I wonder how cruelty takes over a person. I wonder how it kisses the thoughts of a numbing mind and makes it its own. I wonder.

I wonder because I have no answer. I don’t want a psychological answer, neither do I want a biological one. I need a humane answer. I need to understand how any person can hurt another living being and live.

My sudden wonder stems from an incident at my alma mater. Someone poisoned 4 dogs in the dead of the night resulting in the death of one and serious health issues in the other three. They would have been dead too if not for the wonderful humans who love them and took care of them.

The first thought that came into my head when I read about the incident was that I want to inflict as much pain to the culprit as he or she did to the dogs. Does that make me as bad as the person who poisoned the dog? My rationale is that my loved ones were hurt, killed. What is their rationale? What possible excuse did they give themselves while poisoning the innocent dogs who have been in the campus probably longer than they have. They are loved, they are cherished and even if they were not, who gives anyone the right to take another life?

Every day I find something to cringe at, something to feel awful about, and something that makes me wonder about humanity as a whole. Every day I tell myself shit happens. Is that the way we are going to be? Are we going to tell our children that shit happens? Move on? Are we going to be the harbingers of pathetic philosophies where cruelty is a given?

Even as I write these things down, I realise all I was able to do after the incident was write my feelings down. That makes me feel awful. And shit happens.