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Thursday, March 3, 2011

The Story of Ramba

The Daughter went to visit ACRES yesterday and came home brimming with stories about abused animals.

10 years ago, a little chimpanzee called Ramba was separated from her Mommy and Daddy because she needed to make money. For a fee, Little Ramba was rostered to sit on zoo visitors' laps for photo sessions. The little chimp didn't much like climbing on the laps of every Tom, Dick and Harry she was forced to hug, so she peed in visitors' laps and kicked up a stink. It became a battle of wills between the human trainer and the baby chimp. And so the human trainer punched the baby in the face, for human pride cannot tolerate the independent spirit of a dumb animal. Confused and hurt, little Ramba ran to her friend Louis. She pulled out her lower lip with her tiny fingers and showed him her bleeding lip.

And Louis' heart broke. He stormed into the offices of his zoo, and as one thing lead to another, Louis was fired. And so it was ACRES began - to save animals like Ramba.

The other story The Daughter recounted was even more heart wrenching. It is the story of bear bile, a prized substance in Chinese pharmacopeia. Bears are kept in cages that can scarcely fit them, and invasive methods are used to harvest the bile from their gall bladders. Petunia has no words to describe the horror of bear bile farming and so readers can click here to know more.

When the bears are close to death, they are taken out of their cages and left to die. After a short lifetime of captivity and unceasing pain, one such bear died with Louis holding its paw. When God made animals and put humans in charge, he meant for us to look after them, not create a hell on earth for them.

Then there was the snake story. You see, when you see a snake coiled up nicely in the drain, you tend to think "Aaaaah! Snake! It's gonna hurt me!" But the snake also thinks "Aaaaaaah! Thing! It's gonna hurt ME!" And when the snake stands up, all he's thinking is "Is the THING still there?" 'cos it has to stand up to have a look eh? And then you go "Aaaaah! The snake is poised to strike!"

And then The Daughter did this funny imitation of a snake who slithered along and then stood up to look... and slithered along and then stood up to look... and then slithered along and then stood up to look. And the THING was still there, running after it, trying to catch it because the THING somehow had got the idea that the snake was plotting to get into the THING's bed, toilet, sofa... whatever.

And then there was Scrappy (a dead ringer for Milo I am told). A dog whose hind legs are outta action. He crawls along using 2 front legs. He had somehow had the wisdom to crawl to the gates of ACRES and got himself adopted. Scrappy tries his best to gambol after his best friend, a black and white dog called Sunshine (who has bald patches). Sunshine does not at all look down upon her friend's infirmity. She comes over rather often to playfully nibble at Scrappy's everywhere and cover him with affectionate licks.

You know what, I have been looking for a charity to adopt, and I have decided that ACRES is it.

14 comments:

Blur Ting said...

Ah, you've described the plight of these animals so well, ACRES must thank you! You know what? Acres is just a stone's throw away from my parent's place.

Petunia Lee said...

Ohh... Ting. You are so kind. I didn't think I did a very good job today. The words came in fits and starts and the feelings are still inside of me

Malar said...

Oh dear! Poor animals!
Ting is right, you have desdribed very well!

Wen-ai said...

The cruelty of human baffles me at times... esp the bear bile story. It's so heart-breaking...

Open Kitchen Concept said...

Oh I will go check it out.. Btw, Petunia, I've passed on an award to you :) Check out my latest post for details..

Fresh Fry aka 福星 said...

*HUGS*

Petunia Lee said...

Malar - It is really sad alright!

Petunia Lee said...

Wen-Ai: Yeah...

Petunia Lee said...

Fry - *hugs*

Petunia Lee said...

OKC, I saw! Thanks so much!

Anonymous said...

I agree PetuniaLee, ACRES certainly seems a very worthy cause to be a part of...I will research their website some more and give serious thought to joining in their endeavors! Thank you for sharing this story!

My Sinfonia said...

Love this! I saw a doc on the bear's plight. Was upset for days. How can humans be so cruel?

Petunia Lee said...

Theanne - Oh that is wonderful!! You could blog about it and raise awareness?

Petunia Lee said...

Sinfonia - Little Boy and I couldn't bear to finish the video. It was that bad.