A Furry Trail

The article in The Indian Express expresses the love for pets vividly. It starts with Mark Twain.

‘Large & intensely black, thick, velvety fur ; has a faint fringe of white hair across his chest ; not easy to find in ordinary light’ When his daughter Cara’s beloved black cat Bambino disappeared while she was convalescing in a sanatorium, Mark Twain put an ad in New York American. He spent days receiving strangers with abandoned black cats in the hope of finding Bambino among them.

The cat returned on his own, but it was no secret in New York that the American writer loved his daughter & Bambino with equal fervor.

The pets occupy a special place in the lives of humans. The spurt of litigation & mediations in India’s capital over pets & strays. The law is just catching up with what the heart has always known.

Animals matter not as assets but as companions. And in some cases they are caught between adversaries. A civil suit filed in 2023 by an advocate against the neighbors in South Delhi. Their dog had chased him , leading him to fall & fracture his wrists.

TMC MP Mahua Moitra broke up with lawyer Jai Anant Dehadrai, the bitterness spilled over into a custody tussle over their beloved Rottweiler Henry.

The disputes may seem trivial or absurd but they are declarations of how much trust is conveyed through a wag of a tail or a flick of a feline ear. In lonely, urban metropolises , pets provide the kind of comfort that few can.

An elderly guided by a dog, a blind person accompanied by a loyal dog, an introvert child laughing happily with her dog, we have seen these sights.

Aging, old people are advised to have a watch dog for safety. Their barking can avert an untoward happening.

Neighbors fight, lovers part, but what lingers is the bond with the creature left in between.

Reforms in Australian law last month recognized this : For the first time, in cases of separation , Australian courts will factor in emotional attachment when determining pet ownership.

As Delhi courts navigate this tricky terrain, it is a reminder that love no matter how small or furry, always leaves a trail.

We have often seen families mourning the cat or dogs death. Recently the Ambani ‘s faced it. Some have even taken a decision to have no other pet because he /she is irreplaceable.