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The sound of the metal cage door banging shot rings through my brain. Dejectedly, I shuffle towards the corner of my ‘home’. The stone floor is cold and unfriendly. I settle down, and curl up as tightly as possible to save heat. I close my eyes and try desperately to sleep, to escape the pangs of hunger in my stomach.

The year is 2597, and oh! How things have changed in the last few hundred years. To begin, I feel compelled to explain my plight and the plight of millions from start to finish. Thirty years ago, the evolution of animals increased to indescribable proportions. Dogs, cats, even mice grew bigger, bigger, stronger and more intelligent – which led them to use their voices in human forms.

Animals were now in the dominant world force. They became more able in both mental and physical capacities. Within a few years the governments of the world were overthrown. Animals were now determined to seek revenge for the centuries of mistreatment of their ancestors at the hands of the enemy – us humans. What happened next can only be conjured up in the minds of the most imaginative human. Scenes of horror rocked the world. Atrocities that are incomparable, even to the crimes of Hitler and the Nazi regime. I have seen so many stomach-churning things that they are now unspeakable. I can only sum them up by saying that the animals got their revenge – God, did they get their revenge.

Man has now come the full circle and the tigers, cows and foxes are now the leaders and the Irish, Chinese and Australian are the hunted. To describe my lifestyle, I can only say that I must travel back to the time of my ancestors, and replace the life of the animals with the people of today. I am quite lucky, as I am fed thrice a week and can exercise a few times a month. There are many others a lot more unfortunate. Human skin and hair are even woven into clothes for the ‘humans’.

My cage is very small and I cannot stand straight-backed in it, even at its highest point. I have no clue of the whereabouts of my family – we were separated when I was just a pup. The boredom is intense. I often lie here without stimuli for weeks on end. I often pray for a friend — someone to share my fears and anger with.

I can only hope for a saviour, but I feel that hope and reasoning have long since been drained from me. I sometimes get angry at the injustice of it all but my tears of frustration go unnoticed. I curse my forefathers’ ignorance. I ask what would my life be, if the animals of yesterday were treated properly. Would my life be an endless list of hunger, boredom, loneliness and beatings? I dread the answer.

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Written by Carol Kelly

Published here 15 Feb 2023 and originally published December 1997

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