These words came from Gandhi. It’s interesting to note that in a country where cow’s are considered holy, other animals like dogs, and cats are treated with less respect or even outright ignored.
If You have been to India, You might have noticed dogs wandering through the streets looking through garbage for food. Dogs are not celebrated in our culture like cows. We even have many stereotypes regarding them. Dogs are dirty. Too much contact with dogs can bring cancer. It’s unfortunate.
Europe is generally known for its treatment towards animals. A dog is man’s best friend. Cats and other domestic animals generally enjoy many rights. If You are an animal, You have to be lucky to be born here, rather than somewhere in Asia.
When we talk about animals, we should also talk about Human beings.
In Europe, people are generally brought up in a very healthy environment(i know that I have a tendency to idolise the west. It’s an inborn thing) . its a punishable offence to beat children, or scold them publicly(in Norway for such offences they even take Your kid away from You). I think since Europe has a fewer amount of people, taking care of the immediate needs of a child is a feasible task. Most people when they grow up, enjoy respect and equal rights from their peers and family members. So naturally in such an environment of respect towards You peers and fellow human beings, animals suffer less.
The problem with India and many other South east Asian nations, is that people and their rights are ignored by the society. We have so much people that taking care of each other and our immediate feelings is next to impossible. The population of India is around 1,3 billion. Do You know how much people that is on a square kilometre scale? It is impossible to listen and take care of the needs and wishes of each and every kid/ individual. When You have a problematic child, You make the child obedient by inducing fear in them or beating them. Police and government officials use violence as a means of silencing people. There is nothing called as 'personal space’. Such a thing doesn’t exist for many people. You don’t know about it because neither the society or Your school informs You about it. Your immediate task as a citizen is to be obedient and stop causing problems for Your family and society. Your rights can wait. (maybe that is why many foreigners have a tough time understanding Indians. We tend to act well to 'fear’. Logic doesn’t sit well with many Indians)
Very often animals are the once who suffer from human deprivation. When human beings are agitated they take their anger off at animals. How can You take care of a pet dog, when the society that You live in, doesn’t take care of its own citizens.
It’s a boon that cows are treated as holy, because they sometimes get more rights than normal people. The worst effects are felt by animals like donkeys who have to do manual labour from the day they are born till their death.
If You look at dogs wandering through the streets in India, many of them are scared and turn aggressive because people are aggressive in their behaviour towards them. Animals like cats also suffer due to human negligence.
I think once our population comes down, we will start to give more attention to our four legged friends. When we start caring for ourselves, we become more appreciative of domestic animals and their safety.