Reset Password
Reset Link Sent
| Blogs > Mirin123 > Blue Sky |
|
Reflections of the Past I guess I’ll talk, in this blog, about how the animals were treated in my previous assignment. You can always tell the nature of a society by the condition of and how they treat their animals. That society is just like any other when faced with basic needs of survival, human necessities take a higher priority over animal welfare. animals are generally forgotten in wars. Something to eat is what they become and pets are basically absent from the society. animals must provide a service of some type because there is no luxury of being a pet here. The veterinary infrastructure just like many other official agencies basically does not exist. There are veterinarians on the government payrolls but they lack funds, equipment, medicines, vaccines, transportation and facilities of all types not to mention the security to be able to perform the job. It is estimated according to US AID that there are around 500 to 600 unemployed graduated veterinarians in Iraq and that at least 200 of them are ready for employment, but the jobs are just not available. The general population is left with nearly no animal health care providers, facilities, medicines or vaccines. US AID is implementing a program of re-establishing this most needed service but just like all the rest the infrastructure it’s going to take time to bring it back to a functional level. Disease I’m sure is out of control because there plainly is very little vaccinations being done and further there is almost no testing and treatment of disease in the herds. The soldiers here are forbidden under “General Order Number One” to have or keep pets. It has been requested by the Humane Society that they be given the consideration of adopting at least one animal who has been neutered or spayed, vaccinated and cleared of disease but so far this policy has not been lifted. The Coalition Vets have had a very difficult job and do their best to assist the Iraqis. In the aftermath of the war 80 of the 400 animals in the Baghdad Zoo were found to be alive. Most of them had just plain starved to death and if it wasn’t for the Vets and WildAid they would have also surmised this terrible fate. Uday’s and Qusay’s Lions, is a story that kind of exemplifies the tragedy of the situation. These lions were pets of the infamous pair of brothers. After the war these lions were basically left to the care of the local people and ended up being kept in a substandard cage inside the boundaries of the fortified Green Zone. They remained a sideshow there for many months. It was certain that they were fed dogs for food and because of it they contracted a canine disease which eventually led to them coming under the control of the local Coalition Vet ultimately and further being quarantined. Their plight was a sad one. Because of the disease they could not be relocated to any caring zoos in the rest of the world who would certainly have adopted them if they could have. A new cage at the local zoo was eventually built for them on the sly and now this is attraction as well as many others sees regular visitors again. Heartfelt thanks goes to all those Vets, WildAid and all the others who helped to save all of these animals. Now the Zoo is home to 86 different animals. As for the rest of the animals; first the dogs are mostly “Heinz 57”, and pack laws rule. They are considered by most to be dirty and unclean, and they are, they roam free, and seldom do you see a on a leash. Most often they are pinned behind locked doors and used for security or as I said free to roam wherever they can find food to survive. Often you will see them in the check points because they know that the soldiers will take pity on them and give them food. These dogs are in terrible shape but are a hardy breed and somehow survive all the hardships. The only dogs that you see that seem to be well taken care of are the working dogs which are not Iraqi dogs; lots are used by the Coalition and its’ independent subcontractors. The dogs search, for explosives and chemicals, or are working in general security. These animals since they belong to funded agencies or hired individuals are generally well taken care of and are in stark contrast to the dogs found roaming free or cared for by the Iraqis. Cats are, like anywhere, are able to survive, as they do in most places. I have not seen anyone petting or picking them up though and they are mostly wild. They live, in, under, around buildings and in the surrounding tickets and are found villages as well as the cities. They seem to be treated better than dogs I guess because they are seemingly less of a threat and do provide some service in controlling pests. But, just like dogs you often see them with injuries and disease and struggling to survive. I once watched a pair of kittens who our Ghurkhas’ adopted. When the female of the two was just barely able to have its first litter it became pregnant. The young mother was still growing and the pregnancy took so much from its bones that its legs were permanently bowed from the stress of it. I was amazed though to see her manage caring for and raising her two kittens. The animals you do see are predominately the herd and flock animals because they certainly contribute to the Iraqi’s survival and income. The flocks though range from starved to barely healthy, mostly, due to the economic situation and not because people mean to treat them this way. Of course, I’m sure the animals would be in much better shape if there was no war or the climate was not so harsh. The flocks in the countryside fare much better but you can find flocks of sheep and goats even in the center of the largest city of the country, how they are able to survive never ceases to amaze me. There is a garbage dump on the north side of Baghdad. It reminds you of the place called “Modor” from the book titled “Lord of the Rings” This place is about 4 or 5 klms of pure, stinking, burning garbage of all types and right in the middle of this forsaken place you will see all types of farm animals. You can imagine what disease and contamination these animals are infected with or the chemicals that their meat harbours. I witnessed another instance of this in the south at an electric sub-station that was being repaired it to was on the edge of a city and a large dump was in front of this facility. Each time we visited this station a local Sheppard would lead his flock of goats and sheep over the dump. I watched them graze on whatever they could find and was surprised to see the animals eating even paper and all sorts of other things that I found frankly disgusting. The birds are probably the most abundant wildlife seen. I brought an Audubon Society book we me this time to try and identify as many species as I can. Birds are one of the rare bits of beauty that can be found here and bird watching is a very important pass time for me. But, here again it is a harsh place and they suffer from all kinds of tribulations. As for the weather and how it affects the animals, I was setting outside one of our villas one day and a dove landed beside me; fairly close not more than 3 meters, quite strange. It seemed not at all afraid and as I watched it I was sure it was exhausted and not merely tame. Thinking that it may be suffering from heat exhaustion because it was nearly 120 Fahrenheit outside I went inside and brought out a bowl of water. To my surprise the bird not only came over and drank from the bowl but it hopped inside and sat there for nearly 30 minutes cooling off and having its fill. For the life of me I don’t know what the wild animals eat out in the desert. I rarely see them but they are certainly there because I see the tracks. They say that there are many different species but I have only seen foxes, jackals, snakes, lizards and of course the birds, but I emphasize only on rare occasions. There is a near catastrophe for the animals and it’s not just them we have to worry about. We just can’t turn our backs now and walk away. It is a danger to the people who live here and a potential danger for the rest of the world. The Avian Flu virus was found here in 2006, it was put under control, but what if we don’t continue to focus on re-establishing the infrastructure? This country has lots of potential, it has water and fertile land, it has oil to fund irrigation and all it needs now is the will to turn things around.. animals have always been an important part of my life. I grew up surrounded by nature and was fortunate to have been so. I judge the vitality of a society on the care of its natural resources and find that those that do take care are much better off than those that do not. Unfortunately, we are finding that this is less and less the case throughout the world. I’m afraid that we are now paying the price and it will only get worse for the next generations to come. Finally, you can always tell the nature of a society by the condition of and how they treat their animals. Mirin123 |
|||
|
You are so compassionate Mirin. Have a good weekend. Melt. Flow. Evaporate into the bright sky 
|
×
×