This week: the unsung quake heroes and victims
The Sichuan earthquake has killed more than 69,000 people and left more than 5 million people homeless. It has destroyed much of the province's infrastructure, which will take years to rebuild. The images taken at the disaster zone have been heart wrenching. Seeing the front page of the Post with a colour photo of dead children in rubble just made me break down and cry.
This column has always been focused on animals since it is about Hong Kong seen through the eyes of a veterinarian, but before I go on to write about the animals affected in the earthquake region, I feel it is important for me to state unequivocally that for me at least, human lives are the priority and should be the primary focus. Animals such as pandas, livestock and pets should be saved at hopefully no cost to human lives. I hope I don't contradict myself too much in this week's article. I just wanted to highlight that even though I love animals, I still have my perspective and priorities straight. Fortunately, in most cases there need not be human risk in saving animal lives in the earthquake zone.
I have brought this up because I have argumentative friends who debate with me at gatherings on whether soldiers and volunteers should risk their lives to save pets and livestock. To their surprise, I say: 'It should be a decision made by the individual soldiers or volunteers. No one should be forced to risk their lives for animals if they don't have the compassion for it. And I doubt that there have been orders to do so.'
There has been a slow shift in the attitudes of society to one that animals have the same rights to life as any human being. Two-hundred years ago the saving of animals in the wake of such a huge natural disaster would not even have been considered, but now a substantial part of society cries out not only about the tragic loss and disruption to human lives, but also the suffering of animals in a disaster.
To put things in further perspective, in quite recent history some societies held the value of personal possessions and property above that of fellow human lives. Such was the case in the eras of slavery and apartheid. For those who strongly advocate and fight for animal rights, it is their hope that society will realise one day that animal lives should have the same value as human lives. And I hope one day that it can be so.