“Only when the last tree has died and the last river has been poisoned
and the last fish has been caught will we realize that we can’t eat
money.” (The Native American Indian Cree proverb)

We are all belong and connected to mother nature. And we, human beings are not the master of the planet earth.  What we have to do is learning to find a way living in a harmony with the other species and nature respectfully.

I love animals, it’s important for me to protect their right of living. A cat, a dog, a cow, a bird or any kind of animals do not deserve to die just because they were not born as a human. But I believe the rules of the nature. So if any animal has to kill the other one for its own surviving we should respect it too. The world is  full of violence of the humans.

Human race not only harm i’s own species also animals and nature.  Unfortunately,  animals  are being hunted, tortured, killed, abused in every minute just for primitive pleasure of the humans. Same nature… For instance hundreds of trees have been cutting just having a golf area. Do we really need it? And do we have a right to do it? We are polluting, destroying, abusing our planet and it’s habitat just for our own benefits, just we want to do it like that. I think it’s not fair…

15,5 years ago me and my family’s life completely changed the day we had a little white puppy like a snowball. We gave the name Bıçkın (though, brave, roughneck) him for nice and funny conflict due to he was looking cute and nasty rather than roughneck. With Bıçkın, I learned to be more sensitive and respectful about animals’ life. I took a life lesson from one little white dog while he was alive and after he passed away last year. Me, my parents and our friends even the ones who afraid of animals loved him too much, he lived peacefully life with us and died almost in a sudden without suffering.

But not all the dogs are lucky like him. Some dogs are suffering all over the world. Strays are already born with no luck and some pets abandoned by their owners just because they are old, or these people do not want to take care of them anymore or bored with them.  Parents buy puppies for their children to play with and for a while release them to the streets.

Thankfully, here in Turkey we have nice organizations and platforms whose members have tender and mercy for animals such as HAYTAP, DYBD, YHS, BGD, DOHAYKO etc.  Their members or volunteers hardly work for animal rights and their protection.  We have our Animal Rights Law and under this law, it’s municipalities’ duty to taking strays (including cats) from their environments,  bringing them to animal rehabilitation center for vaccining, sterilizing (castrating) and tagging them from one ear. And after couple of rehabilitation days the people in charged in municipality bringing them back again to the area they lived before and let them live there. This is called “vaccined, sterilized (castrated) and let them live”. And during these procedures mostly the volunteers of shelters/ rehabilitation centers  help the municipalities. They care and follow the dogs bring back to their habitat rightly. These people indeed devote themselves to helping animals. They are always working to find these dogs warm nests with owner who will love them.

So although it sounds not so good at first sight (interfering the animals) still this law is not bad despite of it’s lackness especially about  punishments for the people who abuse heavily or kill animals.

That’s for sure this is more compassionate, more tenderhearted approach comparing to many other civilized countries. But we need all the municipalities do their jobs in a good way and successfully.  Strays have been killing almost every day  or they abandoned to the forests and nobody takes the blame. In some  touristic areas in Turkey like the Aegean and the Mediterranean sites, strays are being poisoned by people just because to  make their town tidy and clean  (!) for foreign tourists. Is there any common idea about tourists do not like animals? On the contrary I guess.  Any normal person likes animals I guess at least respect their life even does not like them.

According to some sources dogs were domesticated 14.000 years ago and cats 10.000 years ago. So, humans have been living with them for a very long time. Because of we domesticated dogs and cats it’s our duty to take care of them. They like to be in communication and play with us. They are sensitive, emotional creatures with their specific way of feeling like many kind of animals. And speaking about the wild animals;  humans let them free to in their own habitat. Zoo is a prison. Circus is abusing for all animals for pushing them work like a slave, including poodles, elephants, lions, monkeys and many more.  I wish they would have a chance to live in a proper place which they feel themselves happy and free…

The morality of a nation can be judged by the way a society treats at its animals. (Mahatma Ghandi)

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Tagged: animal rights