Changing Traditions
In Thailand, a recent legislation was passed to ban animal cruelty nationwide. While the language of this new law is being criticised by both supporters and opposers for not being clear as to what constitutes as cruelty, it still seems to be making a positive change in the Land of Smiles.
For instance, a village in northern Thailand, named Wang Luang, has a tradition of ending droughts with the practice of using live cats. They parade felines around in a cage while splashing them with water so they would “cry”, believing that it would summon rain.
However, since the new (and supposedly unclear) legislation, villagers have improvised by replacing the live cats with Doraemon—a robot cat—plush toys.
It is reported that they intended to use a regular cat toy, but the Doraemon was the closest thing they could find. While it may not be the best way to get some rain, we do think that the villagers’ efforts to avoid any form of animal cruelty should be praised.
(Images: Thailand Hyper Links, Channel 3 News.)
