Cat People - Listen Up!
I picked up yet another crushed cat today, the victim of a hit and run. As I listened to the sobbing owner, a woman who repeatedly moaned "I loved him so much", and "He was my baby", I wanted to scream:
"THIS IS YOUR FAULT!"
I couldn't, of course, all I could do was make sympathetic noises. She ended her part of the conversation by telling me what a great life her cat had.
Yeah, right up until he was run over by a vehicle, at age three.
People who share their lives with cats need to recognize the truth. Cats are not safe outside alone in urban (or in rural) areas. Ever. If cars don't get them, coyotes, dogs, raccoons, poison, nasty kids, feral cats, cat-hating neighbors, disease or accidents will. Cats are only safe inside their own homes, and people who allow their cats to roam are either negligent, willfully obtuse or just plain stupid.
Cats do not need to hunt. Cats do not need the same kind of exercise and socialization that dogs do. They can get all the stimulation and play they require while being sheltered and protected from that which might cause them harm. Cats belong inside.
Every excuse in the book gets repeated ad nauseum by people whose "beloved pets" have met some horrid end due to their irresponsibility. "Fluffy was miserable inside." Fluffy was more miserable when he was ripped apart by a raccoon. "Misty loved to stalk birds. She was a hunter by nature." Misty had a food bowl that was never empty, she had no need to kill songbirds. "Happy needed to go outside to relieve herself." Happy should have been using a litter box, how happy was she when the neighbor poisoned her for fouling his vegetable garden?
What galls me the most is that these same people will just replace one cat with another when their lack of care and concern results in the deaths of their pets. They also refuse to learn from their stupidity, and let the next unfortunate cat roam as well, often to meet the same cruel fate as the first.
I have a suggestion for people who feel it is unnatural to keep cats inside.
Don't get a cat.
"THIS IS YOUR FAULT!"
I couldn't, of course, all I could do was make sympathetic noises. She ended her part of the conversation by telling me what a great life her cat had.
Yeah, right up until he was run over by a vehicle, at age three.
People who share their lives with cats need to recognize the truth. Cats are not safe outside alone in urban (or in rural) areas. Ever. If cars don't get them, coyotes, dogs, raccoons, poison, nasty kids, feral cats, cat-hating neighbors, disease or accidents will. Cats are only safe inside their own homes, and people who allow their cats to roam are either negligent, willfully obtuse or just plain stupid.
Cats do not need to hunt. Cats do not need the same kind of exercise and socialization that dogs do. They can get all the stimulation and play they require while being sheltered and protected from that which might cause them harm. Cats belong inside.
Every excuse in the book gets repeated ad nauseum by people whose "beloved pets" have met some horrid end due to their irresponsibility. "Fluffy was miserable inside." Fluffy was more miserable when he was ripped apart by a raccoon. "Misty loved to stalk birds. She was a hunter by nature." Misty had a food bowl that was never empty, she had no need to kill songbirds. "Happy needed to go outside to relieve herself." Happy should have been using a litter box, how happy was she when the neighbor poisoned her for fouling his vegetable garden?
What galls me the most is that these same people will just replace one cat with another when their lack of care and concern results in the deaths of their pets. They also refuse to learn from their stupidity, and let the next unfortunate cat roam as well, often to meet the same cruel fate as the first.
I have a suggestion for people who feel it is unnatural to keep cats inside.
Don't get a cat.
posted by Alphamutt at 11:48 PM
2 Comments:
My best friend allowed her cat to go outside & he got run over by a car at about age 2. She replaced him a year or so later, but Timothy doesn't go outside. One cat owneer has learned from her irresponsibility.
i agree totally. i hate seeing cats outside. people give the same sort of "it is better for the animal" responses when they talk about not fixing there pets so the pets can have babies. it results in the same thing. death. damn people can be so stupid.
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