In a whirlwind of news stories that keep surpassing previous ones in their brutality, it would not be incorrect to say cruelty is endemic in Pakistan. Moreover, it is so deep-rooted and non-partisan in nature that it does not distinguish between man and animal.
Last year, a man from Sanghar, Sindh, punished a camel for foraging in his field and violently chopped her leg off. Recently, a health update by the Comprehensive Disaster Response Services (CDRS) Benji Project for Animal Welfare informed the public that the camel, named Cammie, stood up for the first time with the help of a prosthetic leg. Only two months later, a similar fate has befallen another voiceless camel in Sukkur. Now named Sumi by the CDRS shelter, a two-year-old camel wandered onto a private land in search of water and was brutally assaulted with an axe to the leg before being dragged across the field with a tractor. The men responsible claimed Sumi had “destroyed their crops”, somehow expecting the clarification to justify their actions. The barbaric assault not only resulted in a broken leg, but also a broken jaw, burnt tongue and multiple other grave injuries on Sumi’s body. Sumi was left unable to eat and had to be fed through intravenous fluids.
While two out of three suspects have been arrested over multiple animal abuse charges, it is incumbent on the police to diligently conclude their search for the third suspect to ensure no stone is left unturned in delivering justice. These arrests and subsequent punishments must set a precedent for such crimes. The police, by implementing the law, must elucidate that there is no room for harm against animals in this country. To hurt a voiceless being, and to do it so unabashedly, illuminates a truly evil facet of this society that must not be tolerated.
