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Animal Abuse In Lebanon: A Telling Sign Of Our Society’s Sad State
Over the weekend, videos emerged on Lebanese social media platforms depicting horrendous abuse of animals around the country. Over 40 dogs were poisoned in Tripoli – with their lifeless bodies lying wretchedly stiff in the scorching heat in the northern city’s streets. Others dogs who did not immediately succumb to their poisoning were shown convulsing with foam gushing out of their tortured mouths as they slowly died next to their lifeless companions.
Other pictures surfaced of unnamed individuals around the country torturing and killing dozens of newborn kittens in abominable ways. Was this animal torture week across Lebanon? Unfortunately, it was just another day of gruesome acts of inhumanity that will likely go unpunished, because for some people in Lebanon, compassion is a virtue that is seemingly deemed for the weak – where torturous acts of abuse are somehow skewed to be virtuous and bold.
Cruelty in Lebanon is not only reserved for animals. Women face daily abuse from their families and their partners, much of which goes undocumented. Even if it were documented, most claims of abuse are not given the light of day that they so gravely deserve, creating a sick cycle of negligence that causes the victimized to avoid coming forward. LGBTQ individuals face constant social agony and risk being bombarded with physical and psychological abuse every day just for being themselves – speaking with a certain cadence, dressing with a certain style. A couple of weeks ago, a young man was senselessly stabbed to death for celebrating Germany’s demise in the World Cup. Domestic workers are treated like second-class citizens. Just this month, a video surfaced online of a domestic worker from Kenya being publicly assaulted by a Lebanese mob. What happened to that woman? She now faces deportation.
We have poisoned our environment to the point that our environment is now poisoning us back. Drive on any road in the country and you’re sure to witness someone throwing a bag of plastic or a cup of coffee out of their car window, on to the street for someone else to deal with. Blatant ignorance or passive irresponsibility, something needs to be done to invoke more respect in this country – for the people, for the environment, for the animals, and for life in all its forms.
It’s not a profound thought to note that all forms of abuse is wrong. But something about the ways that Lebanese people abuse other people, because of their race or their gender, and the ways that they abuse animals because of their helplessness, resonates in a very daunting way. The fixation with abusing those of weaker statuses to affirm one’s own social strength and ego is one that is becoming more and more pronounced in Lebanon. Sadly, it doesn’t seem to be going away any time soon.
The abuse of animals and people are two different things that have different social implications and different contextual weights. I am by no means suggesting that the poisoning of a dog is the same as the abuse of a human being – but it is also disheartening to have to make that distinction. Abuse is abuse, and the underlying willingness and inclination to do so – whether to nature or to animals or to human beings, is something that needs to be addressed. What is it about our society that leads to the continuous reproduction of such heinous headlines?
Once a month, we’ll publish an article with all of the dogs and cats that are up for adoption around the country. To our constant dismay, we’ll usually be bombarded with angry messages from people telling us that we should focus on helping people, and not animals. Compassion is not a separable thing. You cannot be compassionate towards people and still be considered so if you are heinous towards nature and towards animals. When will it be that we are compassionate towards life in all its forms? It should not be an outlandish idea to think that we can treat everyone and everything with respect. From our neighbors to our families and everyone that shares our country with us, we need to actively start to invoke respect in everything that we do, everyone that we encounter, and every animal that roams our streets if we ever want to be considered a civilized country. Until then, the barbaric acts of a few men poisoning 40 dogs in Tripoli, and the shame that those men lack, is conversely shared between us all.
Other pictures surfaced of unnamed individuals around the country torturing and killing dozens of newborn kittens in abominable ways. Was this animal torture week across Lebanon? Unfortunately, it was just another day of gruesome acts of inhumanity that will likely go unpunished, because for some people in Lebanon, compassion is a virtue that is seemingly deemed for the weak – where torturous acts of abuse are somehow skewed to be virtuous and bold.
Cruelty in Lebanon is not only reserved for animals. Women face daily abuse from their families and their partners, much of which goes undocumented. Even if it were documented, most claims of abuse are not given the light of day that they so gravely deserve, creating a sick cycle of negligence that causes the victimized to avoid coming forward. LGBTQ individuals face constant social agony and risk being bombarded with physical and psychological abuse every day just for being themselves – speaking with a certain cadence, dressing with a certain style. A couple of weeks ago, a young man was senselessly stabbed to death for celebrating Germany’s demise in the World Cup. Domestic workers are treated like second-class citizens. Just this month, a video surfaced online of a domestic worker from Kenya being publicly assaulted by a Lebanese mob. What happened to that woman? She now faces deportation.
We have poisoned our environment to the point that our environment is now poisoning us back. Drive on any road in the country and you’re sure to witness someone throwing a bag of plastic or a cup of coffee out of their car window, on to the street for someone else to deal with. Blatant ignorance or passive irresponsibility, something needs to be done to invoke more respect in this country – for the people, for the environment, for the animals, and for life in all its forms.
It’s not a profound thought to note that all forms of abuse is wrong. But something about the ways that Lebanese people abuse other people, because of their race or their gender, and the ways that they abuse animals because of their helplessness, resonates in a very daunting way. The fixation with abusing those of weaker statuses to affirm one’s own social strength and ego is one that is becoming more and more pronounced in Lebanon. Sadly, it doesn’t seem to be going away any time soon.
The abuse of animals and people are two different things that have different social implications and different contextual weights. I am by no means suggesting that the poisoning of a dog is the same as the abuse of a human being – but it is also disheartening to have to make that distinction. Abuse is abuse, and the underlying willingness and inclination to do so – whether to nature or to animals or to human beings, is something that needs to be addressed. What is it about our society that leads to the continuous reproduction of such heinous headlines?
Once a month, we’ll publish an article with all of the dogs and cats that are up for adoption around the country. To our constant dismay, we’ll usually be bombarded with angry messages from people telling us that we should focus on helping people, and not animals. Compassion is not a separable thing. You cannot be compassionate towards people and still be considered so if you are heinous towards nature and towards animals. When will it be that we are compassionate towards life in all its forms? It should not be an outlandish idea to think that we can treat everyone and everything with respect. From our neighbors to our families and everyone that shares our country with us, we need to actively start to invoke respect in everything that we do, everyone that we encounter, and every animal that roams our streets if we ever want to be considered a civilized country. Until then, the barbaric acts of a few men poisoning 40 dogs in Tripoli, and the shame that those men lack, is conversely shared between us all.
