The title may surprise some people but when people are starving to death pure survival kicks in and anything goes in order to survive, in which case street cats and street dogs are going to be killed and eaten. Where is this taking place?
It is taking place in Syria where the Assad regime (and Hezbollah) are starving to death the people of a town called Madaya outside Damascus. The Assad regime employs this method of attack quite commonly. The people can’t escape because there are mine fields around the town and snipers in the hills, so they end up eating boiled leaves and the cats and dogs of the town.
We can’t blame them and I agree with an aid worker who says:
“People here have eaten cats, they have eaten dogs. But please do not judge them-this is what desperation looks like.”
We are told that thousands of Syrian families are starving to death in this mountain town which is a mere 25 miles from Assad’s presidential palace in Damascus. At least 31 people have died of starvation so far. If they don’t eat boiled leaves or the rubbish from trash cans, they eat the cats and dogs instead.
Mothers are desperate because they are seeing their children dying in front of their eyes and they can’t do anything about it. The mothers are unable to lactate because they are emaciated. Baby milk is urgently needed.
In addition, the 6 month long siege has crippled the town’s health care system. Basic drugs are barely available. If a starving patient is taken to the hospital he/she is given sugar solution. A veterinarian is operating on humans.
The International Committee for the Red Cross said it was trying to deliver aid to Madaya but the logistics are complex because of the complex nature of the fight that is taking place.
The aid worker, Abdullah, said:
“We are like zombies, like dead people. We are just waiting for our funeral.”
We should remember the animals in wars. We rarely read about the animals during wars. Zoos are often closed or smashed up by bombs and shells and the animals left to starve to death or they are shot. Community cats and dogs (semi-strays) are left to starve or they are eaten as referred to in this article.
The animals are innocent victims of the ridiculous practice of human warfare which as we all realise is an acceptance of failure and a reflection of the human’s inability to deal with matters in a sensible manner. Humans have a lot to answer for with their inadequacies and irresponsible behaviour which silently hurts innocent animals.
Sorry, but I do.
I have 2 grown children who, actually, have always know that they are as equal as animals, sometimes more so.
You can think of animals as your equals in general, but I seriously doubt you’d see any other human or animal equal to your own child, your own flesh and blood.
I am the same as you, Dee, as you know. I see humans as equals to nonhumans. There are in fact many people like us but the majority of people think we are a bit crazy to think like that.
When people are starving to death and raw survival kicks in then anything can happen almost. Cannibalism can happen and has happened in the past under these circumstances. Although, many people would not kill a cat or dog to eat under these circumstances because they love animals too much and they treat animals as equals. I am one of those people. I would simply die of starvation rather than kill and eat a domestic cat. That’s what I think now but perhaps if I was dying of starvation I might change my mind simply because of the survival instinct.