I witnessed a road
hit last week. That is unnerving because you watch a life transform in a
fraction of a second.
Ullas ki Maa, named so because she is Ullas's
mother, is a touch me not. But, no matter what, her clock is set for 745am
every day. As soon as she hears the horn and watches the car arrive at two
stops before, she appears out of nowhere. Ten minutes later, when the car
reaches her location, she does not wait for the car to turn, rather she crosses
the road. She is food insecure, so I get that.
Last Tuesday, as she was about to begin crossing
the road, two people on the bike gave her a flying kick (no dearth of sadists
and then we wonder why dog bites happen). That led her to rush and then there
was a blunt thud sound followed by yelping. Stray dogs have a massive pain
threshold. Ullas ki Maa suffered excruciating pain and began to howl and limped
from her left forelimb. The driver ofcourse ran away. Then, two passers by had
an amused look at the sight of her howling in pain. Others just watched in
curiosity.
I had my eyes on Ullas ki Maa. I let her finish
the howling. When an injured animal is stressed, it is best to let them be in
that moment and have the patience to let them calm down first before
approaching, ofcourse this rule doesn't apply if the dog is lying on the road
and needs to be moved ASAP to prevent further hits.
Five minutes later, she took a painkiller and an
antibiotic, had a stomach full meal and quietly sat on one corner of the
road. She has recovered, but was shaken for a couple of days.
None of us can survive and lead the life of a
stray dog even for a single day. Our apathy doesn't make things any easier for
them. If you cannot do any good, make sure not to do any bad either. Learn
to respect boundaries, with humans as well as animals. This is one vital lesson
that perhaps schools can teach.
The Bridging Rainbows Foundation’s Give Animals a Brake campaign
is about changing the mindset. 'It' is not an animal, 'he/she' is a sentient
being.
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