Learn...to Care
is a series that discusses issues relating to Pet Care. The Q & A have
been drawn from an interactive dialogue between Mrs. Maneka Gandhi, renowned animal
activist and discerning common people concerned about the cause. The discussion is laid
before you with her consent. Your comments are welcome on the series at pfa_mg@hotmail.com
You can mail your queries on Pet Care to Mrs. Maneka Gandhi at manekagandhi@mid-day.com answers to which will
be posted at Mid Day's Web Site.
Part
- I
Part - II
Part -III
Part - V
Part -
IV
Q.
I live near a Railway Station and I often see overloaded tangas with the
horses carrying impossible loads. What can I do to help?
A.
The Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act has a separate section that
covers draught and pack animals. Under these laws, it is illegal for a
tanga to carry more than 4 passengers and the driver. It is also forbidden
for the driver to whip or beat the animal or to use it when it is injured.
Punishment extends to a fine of Rs. 100 or a term in Jail.
When you see an overloaded tanga, the first thing
to do is to stop it,
inform the driver of the rules and ask him to offload the extra
passengers. Get a policeman to help out. Since you live close to where
tangas ply, you should put this basic information on a flyer in the local
language and distribute it to tangawallahs. You can also make it a
practice to collect leftovers from all the houses in your area and feed
the horses at the stand everyday and examine them for injuries. Injured
animals must be taken to a local shelter or vet until they recover before
they can be used.
Q.
I would like to put some bird food that will
attract a variety of birds to my garden. Can you suggest combinations of
food?
A.
Munias like kangni or bajra, parakeets like channa, peanuts(raw &
unsalted) and uncooked rice, sparrows like cooked rice and so do crows.
All birds enjoy fruit. You can try an assortment of fruit pieces (I don't
think they like bananas but guavas, watermelon, mangoes, and any berries
are certainly on their list), seeds, corn (bhutta pieces) and raw oatmeal
(dahlia). You will get bulbuls and babblers and mynahs and a wonderful
kinds of birds. You will also find new plants and trees as birds carry in
seeds. In addition to the food, put out water in large flat earthen
bowls in which they can both drink and
bathe. The water should be changed daily. Don't ever put out stale or
fermented food. Birds love cake.
Q. My cat has been paralysed for the last 2 months. It
came on suddenly and the vet doesn't seem to
making any headway. Please help so that my cat does not suffer anymore?
A.
Paralysis occurs due to tick infestation on the cat's body. The first sign
may be a change in the voice due to partial
paralysis of the vocal cords, accompanied by gagging or a cough. The
pupils may dilate and the cat may adopt a growl. This usually occurs about
the 4th or 5th day following the attachment of the tick. The diaphagram
becomes paralyzed and respiration becomes
laboured and depressed. There is a frothy
salivation with vomiting. When a cat is
bitten by a tick, it is usually on a part of the animal that is difficult
for it to clean, such as chin, chest, shoulder or between the shoulder
blades. Locate and remove the tick with a pair of forceps by grasping the
head of the tick as close to the skin as possible and gently pulling it
out. If some of the tick's damaged mouth parts are left behind in the
skin, they will remain as foreign body and continue
to irritate.
Q.
I saw on the BBC that Dr. Benjamin Spock, the worlds leading pediatrician
has said in his latest book that children should not be given milk after
the age of 2 and no animal products at all. Isn't this a bit
revolutionary?
A.
Not at all. Our own homegrown and time tested Ayurveda includes milk in
its list of the 5 white poisons, the others being sugar, salt, flour and
white rice.
The truth is that children need only the milk that their mothers lactate.
It is as strange a notion for the calf to drink your milk as for you to
drink its mother's. Look at the different dietary requirements - a cow has
four stomachs and her baby needs to double its weight in a couple of weeks
- completely unimaginable for a human baby - so how come giving them the
same nutrition is considered normal. After the age of 2 years, human
bodies stop producing the enzyme called lactase which
is necessary to digest lactose. As a result the milk you put into your
body is not digested but instead causes all sorts of health disorders.
If you notice, every time you have a tummy upset, your doctor advises you
to go off dairy products. What doctors do is bad for you when your body is
weak, it cannot be good for you in any circumstances - it is just that
when you are well you can withstand its effects better.
