“Take care of Omi,” is what my daughter tells me each day as she leaves for school. Omi is our dachshund and is, according to her, the fourth member of our small family. It was after much coaxing and begging by her that my husband bought her a pet.
Omi came to our family as a three-month old puppy and is now four. For the first couple of months, we had him inside our home. It was a back-breaking job to discover and clean up the little pools of pee in any part of the house he fancied, every hour or so. Irritated at discovering yet another puddle, I yelled at it: “Go and fetch the cloth.” And, to our amazement, the little thing went to the spot where I kept the waste cloth and brought it to me, wagging his tail. Thus began our love affair with our doggy!
Many things Omi does makes us wonder where and from whom the creatures of the animal kingdom have learnt the many wise secrets that humans lack.
The flexes and stretches he does umpteen times a day (no yoga teacher here), the perfect spot where he sits to absorb the gentle rays of the sun in the early mornings (his daily dose of Vitamin D), the good sense to skip the day’s lone meal when his stomach does not feel so well, the medicine he administers to himself (a few blades of grass he chews and then throws up), the warm welcome he gives us when we are back after an outing, that seems to say “I missed you” and makes us feel so special (no sulking), the unconditional love even after we have admonished him for some naughty act (no nursing grievances), the silent company he gives us whenever we are in a mood to quietly sit and contemplate (no demanding attention) and his joyful antics when he (and we) are in a happy, playful mood, never cease to cheer us.
All of that makes us wonder why families buy pets when they do not have even an hour to spare for the company of these poor loving creatures. And more annoying is to see them locked up in kennels all day, which sometimes lack the space for them to move around.
Children must be taught early to be kind to animals, even strays. It is common to see kids pelting stones at stray dogs and cats though these do not come in their path. Education should inculcate values such as kindness and compassion not only towards fellow human beings, but to all creatures, however small. Some sort of social service should be made a part of curriculum. Nature study must be considered, to make the future generations real “human beings” in mind and spirit.
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