Dogs of war

'Sports’ such as dog fights, bear-baiting, camel fighting continue despite laws to ban them.

The sight must be a horrific one. Every Sunday afternoon, at an open ground near the town of Mirpur in Azad Kashmir, dozens of dogs try to maul or tear each other to death — cheered on by their owners and a crowd of hundreds of onlookers. The ‘winners’ receive trophies and prizes; those who have bet on the animals collect their winnings. Some dogs die; others are badly injured or perhaps maimed for life. The macho show of brutality using creatures that have no voice — according to a report in this newspaper — is organised and patronised essentially by British nationals of Pakistani origin, with the dogs brought in for the ‘contest’ from across Punjab and Kashmir. It is uncertain quite what pleasure spectators get from watching the dogs take chunks of flesh from each other, accompanied no doubt by the yelping that comes with pain, but it seems a large number of persons take pleasure from the ‘entertainment’ put on before them.

Dog fighting is of course illegal in Britain, the home of many of the owners of the unfortunate canines. What few realise, including the local authorities in Mirpur — and other parts of the country where such contests take place — is that it is also illegal under Pakistani law. But animal welfare societies which function here, lack the necessary funds to take action or even lodge a serious protest. For the same reason, ‘sports’ such as bear-baiting or camel fighting also continue, despite laws to ban them and campaigns launched by international NGOs. The entire display, the laughing, the clapping and the cheering which accompanies it demonstrates our lack of humanity; our basic lack of civilisation. The law in this regard, of course, needs to be upheld. But any law will work only if there is an awareness and a realisation that such acts of cruelty amount to a barbarism we simply do not want to see continue in our society. Some way must then be found to uphold the law and bring the terrible Sunday spectacle to an end as swiftly as possible.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 24^th, 2012.