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Remembering Aquino Braganca (b. 6 April 1924), who fought for freedom
of the former Portuguese colonies in Africa. An online tribute
http://aquinobraganca.wordpress.com/ (includes many historical
references, some photographs and documents)
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Hi, you can now read my posts on my blog incuding today's article in the
GT at http://klintvaz.blogspot.com/
*Animal Speak*
/Fighter Bulls, Stray Dogs & Frogs all have something in common. It’s
time we think about their plight says Clinton Vaz/
Yesterday afternoon, on a drive to a waste management project at Mollem
I almost ran over a dog. The creature ran straight into my path, forcing
me to brake, swerve and continue. Shaken, upset and angry by what had
just happened I felt like stopping to yell at the dog. That probably
would not have made a difference, but as I drove on, I began to think.
It wasn't the dog's fault really.
Dogs were brought into human society by us. We have created stray
animals by abandoning pets that we can't take care of anymore, or
letting our animals breed and then abandoning the pups in a fish market
or field. These poor animals are simply trying to exist, and they are
bound to cause conflict with humans when they are at a disadvantage. It
is our responsibility therefore, to look after these animals, as we
collectively as a society have failed to look after our pets and have
caused the stray animal menace. There are a few NGO's working in this
line, and they need your support. Do donate some money, materials or
volunteer some time to their cause.
While we agree that we need to respect one another, would everybody
agree that the same applies to animals too? It's pitiful to see an
animal that's been run over, yelping in pain, but would you stop by and
take care of an injured animal? Fortunately I know a few friends that
would. Quite often all one needs to do is call an animal-ambulance and
stay by the animal comforting it and providing some water. If it were a
human in the same condition, we would see a crowd gather and people
rushing to provide assistance. Animals may look different from us, but
they too deserve the same treatment and the right to live. They too are
living beings.
Of late, we’ve had a spurt in animals in ‘sport’. Bullfighting is
outlawed in most places in the world because of the cruelty to animals
in the sport. The animals may be pampered at the stables, but they lead
a lonely existence, often chained to a post in isolation for the entire
day. When it’s time for a fight, the amounts of money bet on each side
run into lakhs of rupees. With so much at stake, the bulls are goaded by
their keepers to charge at the opponent. This induced fight often
results in both the animals being gored and injured badly, and while
I’ve seen distressing scenes of bleeding animals fleeing the fighting
area, death due to bullfighting injuries have occurred both to the
bulls, as well as spectators. Any politician that support’s such acts of
barbaric cruelty in the name of traditional culture is foolish and bound
not to get any vote from me or anybody that thinks likewise.
We should never take animals for granted. Followed by the sweltering
heat, comes the monsoons, and to herald the monsoons come the frogs. For
the frog, it's finally the season to wake up to after months of
hibernation, to sing, eat and breed. But instead, their croaks invite
trouble. Goan's have traditionally hunted frogs for a delicacy known as
'frog legs'. While the hunting and killing of frogs might have been
sustainable before, today, it's merciless. Frogs are no longer caught
just for the hunter’s family. They are now delicacies for rogue
restaurants. Restaurants pay hunters to catch hundreds of frogs at a
time, decimating the populations of frogs all over Goa. For the frog
it's a horrible way to die. Yanked out of the field after being blinded
by a torch, the frog is then stuffed into a gunny bag that's packed-full
of unfortunate frogs. At the restaurant, the frog is held by its waist
and its legs are chopped off, and skinned. The frog, still alive is
thrown into the bin, allowing it to die slowly out of blood loss. It's
hard to imagine that humans are capable of such cruel acts to animals.
All this, to a species that's protected by law. However we’ve managed to
right a few wrongs. In the past few years, the campaign to save frogs
has been picking up steadily, and least year, besides the media focusing
on the issue, the forest department actually arrested 10 people that
were caught hunting. This *Thursday, 16^th April*, we will informally
meet for an hour at the lawns of *Kala** Academy** in Panaji at 5.30pm*
to chalk out the course for the 2009 Save the Frog campaign. Everybody
that’s interested in the cause is welcome. See you there!
Clinton Vaz, 28 lives in Benaulim and works on environment and wildlife
issues in Goa. He can be contacted at klint...@gmail.com
<mailto:klint...@gmail.com> or +91 9890936828