We know that we all have been blessed with the gift of compassion. It is a heart-warming emotion that was shown to us by Lord Jesus when he delivered us from the evils of this world. It is something that we all should possess and exhibit at all times. But for those who think that it is only mankind that is privy to compassion – here’s a newsflash for you. Birds and animals have been proven to have emotions too, including joy, sorrow, camaraderie, and sheer grief. Some studies suggest that even plant life react differently when exposed different kinds of emotions. It is necessary for us to appreciate the fact that all lives matter, including those of birds and animals. The rampant expansion of our race has already led us to so many troubles. But we are compounding them by being thoughtless and merciless to our fellow creatures. Sarah Simmons experienced the results of such disgusting behavior recently. She made it a point to share her ghastly experience on Facebook to show that animals too feel compassion and pain at the loss of one of their own. More importantly, we all must take steps to ensure there is no careless or unnecessary loss of lives.
Sarah shared on Facebook that one early morning, as she was driving on a forest road she saw some ponies standing beside the body of one of their fellow ponies. The fallen pony was unfortunately dead. She was the poor victim of rash driving by one or more persons. Sarah wrote that she was devastated to see the number of dead animals due to reckless driving going up unchecked. What was even more painful to see was that there were grieving ponies which stood beside a member of their group.
The mare had sadly been hit by a car on January 8th in the New Forest National Park in England. The ponies’ owner had attempted to remove the body of the fallen mare earlier, but could not do so as there was insufficient daylight. They could only move the mare the next day after Sarah had witnessed this mournful gathering of our wordless friends. The dead pony was named Hazelhill Scrap, and she was no doubt grieved for by her owners, known as commoners, as well as the other ponies in her group. It is truly heart-wrenching to see animals, how cannot sob or utter words of pain like us thoughtless humans, suffer in silence and anguish when pain and torture are inflicted upon them. Of all the sins that humankind can commit, the inhuman torture of the kind, innocent, and wordless is perhaps the worst. In her post, Simmons rightly pointed out the ponies definitely had more rights to forest roads than humans do and pleaded that all drivers passing through be more careful. She cautioned them to drive at low speeds when near an animal, as their movements are unpredictable. Barbara King, who is an emerita professor of anthropology, seconds Simmons’ guess that the surrounding ponies were indeed standing and grieving the loss of Hazelhill Scrap.
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