I had a terrible argument with someone yesterday evening.
The setting was Nancholi in Blantyre City. As we moved around in a vehicle, I saw a man, probably in his 40s, stoning a snake (I am not sure about the identity of the snake) he found along the road.
I had to tell the driver of the vehicle to stop so that I could give the man some two or three words of ‘wisdom’.
As expected, the man did not understand why I was “defending evil snakes”.
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Well, I told him that, between him and the snakes, he was the “evil” one.
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He said “No, I am not the evil one. It is the snake that is evil. Remember what happened in the Garden of Eden, when that shrewd snake tempted Eve to taste the fruit in the midst of the garden. Who found who? It was the snake that found her attending to her business.
“In fact, it is the snake that planted that bad seed in her heart, prompting her to taste the fruit that was positioned in the middle of the garden”.
I told the man that he was wrong; that he was dwelling on bygones.
The man persisted and, so, I told him the story of Noah, who took snakes along with other animals into the ark. The snakes, which were venomous and non-venomous, did not harm him. They lived happily during their stay.
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To me, that is a point of reconciliation.
Snakes and man, whose first encounter was in the Garden of Eden, reunited and must remain united forever.
But some people still want to harm animals.
The other time, it was a case of people from Dedza District descending on innocent, I mean harmless, snakes.
Apparently, some people, who were armed to the tooth, descended on the sweet, innocent snakes, killing them one by one.
One, two, three, four, five six, seven… up to 301 snakes they killed. They did so while smiling, from ear to ear, as if it was their greatest achievement in life. Shame.
It is a shameful act because those snakes did not bother anyone. They did not set up a house in someone’s bedroom. They were out there in the open, enjoying shelter in a ‘home’ nature gave them.
That hole they were crammed in— generation upon generation, be it first generation members, second generation members, third generation members and what have you— was haven to them. It was their only inheritance on this earth; only for some ill-guided people from, of all places, my home district of Dedza to descend on them, killing them one by one.
I cannot imagine the pain those nice, sweet, innocent snakes endured, as each one was sent to an early grave through what I can only describe as a senseless act.
Talking of cruelty to animals, dogs are among the animals that are victimised here in Malawi.
For a case in point, just read this:
The Lilongwe Chief Resident Magistrate Court has sentenced a 46-year-old man to six months’ imprisonment after he pleaded guilty to the charge of animal cruelty.
Joseph Nakulenga was found guilty on Tuesday, a year after committing a similar offence.
Central West Region police prosecutor Sergeant Peter Sulani told the court that, on November 20 2023, Nakulenga was caught selling two dogs near ABC, along Kaunda Road, in the capital city.
“The law enforcers found the pets dehydrated and modified with paint and glue to make them appear like German shepherds.
“They arrested him and handed the animals over to Lilongwe Society for the Protection and Care of Animals (LSPCA) for vet assessment and care,” Sulani said.
He asked the court to hand Nakulenga a tough sentence because he was a repeat offender, having served a prison sentence at Maula Prison for the same crime back in 2022.
In imposing her sentence, Chief Resident Magistrate Madalitso Chimwaza described Nakulenga as unrepentant and a danger to animals.
Chimwaza went on to convict and sentence Nakulenga to six months imprisonment, which is the maximum sentence for the animal cruelty offence which is under Section 3 of the Animal Protection Act.
She further said the sentence would serve as a warning to others that cruelty towards animals is a serious crime that will never be tolerated.
Nakulenga comes from Mbalawa Village, Traditional Authority Nsabwe, in Thyolo District.
Well, I am looking forward to the day animals and humans will be free— together.
