Dear Editor,
Remembrance Sunday, the first Sunday after the Remembrance Day (11th November) is being marked in the UK with, amongst other religious events, an event at the Animals War Memorial near Hyde Park in London. This memorial consists of two heavily laden bronze donkeys, a horse and a dog with an inscription, ‘They had no choice’.
The Bible and the Koran gave humankind dominion over animals yet to treat them badly is considered wrong e.g. ‘A righteous man regards the life of his animal but the tender mercies of the wicked are cruel’ (Proverbs 12:10). Dominion therefore implies responsibility and obligations, rather than exploitation. In Hinduism, Buddhism and Jainism, there is a belief that ancestors return in animal forms and that animals must therefore be treated with the respect due to a human (ahisma).
Gandhi’s thought was that the greatness of a nation and its moral progress can be judged by the way its animals are treated. The COP27 Climate Change Summit currently taking place in Egypt should be an opportunity to restore our largely broken relationship with nature to ensure our planet’s future and our own. In parallel with the event in London, a Remembrance Fountain is currently being erected at the Harmony Academy in Berbice. Any organization, such as the Animal Rescuers of Guyana, can pay their respects this Sunday, alongside those who have gone before us due to many reasons, least of all in war.
Sincerely,
Robert S. Drepaul
