A Dog's Bowl and The watchman spirit

I like to take care of stray animals. This has become a habit ever since I adopted a dog myself. The watchman of my street actually got annoyed by the fact that I am compassionate enough for the stray animals and I don’t appear to care for humans especially Him! He meant I never gave him a cup of tea on daily basis or gave him dinner or lunch the way I try to feed stray dogs. Someone gave me a message of his contempt and I replied, he works and even if he doesn’t he can beg. These animals neither can work, nor can beg.

Where I live, that is Pakistan, a majority Muslim country. Although we are taught to be kind to animals religiously speaking. However we see people behaving exact opposite. People poison dogs, they are cruel to cats, donkeys, horses and any possible animal who dares to enter the civilized part of the cities and towns.

Well.. especially a dog is considered an extremely filthy creature in my society.

There is a phrase quite often used in my mother language , that’s Urdu. The phrase is “Kutay ka burten” This literally translates as; “Dog’s bowl or Dog’s utensil”. This phrase is used normally to show extreme humiliation and a highly condescending remark.

For example let me use a few sentences here in English with this phrase.

He isn’t worthy to be fed even in a dog’s bowl.

I wouldn’t like to give her water even in a dog’s bowl.

I guess you got the idea !

Well I don’t know how many dog’s bowls got stolen, broken while every time I put them outside my house for dogs and cats to drink or eat from. Especially the clay ones were broken down with shoeprints of humans on them.I had never seen anyone jealous and disgusted with something like a dog’s bowl. Clearly it was broken by stomping on it. The other day the carton vanished which I had put for the shelter purposes for a dog. I didn’t get disheartened and I kept on putting there the bowl and shelters and one day somehow the stealing and breaking stopped.

It made me realise that in my society there is something much more apalling than a dog’s bowl, it should be called , ‘The watchman’s spirit”