A Dog Is A Person’s Best Friend

I FEEL obliged to write this letter on behalf of all the ill-treated dogs in Namibia. Some sections of our community are known for mistreating our animals.

There are several cases that are still very fresh in my mind.
I have witnessed dogs being chained up and kept in the backyards of their owners, to the extent that the owner develops fear towards his own dog. The dog spends his entire life locked away in the backyard, with very little or no contact/ interaction with his owner. At dark it is let out to take care of his owner and property. How cruel!
Apparently, the dogs are chained up in order to become more aggressive towards any intruder.
Some people cut off the ears and tail of their neighbour’s dog, because it mated with his female dog. They kill and throw a dead dog into someone else’s yard, maybe to scare or to avenge an outstanding feud with a neighbour.
There are those who let their houses, together with their dogs. We all know the horrible conditions in which the houses are left behind by the lessees, now think about a dog. Some people claim that eating a dog is like eating a goat and sheep.
The truth is, a dog is a domesticated animal that eats all sorts of things and can pose a health risk.
People, the dogs also have emotions like you and I, and need a caring and loving companion. By chaining them up, we are doing them no good, but are shortening their lifespan.
Instead of chaining your dog up, why not take it out for a walk?
We should ask ourselves, why our lives are plagued with endless suffering and misery (poverty, disease, hunger), and not with God’s blessings.
Perhaps the answer lies in the way we treat our animals.
Remember, they are God’s creatures, just like you and I.
What goes around comes around. If we love God, then we should also love His creations.
We should learn to understand the works of nature. ‘You can judge a man’s heart by the way he treats his animals’ – Immanuel Kant (1724-1804). In short, a dog is a person’s best friend.

Serious dog lover
Via e-mail
Note: Name and address provided – Ed