There's more to life: Free as a Bird

This is an old write up that I am posting today.

Most people at one point in their life would have become pet owners.

Be it a pet goldfish, a pet hamster, a noble dog, a purring kitten, a bunny rabbit or a colorful bird.

Most of these animals before becoming pets, were roaming the lands freely as nature intended.

Put men in the equation and he cages that which was meant to be free. Solely for his amusement and entertainment. As all general rules, there are however exception. We have seen people going through extraordinary measures to care for their pets and making their pets a cherished member of their family. We need more spokes people like this. They are the ones that defends animals, take great care of their pets and in return receives love back from their pets. They have an unbreakable bond with their pets.

There is no such thing as a cage animal. All caged animals are either captured or bred in captivity. In the wild they are seldom alone. They have family, friends, they fly, they jump, they leap, they run, they sing to their hearts content, they play hide and seek, they dip in the cool pool, they perform courtship and they share joy and sorrow with their companion and nature.

Unfortunately for most animals, including birds, these are the very qualities that attract men to cage them.

Birds brilliant color, speech capabilities, intelligence, playfulness and loyalty have made them popular pets. When caged they are isolated and separated from their family and friends. They become lonely and often improperly cared for. They lust to have all the freedom expressed above.

They look at you from their cage cell like how a prisoner stares out his prison cell. Longing for the freedom once felt, now gone.

It was this very feeling and stories shared by friends that highlighted numerous dainties and priests commenting that birds were meant to be free and never caged. They related stories of bad things happening to people who caged birds. My friend, an Indian Muslim, had informed me that during his bachelorhood, he had rented an apartment with friends. His Chinese roommate had requested a Buddhist monk to do some blessings and prayers for the occupants well being. The monk had informed my friend to release the bird and said that birds are meant to be free. Bad things may happened to caged birds. My friend quoted that the monk said when birds chirp or sing, you interpret it as singing, but they are actually cursing for being caged. Well, my friend did not take any heed. After sometime, he returned back to his hometown for holiday and the bird was left to his roommate to care for. Upon his return a few days later the bird was dead. Suspect, lack of feeding by his friend. Anyhow, he informed me that after the death of the bird, he came into various hardship, i.e. fighting with his roommates (which never previously occurred), having hard time with his part time work (recent change of boss) and his car getting stolen. When his car got stolen, he had remembered what the monk had said about the bird and he has never since caged any birds.

So after my experience of rearing bugaries and the bliss that I had felt after releasing them, I made a commitment to my kids that on every birthday we would buy birds from the pet shop and after the birthday we would set it free. The feeling a seeing a bird set free is immensely rewarding.

I wish the pigeons that we released on 6 February 2016 at 11.43am all the best. Take good care of yourselves and stay out of harms way.

God bless all his creations.

Say no to animal cruelty.