What does Chennai's animal cruelty case say about our society? asks Shweta Bachchan Nanda

I am not a dog person, I am not a cat person, birds freak me out (ditto for insects). I once had two goldfish that were the closest I came to keeping pets as an adult but they met their untimely end at the hands of a terrible eagle, I shall not elaborate to spare the faint of heart. So let’s just say pets are not my thing. I am clearly in a minority here, but I swear I am a good person, you can ask my friends. That’s if you haven’t judged me and tut-tutted me already. Chances are you have. Oh well! Still not a dog person. As in, I will not like, or float hearts on anyone’s pet pictures on Facebook, I scroll past them rolling my eyes sincerely hoping people will grow out of this type of PDA! Keep it between your four walls y'all, would you like me to unceasingly show you pictures of my kids at various stages of their lives with gushing comments about my undying love for them? No? I thought as much. 

Growing up, we always had dogs, my family is big on dogs — at one point, we had twin Alsatians and a rescued St Bernard who came to us an adorable little furball only to transition into Yeti-like proportions over the span of one summer! Everyone else’s dogs ran and chased, our St Bernard galloped. I was petrified of him. To be fair, the fear was unjustified; all he ever did was give sloppy licks and shed enough hair for me to make a sweater with, but as they say — what you resist, persists! 

I have always been a dog magnet (of the canine variety, of course) in the way bees are to flowers, dogs are to me. Can they really smell the fear? It’s not easy navigating social scenarios when you’re the only person screaming their head off and I mean there’s a psychopathic killer chasing me with a knife screaming, every time your friend’s dog wants to sniff around the lunch table while you are seated at it stuffing your face, halfway to a food coma. Oh! You wouldn’t believe the looks I get from people, friend included, because the poor pet has to be taken away to another room or for a walk while I visit. One would think I committed mass genocide. I have never been able to explain to pet lovers my genuine fear. 

Then like manna from heaven, I got bitten, like claws in my flesh, canines drawing blood, bit on my arm, by a Shih Tzu. Even then the dog lovers had a go at me — surely it had to be my fault, was I being unfriendly? NO. I WAS COWERING IN A CORNER WHILE A PINT-SIZED PUP USED MY ARM AS A CHEW TOY. I DESERVE COMPASSION! None was to be had. It’s a cruel world out there. Anyway, now I have a bonafide reason to be a manic mess every time a dog shuffles into my personal space, and I use that term very loosely (both the manic mess bit and personal space bit). I have the scars to show for it, thank you very much, I earned my right to be paranoid!!

However, when I read about those crazy brutes (and med students to boot) in Chennai who threw a dog off their roof for no apparent reason, I was appalled! What does it say about us as a society, where even animals aren’t safe, and young boys training to be doctors are prone to such savagery? Will people stoop to just about anything to get a few likes on YouTube? Does social media mindlessly drive us all? Are we as good as our strength of followers? We have already compromised our attention spans devouring “updates” and “posts” every nanosecond, is our humanity the next thing to go? 

Article 51A (g) of India’s constitution directs its citizens to protect and have compassion for all living creatures so, despite being unconscionable, these men are also unconstitutional, they were apprehended, but are now out on bail free to pursue their medical training and join the ranks of our future doctors. If that does not give you cause for concern, then I’m barking up the wrong tree.