January 22, 2026

What is happening to people? Why are we getting news of cruelty to animals, just for the fun of it, with alarming frequency these days? And why are these being filmed and posted on social media? Do people wish to make an exhibition of their sick mind?

In the first week of July came the news that two MBBS students in a premier medical college near Chennai threw a dog off the terrace, filmed the obnoxious act and posted it on social media. What fun was seeing the dog wail after being hurt? In olden times, one had seen people tie crackers to the tail of dogs and light them up. Pelting stones on dogs is a recurring pastime of kids and adults in both urban and rural India. Why?

Then, now it is reported that some boys in Hyderabad tied three puppies together and burnt them alive. In another incident, a man aimed at and shot dead another dog. Both the incidents were filmed.

How have some of us become so cruel as to first take pleasure in harming animals without provocation and then letting the world know that we did so?

It is not as if they are uneducated louts – the first two were medical students, for God’s sake. What if they become surgeons and try having such fun at the expense of a patient. Persons with such sick minds should be meted out exemplary punishment.