These people are just like us in America: the dogs in the village are protectors, playmates for the children, they are valued friends. A man said, "We do not name the other animals but we name the dogs because they are our companions." So when the time comes to sacrifice a dog to the spirits they are sad about it. Not sad like they're crying but they don't take it as nothing as if it were a chicken or pig.
There was this dog named Patience who had lived with his owner for 4 years. His owner said when they bought him they knew the day would come when he would be killed & that made him sad. While they were saying all this, the people were gathering for the ceremony & the dog was on a leash, lying next to his owner. He looked perfectly content as the man petted his head. He loved & trusted his owner. So first the people killl a chicken & pluck it, smearing its blood all over a rock. Apparently, the blood awakens the spirits & they want their dog sacrifice. The man takes Patience & walks him around the rock which lets the spirits know that a dog is about to be sacrificed. The point that made me freeze in horror was when the narrator said, "The chicken died quickly. Unfortunately, Patience must live up to his name. Tradition says that he must be killed with a club." Are you kidding me??
Back to a shot of the trusting, adorable, dog lying next to his owner without a clue that he is about to be brutally beaten to death by the people he has loved & protected since he was a tiny puppy. Before I had time to decide if I should change the channel, they showed a man raise a blunt wooden club high over his head & bring it down forcefully. A dog screamed out in pain. The man brought the club down over & over. Can you imagine the shock & fear that was going through that poor animal's head? Not to mention the agonizing death. The next shot was Patience lying dead on the ground with his eyes open & his mouth gaping. I actually let out a little scream & covered my eyes but I think I saw blood trickling down. Then I just started sobbing uncontrollably. I peeked through my fingers & saw them dragging the bloody dog through the dirt. They skinned him & threw him on the fire. Then they chopped him up & shared the "holy meat".
I'm just so disgusted & heartbroken at the sickness & evil in the world. Who are we to think we are so much more evolved than other animals when we do things like this? What is hard for me to grasp is not that it was a dog that these people killed, it's that it was a trusted member of their family. I believe that all animals have spirits/souls (whatever you want to call it) & feelings like ours, they are all individuals with different personalities. Anyone who has had several pets in their life can vouch for that. Cows and pigs are no different than dogs & cats. It's just that we don't treat them as living things or get to know their personalities as we would our pets'. But regardless of the species, HOW could ANYONE murder an animal that they had known, loved, and cared for, for 4 years?? It's murdering your friend. They did it in the name of religion.
Many, even most people perhaps, would excuse it because of that. Not me. People are all entitled to their own beliefs & religions but that does not mean I will accept that cruelty in the name of any God is something we should ignore. I don't care about tradition & what people have been taught since they were children. We are also taught right from wrong & taught to follow our hearts. We are taught to have a brain. We are capable of making choices in this life. I was not raised to be a vegetarian, & later a vegan. No one told me that eating meat was optional. I was in third grade & all I knew was the pain in my heart when I thought of animals dying for me when I did not need them to. I loved them so why would I want them dead? The point is, even as a child I was able to say, "I'm going to be different from everyone I know even if I'm teased all through elementary school. I'm going to do what I believe." And it has always been my belief that God should not change what people know in their hearts to be right & wrong.
If Jesus appeared to you tomorrow & told you to stab your child to death, would you do it? If you just answered, "yes", you are a sick, sick, person. Get help now. If God really hated fags (which would be borderline hilarious for people to say due to its sheer stupidity if it weren't so hateful) I would say, "Hey, fuck you God." because I would never ever worship a being so ignorant & disgusting. If God were racist, would you be too? Everyone can do what they want, but I think that doing horrible, cruel, things in the name of God is a primitive, ignorant, weak, excuse & I don't accept it. Anyone who beats a dog (or any animal) to death is going to Hell if Hell exists. If killing your dog makes you sad DON'T DO IT! Now at least I've stopped sobbing & I'm just mad. That feels better, in my opinion. If you read this whole rant, thanks for your time.
