set schedule that we may or may not understand, but being the compassionate community that we are, we must commit to learn more about their schedule and try adhering to that as we do it for our own self. Taking care of an animal is a noble cause and a hugely satisfying one, however it also comes with an unparalleled sense of responsibility. This responsibility if undertaken with full dedication and with an attitude of gratitude can give one a true sense of fulfilment. However, any lag there would cause more hurt than the joy because an animal would by then be accustomed to the habits and schedule that you inculcate. We must appreciate that they would not be able to understand why we turned up one day and not the next, so it’s imperative that we stick to the routine of feeding them, or even showing love to them without fail.
In this article, I am trying to cover a few points around feeding the stray animals, one of the common activities that is undertaken by people:
* Always have a designated place and time for feeding and we must remeber to feed only once a day
* Stray Animals must be allowed to scavenge to ensure that they stay active, but do remember feeding does not mean that we throw food on roads or pavements and leave left over food behind. Our good deed should not be a nuisance to others.
* Always feed the animals what they need to eat and not the left over rotten food.
* If we are feeding an animal then we must ensure that we have the animal spayed, vaccinated and dewormed too. It’s not only our duty to take care of their well being, but also the best way to give something back to the ecosystem; we are if they are.
A relationship with any animal is the most soul satisfying one and we all must experience it at some point in life or the other. One thing that we all must do is to be the voice of these voiceless creatures, they are as much living beings as we are and they too have the right to live their life they way they want to.
Author- Shivani Mohite
Puneri Thaska 