I’m all for spaying and neutering every companion animal. But, I have to wonder, would everyone think this is such a good idea if it were dogs? Snakes? Pot-bellied pigs? Cats do more than overpopulate. They can and DO attack people. I met a woman at the animal ER who was a concert pianist. I say “was” because she lost three fingers on her right hand when she tried to use a broom to shoo a cat out of her garage. The cat was hurt, so she trapped it in a box with tuna and brought it in, even though she would lose three fingers that night when she sought medical attention for herself.
Cats destroy property, claw paint jobs on cars (I speak from experience), ruin lawns and urinate all over everything they can find. So, why would it be okay to release 5,000 of them back into the community? How is this humane? Who will feed them? How would the community react to 5,000 stray dogs being released after they were captured?
She also talks about responsible pet ownership after pointing out how dogs are treated differently by the humane community. Part of this reason is that feral cat colonies are seen as less of a threat to populations than feral dog packs.
Jodi goes on to explain how people, feeling the bite of this economy, who can no longer take care of their pets really need to set aside their own feelings on the subject and try to get their pets into better homes. Even though the shelter system has excessive overpopulation and giving a pet away may result in its euthanasia, this is a poor excuse for simply turning an animal out into the city (or countryside.) Doing so exacerbates the already devastating problem of feral animals.
Less feral animals on the streets being picked up by animal control and rescued ideally means many more palates and less dogs and cats alone and uncared for who potentially face dire fates in county shelters or at the mercy of starvation, disease, and myriad other problems domesticated animals shouldn’t have to suffer.
Link, via Salon.com
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