English people are truly ’insane’ when it comes to animals. I use the word cautiously, knowing that there are more apt ones, but you know… I don’t want to be hunted like a fox.
Since I have been here, I have seen some really ‘remarkable’ sides to the Englishman… and Englishwoman, of course. Here, they treat animals sometimes better than their children. Really. Well, except for the fox hunt of course. It’s still the one sport where the Englishman, and Englishwoman of course, still feel it is okay to chase the animal (till it becomes disoriented and scared) with hounds and horses.
Of course, getting between the Englishman or Englishwoman and his/her fox is like trying to decapitate their offspring… worse in fact if you read that link above.
Now in Trinidad, things are still in perspective.
An animal is an animal and never will be human. Unless we speak of Michael Annissette and Imbert-cile of course, the mongrel and pompek achieving what their 4 legged counterparts never did… a nose up the PM’s arse.
But back to the importance of the animal. It ranks well low.
For example, a friend J (let’s call him Raja) was drunk and home alone one Christmas. Curiosity got the better of him and he fed the family mongrel a half bottle of Puncheon rum. Puncheon rum, for foreign readers, is 75% alcohol. Half bottle is 20 ozs.
The poor dog, like Raja, could not walk a straight line after for a couple of days.
Then, a misnamed cousin (he should have been named Mad), came home late one night, hungry enough to eat a scabby horse if you trotted it past him. Finding no food in the house, he then caught a cockroach, took off the legs and carefully roasted it before downing it. Okay… not so bad until you ask him why did he take the legs off. Said he, “You must be mad! You think I want the legs sticking in my throat?” Yeah, he was drunk too.
In Trinidad though, the family animal know their place. Lower than the baby and the laundry. Misbehave, and a swift kick is not out of place. No fancy food for these fellows, they eat what they get, or can scavenge.
Yes, in Trinidad, the animals have it all.
