Animal cruelty, in any shape, form, or type, should have zero tolerance. No animal should have to endure agony, pain, or trauma inflicted by a human.

We are quick to complain when someone abuses or abandons an animal, but we rarely stop to ask why they did it. The truth is, a person who can cause suffering to an animal has never truly felt that animal’s pain. They lack firsthand understanding of what that suffering means — because they were never taught empathy in the first place.

And where does empathy begin? At home.

It is the family and the parenting that shape a child’s life. The values you instill today become the foundation they stand on tomorrow. That foundation can either build a compassionate human being, or break it completely.

If we want to raise kind-hearted humans, we must start early. We must nourish our children with good habits and teach them to be kind to all living beings. Teach them empathy, compassion, and kindness towards animals — because it is animals who teach us how to be more human.

Our Lord has created every being on this earth for a reason — to teach us kindness, to teach us mercy, to show us how a small act of compassion can change the way we see the world. Every animal on this land has a right to live with dignity. Yet we, as humans, have made their lives miserable by abandoning them, hurting them, and abusing them.

If you teach your child kindness at an early age, you shape their entire future. That child will grow into an adult who is gentle — not just with animals, but with people too.

Never forget, animals can teach us how to be responsible, patient, and kind, through the simplest gestures of love.

Hena’s Blog For Paws © 2019 by Hena Osman is licensed under CC BY 4.0