Love for animals is love for life

At a time when cruelty to and violence against one's own species seems to be the order of the day, news comes quite heart-warming at times to overwhelm us with emotion. One such story was carried in a contemporary on April 17 last. It is about an architect's love for animals. So committed to the cause of rescuing and sheltering abandoned cats and dogs that he had to obtain a registration for the home he built for these animals. In fact, his is the second such registered animal home in the country.
Named Rakibul Huq Emil, the young architect has felt an inner drive to help pet but abandoned animals. Sure enough unless his drive draws from a kind of philosophy based on a broader bond of interdependence between species and an urge to respect for all forms of life, a person cannot feel the motivation to do what he does. His dedication to the cause of saving animals from cruel treatment and providing medical care where needed is exemplary.
Emil can count himself lucky because he has got support from a few like-minded people to carry on with the mission. His foundation, the People for Animal Welfare (PAW) is run with contribution he receives from them along with the fund he sets aside for the purpose. It is a noble venture with no expectation for profit. Rather, the money he spends on the animal shelter could go into savings for the future. But a man with a golden heart could not care less for his own comfort and financial security.
Clearly, Emil has named his animal home after the PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals). But there is a difference. He does not limit his activities to press statements and lectures. His work speaks for him. His animal shelter is in the Beribandh area where recued animals are sheltered for adoption. How dedicated the architect is can better be realised by the patience he demonstrated in taking care of an injured cat in a comma for two weeks before it regaining consciousness. This cat he rescued from a highway.
To many, people like Emil are crazy nuts who, they complain, neglect people to enthuse over their love for the canine and the feline. What these people forget is that without some sort of attribute of craziness, hardly anyone has made this world a better place to live in. What matters is the flow of heart towards others unrelated by blood connection. It is a fellow feeling for any living organism. There is an ancient form of religion in India called Jainism that preaches and practises harmlessness and renunciation in order to achieve liberation of the soul.
In fact, a principle of togetherness runs in all forms of living beings. Negation or annihilation of any of those in some way is a rejection of life. As the highest rational animal on the order, human beings have not done justice to their status. People are driven by a host of negative impulses to cause harm to others and the world today is sitting on deadly armaments capable of destroying this world many times over. This cannot be the measure of a highly civilised world.
Love for people and animals alike can restrain people from falling at each other's throat. Mentally sober and poised, animal lovers cannot turn violent. Because they have discovered the theory of mutual sustainability. In the wide world, no creature is dispensable. All the uncaring bunches need to learn is not to hit animals which do not intentionally harm the former. Domesticated animals look for love and care and once they get those, they take no time to reciprocate. In fact, their loyalty is more enduring than, sadly, people. Stories of their faithfulness teach people what they never learn from institutions or from fellow human beings. When a dog waits for its master's return at the airport for years together, it makes the point clear enough. Man is rarely found to be so steadfast in their love or friendship.