For I Have A Soul
For I Have A Soul – I saw this picture awhile ago – and of all the appalling images that I have seen online – this one wrenched my heart like no other. This woman in China has hung a living dog by the neck and while it is alive and crying she is systematically cutting and peeling off his flesh to put into a cooking pot. She might just as well be painting a door. There is a complete disconnect with the fact that this is a terrified, living being who feels pain and fear. All he really ever wanted was to be loved and instead his life ended at the hands of a human devoid of compassion and with no moral compass.
I know that to many people this is no difference between this animal cruelty and the holocaust visited upon farm animals – but in my estimation – the methodical – casual and deliberate peeling of flesh from a living dog is somehow more horrific. We hope that the majority of farm animals are at least stunned and die more quickly than this poor unfortunate little soul. I am beyond caring about political correctness and the appalling and often used excuses in Asian countries – “it’s just a cultural difference” and the hogwash of “but the meat tastes so much better when the dog is terrified”. This is WRONG and when I see this – I am deeply ashamed to be human!
A Beating Heart is so pleased to have Mark Stewart as a regular contributor. He has been touched in a profound way by images like this one and others. He has written a poem that reflects his feelings about the things that humans are doing to animals with impunity. I am grateful to feature it here. Thank you Mark.
For I Have A Soul
By
Mark Stewart
I am just like you
My body is the same as yours
I have legs
I have eyes and ears
I am just like you
I have a heart and lungs
I feel hunger and pain
I feel fear and joy
I am just like you
I like to smell the earth
I like to hear the wide world in each of its seasons
I like to see what each new day will bring
I am just like you
I like to feel the sun on my skin
I like to feel warm when it’s cold
I need the comfort and solace of a safe place to sleep
I am just like you
I was born and, in that moment, became as unique as you are
I had a father and a mother
I had siblings and people I cared about
I am just like you
I sleep
And in my sleep I dream
But now I shall sleep and dream no more
For I am the dog you have chosen to hang from a tree and eat while my heart still beats
I am the dog whose flesh you are carving as my eyes weep with the pain
I am the dog who can see and smell the cooking pot into which my flesh is dropped
I am glad I am not like you
I am glad I am not human
I am glad we are different
For I have a soul and you do not.
Mark Stewart
June 2014
