EDITOR – I fully agree and support the feral cat letter writer.
Any person dumping any animal is sick. Dumping cats at feral colonies does not work and never will.
Feral colonies do not accept any new cats in their colony, because of survival. Any new cat is a threat, and an extra mouth to feed – excluding kittens that may be born – become even more so. Cats can breed at an alarming rate. People looking after cat colonies do their utmost to have them sterilised at a huge cost, to have some control at least. And people dealing with feral cats can also attest that should a wild cat be removed from its colony, even as a baby, they simply do not become domesticated like home cats. They remain wild to some degree and never grow out of it.
Dumping cats simply means they face fights every day and are deprived of any food, thus starving them. To any decent human being’s mind, this is very cruel.
You want them, look after them. Otherwise just don’t invest in them at all
The wild cats grow up in that environment and adapt to survive, and are wild. Don’t ever try and catch a wild cat if you do not know how. These people looking after them have special ways and means and a lot of patience in doing so.
Even house cats that are dumped can become quite mean, because they are removed from their known environment and are scared and traumatised. The right thing to do is to take them to the SPCA, instead of exposing them to the sudden change of environment, feral cat attacks and starvation. It cost nothing. Any person taking on a kitten must realise they are very cute when small, but they will grow up to have a personality of their own. Then their cuteness is gone, and possibly they will be gone too. If you cannot accept them growing up and looking after them for life, then rather don’t take them. The same with dogs. Very cute as puppies, but when they grow up, we just let them wander the streets and get lost or killed. You want them, look after them. Otherwise just don’t invest in them at all. But we live in a sick society. Hopefully my letter will make a small difference to some decent human beings out there.
I tip my hat to people going the extra mile, without asking anyone for anything, running up extremely high vet costs and feeding them every day. Some people still care. Join them.
Hopefully everyone with a conscience will help to try and restore some dignity to our sick society.
ANONYMOUS
