why i love animals....

                                                   I love animals . There is no question about that . Not only i love animals i respect them too .  (more than many people :)  not a politically correct  statement ? )  Let me explain .
                                                                        Two years back my uncle had a cat. It was a half persian with long beautiful hair and being a cat had shorter but extremely sharp claws . Whenever i used to visit him i used to play with it and it being a very active cat used to hit me with its paws  playfully .  So many times i have played with it and picked it up in all its various moods . To test its limits i have even  tried to separate it from its feeding bowl (not to be tried )  .  But NEVER i repeat never was i scratched by it . Except once . That was when it fell off a ledge and i was the only person nearby to break its fall and that time i was hit by its claws . I still remember that moment , even then it was not a scratching deliberately  .  Many of my friends who are cat owners can vouch this cat behaviour.These  ultimate small members of the cat family which are head to foot designed to kill their prey act very gently with their human companion .  The same foot with razor sharp claws they know where to use and where not to . 

Ok, assume you dont have a cat  and you cant relate to the cat -human interaction . Watch animal planet  . Yesterday i was watching the elder member of the cat family the lion . Though not  at all a pet for the average owner , those who handle tame  lions and tigers opine that they show their softer side  (yes there is a softer side to these predators ) to their human handlers . Again the claws and canines which rip apart animals which weigh 10 times a human, like the cape buffalo,are not used when  they play with their owners with their big paws .  I have blogged about elsa the lioness earlier and that is not an isolated case ( pls watch animal planet--strongly recommended  )  .

Just this behaviour is enough for me to respect them  and learn from them . And there are many  more ...for instance ,they never kill 10 animals when they are hungry .They kill only one .  Eventhough they thrive on meat (they will die without it ) they dont kill more than they want  to escape from their hunger .

                           I know many wonderful people who are genuinely nice . But i have come across some who should learn many things from animals .  Let us take point number one  .  Even a lion knows when to retract its claws and use the same paw to hold a persons head in an embrace  (see Christian the lion youtube video )  . But think about how many people who are introduced as so and so at such and such a company or a successful professional and who maintain that attitude in the personal interactions outside the office hours  . This attitude which is appropriate and might be even helpful in their job , becomes a negative influence on people they meet outside the office say in a family function or a party or friendly visit  .  My point is if even my cat can retract its claws and interact positively without the attitude why cant we too copy that and be happy. 

Coming to the second point , we have people who have taken 16000 crores and 1 lakh crores as bribe .  Just compare what is the lion equivalent of that ? Killing the entire deer population of africa for a midday meal . How many lions do that and even if they do how will the other lions react . ? And what about the shooters ... who have killed many innocent people .   . . how many animals do random killing ?

All these bring to mind the question "Are we a superior species ? " . Are we ?

haroon h marikar