It was a sunny, wintry morning, a perfect day to walk Snowy around the local park and get some precious vitamin D myself. As I jogged with Snowy running around me, something caught my eye. Red, orange, and yellow plastic wrappers of ice creams, biscuits and chips were scattered here and there in the park and a stray dog was trying to rip open one such pack in search of food. Something rang in my head as I could see the impending danger. With an agitated Snowy on my toe, I just managed to shoo away the dog and the rest of my morning was spent picking up the garbage and disposing of them in the nearby vat.
It is a known fact that plastic poses a great threat to human health poisoning our food chain and the environment. The restrictions imposed on single-use plastic bags, recycling of plastics, and promoting substitutes for plastics are some of the ways adopted by the government and organizations to reduce plastic toxicity. However, little attention is being paid to the effects of plastic on stray animals. Bad waste management and littering of plastic items like wrappers, bags and bottles. The stray animals while scavenging for food often consume the discarded plastic that could choke them, cause severe malnutrition and become cause of death. The other day I was reading a report in an online portal that described how a pregnant cow and its baby died after consuming nearly 71 kg of plastic and other waste. Being a passionate animal lover, it was heartbreaking for me to say the least. Seeing the stray dog in the park picking at the discarded wrapper switched on the alarm in my brain and I forgot everything as cleaning the park of the garbage became the primary concern. It was the least that I could do at that moment given my limited resources.
However, spreading awareness about plastic toxicity is something that must not stop. And my first priority through this blog is to spread the message to prevent plastic toxicity. It is highly preventable if we make it a point to keep our locality free of plastic waste. Avoiding single-use plastic and using reusable plastic bags and containers can be a way to keep the area considerably plastic-free. Also, it is important to separate the trash. Normally we throw away food leftovers wrapped in plastic and strays scavenging for food, consume those along with bits of plastic and other toxic materials leading to poisoning and eventual death. Disposal of waste at proper places, therefore, is of utmost importance to save the animals and our ecosystem.
Please be careful before discarding plastic bags, plastic tags and rings as these could choke a helpless stray to death. Always dispose of these items in proper places, just don’t throw them away. Also, try to provide some food and water to the strays of your locality so that they don’t starve. It would mitigate the risk of consuming plastic.
And finally, let us all be a little more empathetic to the lives around us. The world is a beautiful place and every being has an equal right to live in it. Our small acts of kindness could go a long way to save invaluable lives. Let us strive toward achieving that goal.
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