Kindness to Animals

Bilal would call himself happy-go-lucky. He had good friends, he enjoyed school. His parents loved
him and all his needs were met. Sounds like all the ingredients for a carefree, happy life. But there
were many things that got Bilal down.

Of these, the thing that disturbed Bilal the most was something he saw on his walk home from
school sometimes. And that was cruelty to animals. Bilal had never realized how common it could
be!

A few days ago he saw a donkey cart on the road being pulled by a donkey with open wounds. It was
obvious that the owner had been hitting it. Bilal could not help but feel pity for the poor animal, as it
obediently carried on its task, blood oozing from its wounds. The day before he saw some children
throwing stones at a cat, chasing it, and trying to catch it by its tail. The cat was so tense and
agitated, frantically trying to get away from the oppressive children. Further he saw a stray dog
limping, with one of its legs broken. It must’ve been hit and injured by mischievous children.

All these incidents made Bilal miserable and got him thinking. Pity and compassion welled up in his
heart for these animals. He couldn’t get their thought out of his mind. He decided to do something
about it. One day when he was watching TV, he saw a group of animal rights workers carrying out a
campaign and appealing to people to donate, so that they could gather enough funds for a new
animal shelter. Bilal got an idea – why didn’t he start a campaign too? One against cruelty to
animals!

Bilal remembered that his class teacher, Mrs. Junaid, was also an animal lover. She often used to talk
about her many pets. He decided to take her advice, and he did, the very next day. Mrs Junaid and
his other teachers advised him on how to start a campaign. They suggested to him to gather like-
minded friends, make badges, and to hold talks to create awareness about cruelty to animals.

When the word spread that Bilal was standing up for animals’ rights, many children from his school
decided to support him. Together his team and he made badges and distributed them not only in
their own school, but in other schools as well. This is what the badges said:

Animals are God’s creatures, just like us

I respect animals
 I love animals

I stand against cruelty to animals

Bilal took his movement outside schools. He and his friends stopped cruelty to animals wherever
they saw it. His teachers arranged for him to hold a talk at a park where an open air concert was
going on. The organizers allowed Bilal some time to get his message across to the people attending.
This is an excerpt from his speech:

“Dear friends, there is no gallantry in annoying and harming the weak. Cowards do such things,
because they know the poor innocent animals cannot fight back.

Also, it’s wrong to throw things at animals in captivity, in the zoo behind bars. An educated person
will never do it. This sets the educated, civilized people apart.”

At another instance Bilal and his team organized a trip to the zoo, to develop appreciation for
animals. Before setting out, the large crowd of boys and girls who had come to attend the trip
gathered at the community centre. Bilal made rules for visiting the zoo. He asked the students to
come up with suggestions. Here is what they finally came up with:

1. Do not pet the wrong way

2. No pulling tails
3. No teasing
4. No hitting

Everyone enjoyed the trip to the zoo, more so because they treated the animals well and learned to
appreciate them. The next day Mrs. Junaid asked Bilal’s class to write an essay about one animal at
the zoo that they liked best.

Hani, inspired by the campaign on kindness to animals, asked Mrs. Junaid to tell the class something
about her pets. Mrs. Junaid described how nice it is to have pets and what good companionship they
give. She shared that pets don’t have to be just cats or dogs. She herself had a turtle, a budgie, and a
goldfish. But keeping a pet requires responsibility, she emphasised. Taking proper care of a pet
includes bathing, feeding, immunization and giving adequate rest and exercise.

Suddenly, the Principal walked in with a group of people. Bilal recognized them as the organizers of
the concert where he had given a speech. The Principal said that the guests had an announcement
to make. Mr. Toufiq, the chief organizer, announced that many people who had attended the
concert wanted to donate money to Bilal and his team for the welfare of animals. Bilal was so
pleased! He accepted the donations with thanks to Mr. Toufiq and his team. And Bilal knew just
where to use the money – he would give it to the animal rights workers who needed funds for a new
animal shelter!

Before Mr. Toufiq left, he appreciated Bilal and told the students:

“Remember the words of Abraham Lincoln: “I am in favor of animal rights as well as human rights.
That is the way of a whole human being.” 

Every religion teaches us compassion for animals. So always be kind to animals and stop people from
harming them.”