IMAGINE yourself walking on the street and you have a stone suddenly thrown at you … what would your expression be? This is exactly what has been done to many animals on our streets especially cats and dogs who are just enjoying their walk about without any idea at all people would be so cruel to stone them or injure them.
Animals, just like humans, are all God’s living creatures and they need the love and care that we get in the comfort of our own homes daily.
While there are pet owners in Fiji who love and treat their pets just like that of their own children, it is sad to note that there are others who have a habit of being cruel to animals and treat them like they are nothing in our society.
Too often, we may see a dog limping on the street, a cat whose skin may have been stripped off as a result of hot water poured on it or a dog with an injured eye.
These are what humans do when these animals decide to make a visit to their compound and their homes but homeowners do not have the courtesy to welcome them to their homes.
Animals deserve every love and care just like humans do and you will never be surprised when you do so to a cat or a dog which maybe a stranger to your compound and it will definitely return this love to you with a scratch on your hand or it may protect you in the future when someone tries to do something to you.
And the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (SPCA), which aims to improve the welfare of all animals around the country strives, to focus on providing affordable health care for domestic pets and working to address the issue of stray and unwanted animals into the shelter that are then treated, desexed and rehomed.
SPCA vet Dr Jessica Hoopes believes any living creature has a basic right to living.
“Dogs have some very versatile roles, from just a companion to a guidance and protection, for hunting and used for human food as well and cats are companions as well,” Dr Hoopes said.
“Too often we take them for granted and they are living and breathing creatures too so they feel the pain the same as we do, they feel emotions too so when someone mistreats them, they go through the same pain humans go through so people have to keep in mind that if we want these animals to be our friends, we have to treat them in such a way that they are capable of doing that.
“For people who don’t own animals, any living creature has a basic right.
“There are a lot in Fiji and we have to prevent cruelty to animals in any kind so if you can commit abuse to any animal and you injure an animal, it really says something about your character.”
She also shared that a lot of abusers of animals are also known to be abusers of men and this reflects the culture of people about the way they treat animals.
To treat an animal well, Dr Hoopes says, doen’t mean making a dog lie on a pink pillow, it basically means providing them with the basic needs.
The SPCA is a non-profit organisation which runs an animal clinic and houses about 35 to 45 dogs and 25 to 35 cats safely.
The association also strives to mostly take in strays — the ones that don’t have a home at all, those whose owners have migrated or they don’t want to have pets anymore and they make them healthy before putting them up for adoption.
With the ongoing desexing program, the SPCA is certain it will be absoultely essential for managing the stray dog and cat population.
At the SPCA, desexing animals costs about $45 for a cat and $60 for a dog. If an animal is pregnant, the cost for desexing will be higher.
