Jack and Phil lived in the same neighbourhood. They went to school together on their bicycles. Jack’s dad was a doctor, whereas Phil’s dad was a shopkeeper. One fine afternoon, Jack saw some neighbourhood boys teasing a cat by taking away its kittens. Jack was startled at the sight of boys laughing as the cat meowed loudly to get her kittens back. One of the boys put the two kittens on a tree branch – the poor things too young to stand up. Jack went to the boys and said they should let the kittens go. But the boys made fun of him. As he didn’t know what to do, he went to call his dad to help. When Jack’s dad came, the boys immediately left the kittens on the street and ran away. So Jack picked up the kittens and put them behind the bush, where the mommy cat had gathered some dry leaves to make a bed for its babies. The cat came running to hug its kittens and looked at Jack as if it were saying, “Thank you for rescuing my babies”.
That evening, when Jack met Phil, the former shared the story with the latter.
Phil was shocked to hear about the whole thing and said, “Let’s start a club to educate people about animal rights”.
Jack was fascinated by the idea and showed his interest by immediately standing up and grabbing a piece of paper.
He wrote, “The world belongs to animals too”.
They were excited about starting their club and shared it with their parents and friends. Everyone was riveted by the notion and offered to be a part of the club.
The first thing Jack and Phil planned was to host a clean-up spree at the local playground. They had seen stray animals and birds eating up the garbage and pieces of plastic bags and wanted to clean the park to provide a healthy environment for the wildlife. It was a Sunday morning when they were to execute their plan, and they were the first to arrive at the park. First, they put up the poster they made at the park gate. Then, as Phil had brought some garbage bags and gloves from his dad’s shop for everyone, the friends began working. Although the two friends were the only ones cleaning the park for the first thirty minutes, two more boys walked in, their eyes sparkling.
The boys excitedly approached Jack and Phil and said, “Hello, can we help you clean the park?”
“Of course, you can!” replied Phil with great enthusiasm.
Gradually, more people joined in, and it did not take long before they had cleared the trash away from every inch of the park. The park looked neat and tidy. The next step was to put bird feeders on the tree branches and trays filled with food for cats, dogs and squirrels. Together they filled the feeders with food and water, and some birds flew in quickly to enjoy the fresh grains. The cat, with her kittens, also came by to get some food. It was a happy day. Jack and Phil had been successful in their first endeavour. They did not plan to stop here; they had many more ventures in mind to help the animals live safely and happily in the neighbourhood. This was just the beginning.
