'When I was little, I roamed the streets. I slept on street corners and fed on rotten food. Humans kicked me and scalded me with hot water when I begged for food. Humans were unkind to me. On one fated day, I met him, my master. He picked me up and brought me to his house. He gave me water, food, shelter and most importantly, love. I had many friends to mingle with. I was very happy and contented.

'Then one day, a group of strange men came to my house. There were some altercation, exchange of strong words and suddenly, volleys of deafening sound punctuated the neighbourhood; followed by painful squealing that pierced the air. When calm returned, I saw many of my mates injured, bleeding profusely and dying. My master was shell-shocked. I turned cold with fright, but I was spared. Why do humans commit such atrocities; genocide; cold -blooded murder?'

This is how the surviving dogs of the Seremban massacre would have narrated their story if they were able to speak. I do not know about the legality surrounding the case. I am merely speaking on behalf of the dogs. The action taken by the authorities against the dogs were cruel and inhumane. Animals have the capacity to feel pain and fear - they have a central nervous system, nerve endings and a brain, just like humans.

Animals are not always able to choose to change their behaviour and do not have the ability to understand our rules. But God gave us human beings intelligence which is superior to animals and we can choose between behaviour that hurt others and behaviour that does not hurt others. Humans possess superior intelligence but does that entitle us to harm and senselessly kill animals?

There are always two sides to a story. For the authorities, they are merely discharging their duties as there had been many complaints from the neighbours. However, the action taken by them caused agonising deaths to the animals. There are kinder ways that do not inflict torment and or cause excruciating death.

For Eng Her Sun and his sister, it was heart-wrenching that their beloved animal companions died in such a harrowing manner. It is understandable that they are emotional about it. As pet owners, Eng and his sister were responsible for their dogs' general welfare. Sadly, they failed to ensure that their neighbours' interests were also respected.

We always pride ourselves on being a caring society meaning that we should be caring towards all beings, humans and non-humans. I leave you with a quote from Mahatma Gandhi: 'The greatness of a nation and its moral progress can be judged by the way its animals are treated'.