Man is said to be different from other animals because he is "supposed" to have a more developed brain and he possesses kindness. This incident proved man otherwise.

A day after Holi, at about 11 in the morning, two men came to PFA office asking for help. They said that they were donkey owners and their shed had been set on fire the previous day, burning 6 of their donkeys. Luckily, he said, none of them had died as yet though one of them had incurred 90% burns. Two others were also hurt seriously. PFA immediately sent it's service team and some PFA members to the scene. I went a little later, with a camera to the spot. What I saw there was too horrific to put down in words. Words fail me when I begin to describe what I felt in my heart. One of the donkeys was lying down on the ground, totally burnt, but still alive. He was nothing more than a cooked piece of meat the only difference being that he was still alive. The entire body right from the tip of the tail to the head was scorched black. It's eyes were a jelly of red pulp, it's tongue was burnt and it's skin had stretched to such an extent that it could not close it's mouth. Two other donkeys had been burnt seriously. One of the two had lost it's eyesight. The rest of the donkeys had suffered minor burns as compared to the previous ones.

The story as told by the donkey owner was as follows - His shed was adjoining a small school. The guard had asked him to move away because according to him the moisture from the shed was spoiling the wall. On his refusal to move away, the guard set fire to the shed on the night of the Holi after drinking.

We tried to convince the owner of the donkeys to file an official complaint with the police . Despite our efforts we could not convince him because he said he had been threatened. We contacted some local newspapers to cover the story but none of them printed it.

Helpless, we continued with the treatment of the donkeys. I visited the donkey owner again a week later. All the donkeys were well on their way to recovery except for two. One of them had lost it's eyesight permanently. The condition of the other donkey was bad, to say the least. It's condition was pitiful. There was water in front of it; he could feel it on it's lips but could not drink it. There was grass in front of it and over powering hunger in it's stomach, but he could not eat it. I closed my eyes, not being able to see anymore.

The same day in the evening I got the message that the donkey had died. I felt sad but also a bit relieved by the fact that it had been relieved of it's misery. I truly pray to God that no animal may have the same experience as that poor creature.