Why humans aren’t very human

For Coco life had not been fun for some years At 14 a cocker spaniel is already a senior citizen almost 70 years old in human terms Cocorsquos vision had been dimming for years he now navigated the large house in Bengaluru more by memory than by sightPriya had received him as a birthday present Coloured vanillawhite and fawnbrown he might have reminded her of a silky tiramisuWith Coco she was sometimes like a mother with her only child But the puppy was soon a dog and then too soon too old requiring frequent veterinary attention Of late he had been losing weight and was having difficulty keeping food in An infection of his anal sacs the scentsecreting glands dogs use to mark territory kept him in continuous painPriya must have known the end could be not far away but I believe a part of her would have been in denial hoping like all loving parents do that this was just a passing cloudAlso read Ek footpath ki keemat tum kya jaano babuBut what if it wasnrsquotYou know how perversely my mind works I ask myself why we donrsquot feel similar emotions when a cockroach dies squelched under our gleeful shoes Why do we feel smug satisfaction instead Why do Japanese fishermen take annual pleasure in corralling and massacring one of the worldrsquos most intelligent mammals the dolphinWhy do human harpoons kill majestic whales just to harvest their meat and use their oil blubber ambergris and cartilage to make medicines and perfumesHow come we swat flies without a second thought while swearing that dogs and cats have feelings just like we do Do theyMy mind jumps perversely to nine plump goodnatured dogs rather like huskies frolicking with children in a compound in a Vietnamese village I remarked that this family must love dogs very much and was told in a whispered aside that when winter came around these pets would be skinned chopped grilled and eaten Their meat apparently helped humans stay warm when it was cold outMany Vietnamese families raise dogs expressly to eat them on some winter dayWhatrsquos so surprising about that Havenrsquot humans always farmed animals to eat them Unless yoursquore vegan or Jain yoursquoll likely be eating chicken pork cows lamb or fishmdashall widely farmed todaymdashnot to mention exotic meats such as ostriches crocodiles snails deer antelope giant rats and camelsWhatrsquos so wrong about that Chaprsquos got to eat Wersquore all hunters at heart even if we wear suits Itrsquos a wild world feelings donrsquot come into it If a lion had to consider a gazellersquos feelings hersquod never pounceWhich at last brings me to lions In recent years tourists have begun paying as much as 25000 apiece for the pleasure of killing a lion specially bred to be killed America is an especially big source of hunters with money time and bloodlust fed by a brutal gun industry At the moment Africa has about 260 lion farms with 8000 to 12000 lions bred raised and kept in captivity Their claws teeth and testicles are sold to China where they are used to make aphrodisiacs and other medicinesUnlike cows and pigs these lions are not being bred for their protein content They are being brought to life fed well and groomed into handsome majesty so that one day a cowardly hunter with a high tech gun may kill it from the safety of his jeep For his money he can specify the exact kind of lion he wants to kill down to colour body span and size of mane Lion farming is now a 24billion industryKilling another living being requires first a declaration that it is less than human Hitler was able to exterminate 6 million Jews only after he had declared them to be a subhuman threat to German purity and growth Whites enslaved blacks only after convincing themselves that they were less than humanHumans are unique in that they take pleasure in destroying life their own and othersrsquo But justifying butchery whether of a chicken a lion or a Jew whether to eat to savage or for ethnic cleansing requires believing that the victim is somehow below youHere is the tragic paradox when you attack any life believing it to be less than yours it is you who end up being subhumanBeing human looks a little different Priya didnrsquot go to work at all during Cocorsquos last week alive She stayed home barely sleeping staying as close as she could to her darling child not wanting to miss his slightest whimpered need But then despite herself her eyes closed and she briefly dropped into asleep utterly exhausted Coco was just inches away from her lying on his sideWhen she awoke with a start three hours or so later Coco was still as shersquod left him on his side inert gone from his body and her lifeHe was loved till the moment he diedYou can reach C Y Gopinath at cygopigmailcomSend your feedback to mailbagmiddaycomThe views expressed in this column are the individualrsquos and donrsquot represent those of the paper