PRIORITIES

I read an article over here in an English gossip mag. The article was about how English actress Miranda Richardson had started a not-for-profit organisation to help the stray dogs in Sri Lanka. She said that when she was on holiday in Sri Lanka she was so moved by the plight of the multitudes of stray dogs that she wanted to help, so now her organisation trains people in Sri Lanka to care for the stray dogs. Now, I do agree that it is important to care for animals but it gets you thinking, doesn't it? When there are so many people who struggle to care for themselves, it's funny that taking care of stray dogs is such a priority. When so many men, women and children are living in sub-standard conditions, isn't it a bit strange to be so moved by the plight of stray dogs?

I read another article in a newspaper. The journalist had witnessed the butchering of cows in a rural area and was horrified by what they reported as a barbaric practice. They called for Sri Lankans to put an end to such cruelty by becoming strict vegetarians. Now, I was not there at the slaughter of the cows so I do not know what methods were used, but even as a contented meat-eater I would hate to think that my dinner has been despatched of in a painful and cruel manner. Even so, in a country where thousands upon thousands of people have died at the hands of their fellow countrymen and the wounds that underlie this civil unrest continue to ache and seep, doesn't it strike you as strange that somebody would take up the cause of cattle with such enthusiasm?

Our priorities are funny things aren't they? Is it that focussing on smaller issues allows us to pretend the greater issues aren't there? Is it a case of we simply do what is within our grasp (and I must say that I think that doing something is better than doing nothing). Could we really care about these sort of things more than we care about people? Bit strange, isn't it?