Haitians and Animals

The greatness of a nation can be judged by the way its animals are treated.

There’s a lot of truth in this famous quote from Mahatma Gandhi. I remember how shocked my grandmother was when, while visiting me in Israel, she witnessed Palestinians mercilessly beating their beasts of burden. I had to explain to her that such is their culture; nothing could be done about it. That particular Palestinian culture is not a “great culture.”

What about Jewish culture? There are many. When I saw some Hassidic kids tormenting street cats in Jerusalem, I rebuked them. I knew they wouldn’t care if I simply told them that it’s immoral, so I pointed out that tormenting animals, unnecessarily, is forbidden in the Torah. I think their parents would have agreed. That particular Hassidic culture, in my opinion, is not a great culture – and there are other reasons I say that.

Here in Dominican Republic, I’ve increasingly noticed a difference in how Dominicans treat animals, and how their Haitian counterparts treat them.

A “Banana-Haitian” was visiting our apartment complex. These are the Haitian women who carry baskets on their heads full of bananas and other fruit to sell on the street. Sometimes, they’ll enter our complex for a rest, to get some water, chat with our Haitian workers or even take a dip in the pool.

I happened to be holding one of our, very affectionate, chihuahuas. The animal is tiny, very cute and harmless. When I approached the Banana Haitian, she recoiled in fear as the dog got close to her. I thought, “this is odd!”

More recently, I was at the beach with a friend. With us was a young Haitian employee who my friend was chatting with. They were chatting, and I was sitting across from them taking in as much Spanish as I could. An adorable orange kitten was nearby, and I coaxed him onto my lap. Our beach is home to many cats, and some of them are socialized. This one contentedly purred on my lap, and curiously observed the conversation across from us.

My friend smiled at the cat, and the Haitian woman ignored him, making an effort to avoid even looking in his direction. I asked her if they keep cats as pets in Haiti. The answer was “No.”

She did volunteer that cat meat is very tasty, and that she’d enjoyed it a few times herself. I asked her if Haitians have any use for animals other than eating them. Again, the answer was “No.”

I’m certain that there are higher-class Haitians who do have pets, probably dogs – maybe even a few cats. Higher-class Haitians don’t come here.

An underlying assumption, among leftists, is that it’s primarily the more ambitious, hard-working, people who endeavor to improve their lives by moving from “developing countries” to the West. This may be true sometimes, but on the whole, it seems to me that this isn’t accurate. The word “opportunist” comes to mind. I don’t think we get the best or brightest Haitians here in Dominican Republic.

As Haitians demographically overwhelm the Dominican Republic, I pity the dogs and cats. I also pity the Dominicans; only drastic measures can save their country in the long run.

A Haitian “market” in DR: