No, Canada hasn't gone to the dogs. Rather, Canadians are amazed that a small dog who was mauled by a huge dog dashed to a nearby hospital and looked pleadingly at the staff. It got immediate attention though people usually have to wait a long time for treatment. The Ottawa Citizen reported the story on page one. Newsmen know that when a dog bites a man it is not news. But if a man bites a dog that is news. The paper decided that if a dog bites a dog and the bitten dog runs to the hospital for help, that is news. The loyalty of dogs is legendary - dogs have alerted their masters to a fire, refused to eat after the master's death, visited the dead master's grave, or have run to a neighbor to get attention if a master needed help. But this seems the first time a wounded dog has darted off to a hospital to get treated. Bella weighs just 14 pounds. His master Bruce Simpson had taken him for a walk in a park in Ottawa. City bylaws require leashes to prevent attacks on children or other dogs. But some owners remove the leashes in parks to enable their dogs to run and romp. When a huge dog mauled Bella, Simpson pounced on the animal forcing him to drop Bella. Simpson called the police and rebuked the big dog's owner. By then Bella had disappeared. Later, Keith Buchanan of the Ottawa Paramedic Service told Simpson that his bleeding dog came running in looking scared. He had dashed across a field and a six-lane highway to reach the Civic Hospital. Paramedics covered Bella's muzzle, provided first aid and took him to the Ottawa Veterinary Hospital where veterinarians performed three hours of surgery. Now he's with his owners. Dogs have been known in the West as man's best friend. It is estimated that Canadians own more than four million dogs and perhaps five million cats. Statistics Canada hasn't provided recent numbers. Dogs provide company to lonely people. They display their love for their masters unashamedly and become like family members. We once visited friends who were watching TV with their dog sitting with them on the sofa. When they changed the channel the dog started to bark. They went back to the old channel and the dog then contentedly watched his favorite program. Canada has cat lovers too. Cats purr, rub themselves against their owners' bodies and jump into their laps. But they are more self-centered and do not take their owners as seriously. Horses are known to love their masters as well and to be fiercely loyal to them. But cats and dogs live inside homes and sometimes sleep with the master and the mistress, which horses cannot do. Nor can they jump into their masters' lap, thankfully. In developing countries, it is cows which are seen as man's best friend. Like mothers, they provide life-saving milk and it is no wonder that in India cows are called mothers. But cats are not gentle creatures. Statistics Canada estimates that cats kill an estimated 196 million birds every year. Other major killers are houses (22.4 million birds a year), power lines (25.6 million), and vehicles (13.8 million). One day I was gardening and there were birds nearby on the grass looking for worms. Suddenly my neighbor's cat appeared from nowhere and pounced on a bird. I ran after the cat but he dashed away, the bird in his mouth. In India we had many cats, dogs, hens, ducks, horses and pigeons in our garden. One day I woke up to see that all our pigeons had been killed by a dog, who broke through the wire and attacked them in their night. It was one of the saddest days of my childhood. I had another depressing day when I witnessed a bullfight in Madrid. A bull is coaxed into an arena and as it lunges for the dangling red banner, the bullfighter stabs him with a sharp knife. This goes on till the bull drops dead and is hauled away, to be replaced by another bull. They call it art, but I think it is disgusting and barbaric. I've stopped watching nature shows on TV. It is horrible to see animals, or fish, hunted down by their predators and eaten alive. I feel very grateful that God made me a human being. I remember the Holy Qur'an's injunction that Allah made all living beings and that He loves His creations, whom He made with a purpose. I recall the hadith that a woman would go to hell because she starved her cat, and that a sinner would go to paradise for hauling water and giving it to a panting dog. Some animals are not clean. But they were all made by the same loving God and we must treat them with respect unless we fear that they will harm us. – Mohammed Azhar Ali Khan is a retired Canadian journalist, civil servant and refugee judge.
