Since it’s approaching Caturday, I want to share with you three photos of three different four-legged friends of mine that I encounter on occasion during my walkabouts on the shores of sunny South Africa. First is the cat Sudevi, better known as Suzie. Most folks have a feline or canine familiar as a pet, and Su is no different.
Curiously, you can call this a bowl of Su-shi if you wish. What a fine dish, you might say. There’s nothing like being bowled over with the loving affection of our four-legged friends of all sorts. Almost everyone in this part of the world has a pet dog or two, which become family additions over time.
Another prime reason why there are so many dog lovers in this region is because of the security they provide. South Africa is one of the crime hotspots of the world, where opportunistic and petty house breaking or robbery occur daily, regardless of your social status or income bracket.
From the working class to the middle class to the elite, all are targets of criminals looking for a quick buck in these dire economic times here and globally. So our pet dogs become a sure way of alerting us like an alarm if there are any intruders about. Here you can see Su the cat, who is of course not a guard dog but more of a sleeping beauty.
Second on my list of domestic animals today is this roaming black beauty called...well, I’m not sure of her name. I saw this dear solitary cow grazing on the side of the path as I approached the nearby hiking trail that I like to frequent. I presume that she took herself for a walk and will find her way home at some point. You can wait until the cows come home here and might still be waiting after that.
This is Africa, as they say locally. TIA. It implies that everything takes a little bit longer than you might have expected – African time. And that includes everything from government service as well as other private sector work. I presume it’s the laid back “island style” lifestyle of living in a permanently sunny South Africa, where there is no fear of winter. Here even the winters are mild and sunny.
Occasional droughts do occur, but not much, so people have it easy, even though they might not realize it, due to lack of insight into how the rest of the world struggles to keep warm in winter, especially up north. There’s no chance of freezing to death here if you haven’t made hay while the sun shines, so people take their time to do anything, and thus you have to wait until the cows come home sometimes.
Thirdly I want to introduce you to another four-legged friend of mine called Shawn the sheep. I call him that, though I’m not sure of his passport name. Shawn is a fine and woolly friend who has little fear of humans, even though he is probably being raised by them to be their dinner one day. I don’t tell him that as I don’t want to spoil his appetite for life.
I personally have no taste for the flesh of any of my four-legged friends as I see them as people. Not as objects, or a means to an end. They are an end in themselves. Respect for all life is my philosophy and especially respect for the life of our four-legged, warm-blooded, feeling friends. It’s my personal choice and I miss nothing being a vegetarian. I feel healthy and after over 35 years, it seems odd to me to have to deprive a friend of their life for my fleeting pleasure.
Anyway, it up to us all to choose our lifestyles according to our realization and levels of compassion for life in general. I know that westerners would never dream of eating their pet cat or dog, so I simply extend that to all my fellow pets. As a result I have more four-legged friends and I feel inspired by a clear conscience, with no blood on my hands.
My motto for the day is “friends don’t let friends eat friends”. Take it. You can use it with my blessing whenever you wish.
(photos my own)