in this part of the world, we are blessed with stray dogs who are also protected by our supreme court. it’s quite literally against the law, for example, to prohibit the feeding of strays by animal lovers.

i once saw one of them shudder and whine at the sound of fireworks. its tail scrunched under and it pissed itself in fear and confusion. its plaintive moans were drowned out by the incessant blasts of the “mala” crackers (a literal garland of 10,000 or so crackers strung out in sequence that goes on bursting for an hour or so). the poor thing just did not know what was happening and it became a shivering ball of anxiety until the blasts stopped.

anyone who sees an innocent animal suffer like that will never, ever, want to light a firecracker again.