Let?s play a game. If your neighbour?s monkey bites you and you get injured ? and angry ? as you would be, and you went to the police to report the matter, offhand, can you tell what would happen ? Don?t know ? Okay, I?ll give you a hint?. If the offender were a dog instead of a monkey, the owner would either have to spend six little months in jail or be made to pay a fine of Rs 5 000.

Now you?re probably thinking: if the same thing would happen to the monkey?s owner, then the hint would not be a hint it would be an answer. So obviously you are none the wiser. O.k. some more food for thought: if a man batters or kills another, what happens then? ?He gets sent to prison? would probably be your answer. Right. He gets tried and sent to prison. Now if you know, which you probably do, that some ten years ago, capital punishment was put on hold, you?d know that the killer would not be executed. Depending on the way you think, you?ll either think it?s a good thing or a bad thing. But I?m digressing. Let?s get back to our monkey business.

I?m pretty sure, unless you?ve paid close attention to the news, that you wouldn?t guess the answer. If you did, well I worry about what goes on in your mind. I?ll tell you what would happen if you happened to live in the Barbarous Republic of Mauritius. A team of the Special Supporting Unit (SSU) of the police would come and take your monkey and? mindlessly shoot it. Kill it. I said mindlessly, not heartlessly because I am trying not to get sentiments involved here. I am not going to shout out ?what about animal rights?? ? however tempting that may be. I am simply putting the question differently: why is it that we think we can treat animals any way we please ? What gives us the right of life ? or death ? over an animal? What makes us think it is right to shoot an offending monkey? Why do we keep thinking of animals in terms of disposable assets? Am I over-reacting? I don?t know, I would like to think not.

I don?t know if the way we treat our animals is in any way telling about our society. It must be. When we still had capital punishment, the person who was being sent to the gallows had to satisfy the forensic scientist that he was mentally fit and able to differentiate right from wrong, that he was conscious that killing another was an act of wrongdoing.

Did anyone bother asking the monkey if it was aware it was doing something wrong when it bit the little boy? No, I?m not being ridiculous, I?m just trying to make sense out of all this. And I can?t. This episode and our utter disinterest in the matter speak of something more fundamental. Something fundamentally wrong. But hey, that?s the way it is? Shame really.