After all, animals do look after their own

WE LOVE having a bad guy to aim all our anger at. It makes us feel good, and reminds us that whatever our own failings may be, at least we’re better than whoever we are criticising!

This past week’s most popular target was that American dentist who killed a Zimbabwean lion. People in Mzansi and all over the world went crazy when the news of Cecil’s death was reported. The only people who celebrated were probably those who don’t like statues of Cecil John Rhodes. One less Cecil can only be a good thing, they likely thought.

I’m sure there’s been more outrage about the killing of this Zim lion than there was when Zim citizens were killed on the streets of our towns and cities a few months ago.

I guess I have to be honest here before I go any further, and tell everyone that I really, really don’t like lions. They’re big, smelly killing machines. It’s easy to love them and think they are adorable when you’re looking at them on your 50-inch plasma TV in your living room in the suburbs, instead of living in fear of being eaten by them.

I promise you, those who live close to them, not to mention the animals that make up a lion’s diet, are not big fans of these huge hungry cats. A lot of the reports on the story mentioned that other male lions will now kill all of Cecil’s cubs. See? These bloodthirsty things are not cute or cuddly in any way! This is just the way nature is. It’s harsh and it’s cruel. That’s easy to forget when you live in the city and get your meat in nice little cling-wrapped packages.

Which brings me to another point. Some of the strongest criticism of this whole lion hunting affair came from people who oppose all hunting. But if you’re eating any form of meat, then you’re really in no position to be criticising hunters. They, at least, work hard to get their food. These eco, green or whatever types are happy to let others do the dirty work for them.

Then, they go on Facebook and Twitter and write insulting things about hunters while they suck on a nice lamb bone.

Yes, this is just another example of the lazy sort of “activism” that defines the social media age. You bully other people on the Internet, calling them names and trying to get them fired from their jobs. By shouting loudly about whatever the new fashionable cause is, people make themselves feel better about not actually doing anything about the real problems facing them.

But how many of these people who pat themselves on the back for abusing and threatening people they see as benefiting from cruelty are themselves huge beneficiaries of even worse cruelty?

Mr Save The Animals is probably typing his angry Tweets on a phone made in a sweatshop somewhere in the Far East. You know, one of those factories where they have to put nets outside the windows to stop the workers from killing themselves just to escape the terrible working conditions.

MRS Lion Lover is probably wearing leather shoes that were made by enslaved kids in some sweatshop. And both of them regularly walk or drive past beggars desperate for R5 to help feed their kids. I guess they can’t help them though because they have to send R500 to some lion charity or campaign to save the Patagonian sobbing tree turtle, or something.

I believe in the old saying that charity begins at home. I understand that to mean that we have to look after problems closer to where we are before we worry about ones that are far away.

We have to improve the lives of our fellow humans before we start worrying about animals. These creatures, after all, look after their own. Surely we aren’t worse than them?

) Let me know what you think by sending an email to [email protected].

Until next time, salani kahle!

This article first appeared in the Sunday Sun.