I have been an animal welfare volunteer for several years now. My work includes animal rescue of sick and injured dogs on the street, feeding the strays, providing onsite medical care, so on and so forth. Very gratifying work and an absolute detox of the soul.
Many a time in our endeavors we do what is called a RESCUE, where a dog or cat has had some kind of serious injury and we rush to the spot, administer immediate first aid, call the ambulance and ensure that the dog reaches a hospital or shelter for further care, perhaps for surgery and subsequent rehabilitation.
A successful animal rescue gives us a lot of satisfaction, a feeling of contentment that we have done something good in our lives by SAVING the animal.
However, in the last couple of months, I have begun to look more deeply into the role we assume we have played in SAVING the dog. Questions have begun cropping up in my mind such as, would the dog have survived without my intervention? Did my role in the animal rescue actually SAVE the life of another BEING? Do I really have the power to decide life or death as we know it?
The more I asked myself the question, the more I feel really small and irrelevant in the final outcome of the animal rescue. I have really begun to believe that the animal would survive regardless of what I did or did not do. The Universe in its infinite wisdom had already pre-written the dog’s destiny to survive.
I was just one of the cogs of this Divine intervention, chosen to do a task. If it was not me, there would have been another volunteer who would come forward. In fact, it could be entirely possible that no one rescued the dog finally, it ended up surviving on its own and is doing just fine.
Is it the IGNORANCE or the ARROGANCE of the human spirit that we think we actually have the power to DECIDE the outcome and SAVE a life?
YES, I have begun to think so. I think that the fate of the animal had already been decided by the Universe just as the Universe that has us chosen to walk with the animal during this difficult time. I am just in the hands of the Divine, my dedication and commitment deciding my KARMA.
We also CONVENIENTLY tend to forget how everything falls into place while doing animal rescue, nothing of which we really have control over.
What was the dog doing at that instant of time, the role and timing of the reporter, how the information reached me, why was I free at that point of time, how did I find the dog, the role and circumstances involving the ambulance driver, the traffic, the availability of the right vet who will do the right thing, the vacancy in the hospital or shelter etc., the success of the surgery, the list is endless. Each of us is just a cog playing a very intricate role in this single animal rescue.
I think it would be foolish and arrogant on our part to think that we were controlling everything that day as well as the subsequent days.
It was the Universe in action, putting ALL at the RIGHT PLACE, at the RIGHT PLACE to ensure the destiny of that dog is as written.
Let me not belittle our efforts and actions but it is worth a thought while looking at our role in the grander scheme of things that there was something MORE THAN JUST US at play on the day of the rescue.
As I mentioned earlier, the Universe is all-powerful, the destiny of that dog was already written just our destiny was to be a part of the Animal Rescue. We were chosen for this task, the level of our actions and commitment deciding our further KARMA.
We do not SAVE nor do we FAIL. We are all but instruments in the hands of the Divine and were chosen to do a task. We must HUMBLY do the task, look to the Universe for guidance, strength, and direction and continue to implement its WILL.
The more we begin to accept this, the more we will understand the power of the Universe that is flowing through us in every step we take in animal welfare.
About Author
Zarir Karbhari dedicates his waking hours to the welfare of stray and abandoned animals on the streets of Pune. He is a Civil Engineer by education and ran a software development company for over 25 years till his life quite literally went to the dogs.