In a tin-can alley off Lower Kabete Road, Nairobi, is an accumulation of intriguing items dumped by developers or others ridding themselves of detritus.
Trash to some and treasures to the discerning scavenger, discarded hard-wood frames long past their sell-by dates may be repurposed as utilitarian objects to satisfy the creative yearnings in us all.
One imagines sawed-off tree trunks of blue gum as chairs, quirky flower pots out of toilet bowls, old sinks as birdbaths and metal grills reassembled as original artwork. Overriding the enchantment of these discoveries, however, is the jarring sight of cages. Here a disquieting display of carceral conditions refashioned as honest architecture is transformed into storage compartments where people, animals and birds are forced to live.
Despite the familiar axiom that, ‘Animals are not ours to eat, wear or experiment on’, few observe these civil liberties laid by the likes of famed British wildlife conservationist Jane Goodall and others.
Here as elsewhere, articles appearing in the daily press advertise enterprises exhibiting shocking circumstances under which many species, including us humans, live. In the name of social security, tall boxes called sentinel stands house askaris (watchmen), bird cages encircle our feathered friends while canine prisons are constructed for dogs. Offering solace to some, our canine friends are for others security guards often confined eight to 10 houses a day in tiny cages.
With the environmental impact and ecosystems cast aside, these are places where animals, who love their lives as much as we do, are confined.
With China’s insatiable demand for, fortunately now illegal, elephant tusks, rhino horn along with oil wells, road works, mining interests and related construction companies, many are angered or at least pay lip service to this rampant destruction of our ecosystem. Yet few have either the imagination or concerted efforts to do much about it.
THE BACKSTORY
Horrifying personal memories of several yesterdays ago mar many joyful years in Kenya. Arriving in 1973 as a scholarship holder out of Syracuse University’s now-defunct Programme of Eastern African Studies, I was taken on my first so-called safari to the Northern Frontier District.
Three magnificent elephants, including an infant, were lumbering peacefully along, observing the extraordinary view of Mt Kenya as they munched on their favourite food: tree bark and leaves. Along comes my host, a hunter with an assault rifle, takes aim and kills the mother elephant.
As bloodied tusks were hurriedly removed, I watched in disbelief as the hunter and his helpmates scrambled up the huge, now lifeless body. After carefully laying an embroidered tablecloth, tea was served in delicate silver pots. Lumps of sugar and appetising biscuits, too, were reserved for the human animals as herbivores take little interest in such trifles.
Years later at a family farm outside Sagana in Kirinyaga district, an adorable baby goat and its contented mother were feeding on grass, wholly unaware of their blighted future. With the slash of a knife, the mother was put to death to satisfy, for a few moments, the cravings of us hungry humans.
Viewing chicken farming — today a common occurrence — has become a capital-intensive procedure of egg production and a source of quick pleasure at Sunday afternoon dinner.
Despite the daily appearance of animal rights activists, the dedication of Nairobi City Council Inspectorate’s in-house veterinarian, Franciskah Ngatia, and the KSPCA’s devotion to protect and prevent cruelty to our wildlife as their natural right, why are dogs and other domesticated animals so neglected?
Although many canines are beloved pets, others survive in nightmarish conditions. Bought or bred as additional layers of security, dogs may spend eight to 12 hours a day locked in cages, some with four to a cage to be let out at night.
EXPERT OPINION
In an interview with veterinarian Anne Ndeke, an active animal rights promoter working to educate us all through community outreach, questions posed with responses are summarised here.
Your opinion of locking dogs in cages?
The suffering of animals is so ubiquitous that a scientific name exists for caged animals: zoochosis! They go crazy! Dogs should never be locked up. They should come and go at free will. At least once a day, dogs should be walked. If no compound exists, they should be walked twice a day.
Dogs are social animals who need interaction with other dogs as well as people. There should be at least two, not one, to a household. Many people are under the false assumption that locking dogs in cages makes them aggressive. Some dogs stand for 12 gruelling hours a day.
If locked up, dogs become fearful rather than fierce because they can’t trust people.
My best advice is to let dogs be dogs and give them the freedom to express themselves. If a stranger comes into the compound, they will bark, and that is all that is needed.
Dogs need be fed on good quality protein, carbohydrates and vegetables, both cooked and uncooked, such as carrots and cabbage. On vegetables, they should be started early as puppies.
Among the worst mistakes is feeding dogs old leftovers; food you would refuse!
Ugali (maize meal), first used around the British Empire as cheap cattle feed, and later food for African slaves brought to the Americas and those who stayed behind in East and West Africa, can cause liver failure and death. It is terrible food for dogs as like humans, they and we have a very low tolerance of aflatoxin.
OTHER CONSIDERATIONS
If fed properly, a dog’s lifespan is 12-15 years, with some lucky ones living into their twenties.
Conservationists and/or animal rights activists all agree no species has the right to use, exploit, dominate and/or control another species.
In the words of American folk singer Pete Seeger ( 1919 – 2014 ): “Freedom is a word when there is nothing left to lose.”
