STOP SELLING AIR GUNS WITHOUT LICENSES!

BY NOLAN PINTO

2 playful monkeys were shot dead on the 18th of January in the premises of the posh Raheja Residency in Koramangala. The individual who did this was an educated man, a techie.

Picture courtesy- lite.epaper.timesofindia.com

Since he allegedly felt troubled by these monkeys, he shot them using his air gun. As of today, he is absconding and neither the police nor the forest officials have been able to track him.

Whats even more surprising is that he is just a techie and not some big shot executive, politician or the lot for the police to be unable to arrest him or maybe he is actually somebody! Imagine, in today's India, getting arrested and being answerable to the law many a time depends on who you are or who you know, sad.

Now what we have gathered is that while one monkey died on the spot, the other struggled for a good 30 odd minutes. I thought to myself why nobody bothered to do anything about it. One good Samaritan who found out about this incident and whose father was in the ICU actually called a Vet and in his car took the poor injured monkey to the Vet's clinic but unfortunately due to the delay and traffic on the roads, it passed away in his car. For so many people out there, only one man decided to do something, one man still had humanity left within him.

Again it’s tough to blame the others. We are not trained from school what to do when an animal is injured or ill treated. Nobody bothers about them and for those who do, they are seen as soft or that they have no other better work to do. Maybe the rest were confused about what to do. But for those who wanted the media to come first before they did anything, it’s just disgusting to say the least. 

Picture courtesy- indiansforguns.com

I remember when a close family friend of ours got his air gun from Coorg to Mysore in 2001 and showed it to me. I was so thrilled then and immediately went about using the air gun. He taught me how it’s important to stop breathing or to hold my breath for that second before the trigger is pulled. Now one afternoon, I saw these monkeys moving near my neighbor’s compound. I rushed inside and got the air gun out. And taking aim, I fired one shot. The monkeys immediately went searching for cover. Till today, I can still see those monkeys peeping from behind the trees to watch me. They were scared and were waiting for me to go before they proceeded. Every now and then, they kept looking at me to see if I will shoot or not.

I stopped then and there when I saw this. I could not do anything to hurt them. Today, even if they come into our garden, we let them pass by and never stop them from plucking fruits or flowers. So much so, that some even come to our kitchen window where we feed them with slices of bread.

We have taken over their homes for crying out loud and complain when they come into our compounds or near our flats. The least we can do is grow fruit bearing trees so that when they pass by they will have something to eat and some place to rest. If all of us do that, not only will we be helping them but also the bird population that has dipped tremendously in Bangalore.

People For Animals (PFA), an NGO headed by Maneka Gandhi had sometime back filed a case arguing that air weapons were being used to kill animals and birds. The Delhi HC had passed an order making it mandatory for air weapons to have licenses. But a two-member bench of the apex court in early 2012 granted the National Rifles Association of India (NRAI) interim relief from the HC order dated May 7, 2011, which struck down the exemption given to air weapons from license under the Arms Act of 1959.  It was stated that the ruling was difficult to implement since thousands of air weapons are held without licenses and the HC order was seen as hampering development of the sport at the grassroots level.

I firmly believe that the time is right for another serious look into this considering what has happened in Bangalore. Why not make licenses compulsory along with the number of pellets sold? How will it hamper the sport? So what if they have to pay some fees to acquire an air weapon? At least the government will have an idea as to how many air weapons are out there. 

What do you think about this? I would like to know if something can be done. Do share your opinions with us.

BE HUMAN BEINGS, NOT HUMANS

BY SELMA PINTO

Grumble! Grumble! Grumble! That’s what I hear most people do, when dogs bark, monkeys enter their compounds, or the like.

Now let me ask you, what do they do when people disturb the poor animals? They cannot fight back except to use their natural instincts. I hear so many reports of dogs attacking kids. In the first place, did anyone ask the dog why he attacked? Not really. Why does the dog not have a fair trial like us humans? Sadly, because we humans cannot understand the dog’s language, even though it is making its point.

We grumble and take action when animals enter our territory. It may be our compound, may be our city. On the contrary, what do animals do when humans enter their territory? By instinct, they will attack or kill. They do not have any courts or laws to help them. And most importantly, just like us humans, they want to safeguard their territory.

Why can’t humans understand that we are invading their territory and hence, due to lack of space, they are entering human territory, much of which originally belonged to them? Why can’t we build higher, than going wider? If we don’t invade their territory, we not only retain our forests, which by cutting trees we are destroying our environment, but are also safeguarding wild animals from entering ‘our’ space.

An animal attacks only when hungry or is being attacked. But in the city, all humans attack the poor animal, making so much of noise, mainly for pleasure. The animal which is already so afraid is traumatized.

Picture courtesy- www.latitudenews.com

Now think about it. Why can’t we teach our children not to harm animals? First of all, this should begin at home. Parents are mostly to be blamed for their children throwing stones at dogs or other harmless animals on the street. I’ve found most parents just shunning animals. When children hear them, automatically they too begin to fear and shun animals. You don’t have to go out of your way and help in any way if you don’t like animals. But it would be nice if you didn’t talk against them either.

Teach your children to love animals. Teach them that they feel pain as much as you do. Teach them that human beings are so much more blessed since they can voice their feelings, both emotionally and physically. But animals cannot. You can be sure that your children will be better human beings, and not just humans.

Try this out. Watch people’s character. Those who are afraid of animals, but do not harm them, are also harmless people. But beware of those who harm animals. They are really dangerous people and cannot be trusted.