Where Fore Art Thou - Animal Activists?
November 27th 2008 02:28
My heart is breaking.
As you know, we have a serious feral cat problem around here. Let me recap for you, our personal situation.
About this time last year we made acquiantence with a feral cat we named Juliet. She had four kittens in our garden shed. She was a beautiful cat, and mum fell head over heels for her. We were going to adopt her and find homes for her kittens when she did a runner - her and the kittens were never seen again. Now keep in mind my mother - a sixty year old woman - was traipsing out in the dead of night to feed her, tend to her babies, and recieved no reward, not even this cats love. I had always believed Juliet to be a true feral, incapable of domestication, but mum had persisted. When Juliet disappeared mum felt hurt and betrayed.
Some months ago, I rescued Zenith. I was feeding up for the afternoon and found her collapsed behind the hay bales, starved almost completely to death, belly swollen with her soon to be born litter. I kept her in the shed, intending to send her to a welfare agency - when I found her one day on the deck with Wist, who was midwifing her labour. Seeing this cat go from wild to domestic in about 2 seconds flat, my heart went out to her. I endowed her with the mystical name of Zenith, and agreed to take her on myself.
She gave birth to four kittens, and being born here amoungst humans they were domestic from day one and know nothing of a feral cats life. Try, try and imagine the horrid life of a feral kitten. Waiting in the dark for mother to return. Not knowing if she will. When she does, there is not enough meat or milk to go around. You must get what you can, be the fastest, the strongest, fight for your share. Play? Whats that? All your energy is based upon survival, the ability to hide, run, and be quicker than the other kittens in your litter. Always hungry. Always on the lookout for other cats as they are coming to kill or rape you.
This is how Zenith grew up. This is what my darling girl knew of the world. Oh, and lets not forget - hate and distrust humans. They shoot at you.
Still, to this day, Zenith looks guilty when she plays. As if her mother cat will come along and scold her, as if that moment of forgetting herself must result in death.
You know the fate of her kittens, Axis has been renamed Simba and lives with a mommy and daddy who love him very much. He is desexed and microchipped and vaccinated, so he will never feel the need to roam, will never want to leave home, will be promptly be returned to his loving owners if he happens to escape, and is protected from the worst of cat diseases. Also, he will never contribute to the growing feral population, will not be responsable for litters of kittens having to live in this horrid life.
Azhure is so well loved at her new home her mommy has demanded that daddy sleep in a seperate room with the resident cat until Azhure is confident enough to cope with him. Now thats devotion.
Niah and WhimaWay have been playing with my fat cats - Rowdy is just chuffed to be big brother (finally) and have someone to play with. Zenith has decided the house is hers and is hunting every last item of clothing I own to put her fur on it. What a travesty, that I should dare leave the house without being adorned by her scent.
Over the past weeks, we have noticed a mottled female of Zenith's age - her litter sister - under the house. The toms come from far and wide - theres ginger tom, tabby tom, tabby and white tom and black tom. All of these toms are fathers of Zenith's litter. When she began to cry, two days before desexing, it was black tom who answered her call and began to woo her. I had to commend my girl for her good taste, but she was not allowed to satisfy her animal urge. Henceforth, all four toms have worked off their frustrations upon Zenith's litter sister - who I call RiverStar.
Some weeks back mum claimed RiverStar was pregnant. She swore she had seen her with a swollen belly. Since mum has a real flair for dramatic, I wasnt too worried. However, I did see RiverStar hook up with tabby and white tom, they would hunt side by side in the evenings. I thought, if she did have kittens, he must have eaten them. I only ever saw her with a smooth belly, so I assumed she was too malnourished to fall pregnant.
While organizing Zenith's desex and vaccinations, we asked the cat protection society what could be done. You would assume this exactly was their area. They told us if it is a plague, call the council. Since it is indeed, a plague, with Juliet breeding out there somewhere, now RiverStar, plus their kittens, and four toms to service them, it was quickly getting out of hand.
(Did you know if a femal cat gives birth to six kittens on New Years Day, by the next New Years day her and her broods will be responsable for over 3000 kittens? That does not count the toms in the litter, as they are dependant on finding females.)
So we call the council. They inform us that the Official Feral Cat Policy is this - We may rent traps from them. We may trap the cats and surrender them at Animal Welfare Leagues and Pounds and RSPCA. If we want to be kind to them, they must go into an adoption program and a fee PER KITTEN will be charged. The pound will euthanaise, and RSPCA and Animal Welfare Leagues are dependant on how full their catteries are at the time. So, in essence, there is NO SOLUTION to feral cats.
It is cried "FOUL FOUL!" when you hear of farmers poisoning, drowning or shooting - but can you blame them? If you are running an eco system involving baby animals, feral cats throw it right out of wack, and trapping and paying a fee to get rid of animals that are not your responsability - but suddenly your liability - is absolutely ridiculous. Not to mention that some farmers will, to this day, release undesexed cats onto their own land to control fox or rabbit populations, knowing they can simply cull when the cats themselves get out of hand.
So. We hummed and Haaed - what to do with RiverStar? She's feral, and will never tame down. We have 8 cats now, adopting more is simply out of the question. We decided we would have a go at trapping her in the near future, if only to stop the all night howling in our backyard while she hosts a one woman roman orgy.
Today, I had not let my cats out yet. Zenith, Niah and Whimaway usually go out to play with the ducks for a bit. Today I left them in while I fed the horses. I was on my way to the feed shed when I saw RiverStar. "Oh. Hey You...." My voice trailed off in horror.
At her feet were four fluffy balls. Oh Shit. RiverStar bolted, and so did I - towards the garden shed the kittens had just come from. Being young it only took me about 20 mins of biting and scratching and yowling and spitting before I had them secured in our largest travel box. All four are heavily infected with cat flu and their poor eyes are gummed up horribly. Astoundingly, they seem healthy and well fed - RiverStar knows her stuff, I guess.
I spent two and a half hours on the phone. No one wants to help me.
First, Cat Protection Society. I spoke with the same person who tripped over herself to help me when I called up about Zenith. I said (In much nicer words) You guys already have all my money. Help. What can I do? They said the cattery is full. No room. Even if there was room, it would be fifty bucks per kitten for a surrender. But you guys HAVE all my money!
Next, Animal Welfare League. He said they can take them, at no cost, but we have to get them to a city centre. He gave me a number for a local woman. Tried her. They have no cattery, but you could try this lady...Tried the next lady. Oh, Im so sorry, but I already have 5 litters of 6 each Im re homing...Now this ladys a real winner. She takes in ferals like these and gets them friendly so they can be adopted out. Whatta gal. She asked if I could cope with settling down these four. I said Id be happy to, but I now have 8 cats Im working on, and I cant afford to take on 4 ferals with severe cat flu. I dont have the room, I cant create a proper quarantine and I cant provide the necessary medical attention. I just do not have the money. Not to mention, I have to keep a close eye on the cats I do have because one fight gone bad could mean a vet visit we cant afford. And flea treatment and worming is looming and I dont know how I'll pay for THAT! So, lady says the same thing all the others have said thus far....Drop them off at the pound for a humane euthanasia.
I kept looking. Eventually, I got through to the RSPCA. She said they have room at the moment, and since they are feral, we can drop them off. People are only there to recieve them early in the morning, but if we want to do an overnight drop off there are cages in their front alcove, so we can run in tonight to the nearest centre. If they are lucky, they might get re homed.
But we must also catch RiverStar. She is the sole cause of the problem at the moment, if she disappears, the toms will move on and find females elsewhere. Right now, she is doubtless pregnant again and set to give birth to another damned litter. A litter damned to be feral, frightened, and diseased.
I couldnt help thinking - wherefore art thou, animal activists? Some of those greenie hippies say all cats should be murdered, for their crimes against the native wildlife. Ive even heard those bastards say MY DOMESTIC CATS THAT HAVE NEVER LEFT THE HOUSE, should be euthanased due to the POTENTIAL RISK to native fauna. But you got these other tree huggers out there, the ones who say every single last animal has a soul, a personality, and deserves the best life possible. I AGREE. These are the ones who abuse the farmers for shooting and poisoning and drowning, abuse the Animal Welfare League and RSPCA for murdering thousands of kittens - A DAY - but where the hell are these people when cats actually need a home? In city apartments sipping machiatto reading about the problem and saying "Well, I donated X amount to animal charitys, Ive done my bit"
I was once one who protested against killing and cruelty. Now, as a property owner, I recieve a magazine twice a year, the last one had advertised 'The Great Fox Hunt' and showed pictures of farmers with a collection of fox tails - its a sweep to rid certain areas of feral fox. I love foxes. I love cats. But I had a few ladies tell me today...."Honey, I know, we all love animals.....But I think its time you got a 22 and got some target practise"
Have you heard about the fate of the feral brumby? Im sure you've heard - dams killed and foals left to starve to save bullets. Stallions shot through the abdomen taking days to die. I love horses, but do you know the horrific damage their hooves and voracious eating do to the environment? I once saw a big burly auzzie dude in an akubra bawling his eyes out on camera, in defence to the animal activists - "I love horses. They are my FIRST love. I grew up with them. *sob* Thats why Im out there, up in that copter, culling. This shit has got to be done right"
Indeed mate. This shit has got to be done right.
So right now, I have the four poor kitties in an old bird cage. Its quite large, and Ive pulled out the bottom so they can dig a toilet in the floor if they need to. I have provided water, and soon I will offer food, but being feral I doubt they will take it. RiverStar comes by intermittantly to try and free them, this I will not allow. Zayfir is keeping an eye on it - when I go out he nods towards the cage, then over at the bushes where the ferals den, "Trouble mum. Its all trouble" My poor stallion, with his big compassionate heart. He knows the 'little meat eaters' cant be left to roam, and like me, he wants them to have their freedom, and there is no way to reconcile this in between. Polar male and Polar female have no answer. We can only do what we can do. And its not enough. Ive saved some, and failed others.
My heart is breaking. Oh RiverStar...If only that so long ago owner had not abandoned their cat. If only I were a millionare. I would take you all, all four toms, RiverStar and all four babies...If I were a millionare, no force on Earth would stop me keeping all these kittys and breaking the cycle right here and now. But Im not. Im just a pack leader, Alpha Female, and I have to do what I have to do, to protect MY pack, even if I dont like it.
As you know, we have a serious feral cat problem around here. Let me recap for you, our personal situation.
About this time last year we made acquiantence with a feral cat we named Juliet. She had four kittens in our garden shed. She was a beautiful cat, and mum fell head over heels for her. We were going to adopt her and find homes for her kittens when she did a runner - her and the kittens were never seen again. Now keep in mind my mother - a sixty year old woman - was traipsing out in the dead of night to feed her, tend to her babies, and recieved no reward, not even this cats love. I had always believed Juliet to be a true feral, incapable of domestication, but mum had persisted. When Juliet disappeared mum felt hurt and betrayed.
Some months ago, I rescued Zenith. I was feeding up for the afternoon and found her collapsed behind the hay bales, starved almost completely to death, belly swollen with her soon to be born litter. I kept her in the shed, intending to send her to a welfare agency - when I found her one day on the deck with Wist, who was midwifing her labour. Seeing this cat go from wild to domestic in about 2 seconds flat, my heart went out to her. I endowed her with the mystical name of Zenith, and agreed to take her on myself.
She gave birth to four kittens, and being born here amoungst humans they were domestic from day one and know nothing of a feral cats life. Try, try and imagine the horrid life of a feral kitten. Waiting in the dark for mother to return. Not knowing if she will. When she does, there is not enough meat or milk to go around. You must get what you can, be the fastest, the strongest, fight for your share. Play? Whats that? All your energy is based upon survival, the ability to hide, run, and be quicker than the other kittens in your litter. Always hungry. Always on the lookout for other cats as they are coming to kill or rape you.
This is how Zenith grew up. This is what my darling girl knew of the world. Oh, and lets not forget - hate and distrust humans. They shoot at you.
Still, to this day, Zenith looks guilty when she plays. As if her mother cat will come along and scold her, as if that moment of forgetting herself must result in death.
You know the fate of her kittens, Axis has been renamed Simba and lives with a mommy and daddy who love him very much. He is desexed and microchipped and vaccinated, so he will never feel the need to roam, will never want to leave home, will be promptly be returned to his loving owners if he happens to escape, and is protected from the worst of cat diseases. Also, he will never contribute to the growing feral population, will not be responsable for litters of kittens having to live in this horrid life.
Azhure is so well loved at her new home her mommy has demanded that daddy sleep in a seperate room with the resident cat until Azhure is confident enough to cope with him. Now thats devotion.
Niah and WhimaWay have been playing with my fat cats - Rowdy is just chuffed to be big brother (finally) and have someone to play with. Zenith has decided the house is hers and is hunting every last item of clothing I own to put her fur on it. What a travesty, that I should dare leave the house without being adorned by her scent.
Over the past weeks, we have noticed a mottled female of Zenith's age - her litter sister - under the house. The toms come from far and wide - theres ginger tom, tabby tom, tabby and white tom and black tom. All of these toms are fathers of Zenith's litter. When she began to cry, two days before desexing, it was black tom who answered her call and began to woo her. I had to commend my girl for her good taste, but she was not allowed to satisfy her animal urge. Henceforth, all four toms have worked off their frustrations upon Zenith's litter sister - who I call RiverStar.
Some weeks back mum claimed RiverStar was pregnant. She swore she had seen her with a swollen belly. Since mum has a real flair for dramatic, I wasnt too worried. However, I did see RiverStar hook up with tabby and white tom, they would hunt side by side in the evenings. I thought, if she did have kittens, he must have eaten them. I only ever saw her with a smooth belly, so I assumed she was too malnourished to fall pregnant.
While organizing Zenith's desex and vaccinations, we asked the cat protection society what could be done. You would assume this exactly was their area. They told us if it is a plague, call the council. Since it is indeed, a plague, with Juliet breeding out there somewhere, now RiverStar, plus their kittens, and four toms to service them, it was quickly getting out of hand.
(Did you know if a femal cat gives birth to six kittens on New Years Day, by the next New Years day her and her broods will be responsable for over 3000 kittens? That does not count the toms in the litter, as they are dependant on finding females.)
So we call the council. They inform us that the Official Feral Cat Policy is this - We may rent traps from them. We may trap the cats and surrender them at Animal Welfare Leagues and Pounds and RSPCA. If we want to be kind to them, they must go into an adoption program and a fee PER KITTEN will be charged. The pound will euthanaise, and RSPCA and Animal Welfare Leagues are dependant on how full their catteries are at the time. So, in essence, there is NO SOLUTION to feral cats.
It is cried "FOUL FOUL!" when you hear of farmers poisoning, drowning or shooting - but can you blame them? If you are running an eco system involving baby animals, feral cats throw it right out of wack, and trapping and paying a fee to get rid of animals that are not your responsability - but suddenly your liability - is absolutely ridiculous. Not to mention that some farmers will, to this day, release undesexed cats onto their own land to control fox or rabbit populations, knowing they can simply cull when the cats themselves get out of hand.
So. We hummed and Haaed - what to do with RiverStar? She's feral, and will never tame down. We have 8 cats now, adopting more is simply out of the question. We decided we would have a go at trapping her in the near future, if only to stop the all night howling in our backyard while she hosts a one woman roman orgy.
Today, I had not let my cats out yet. Zenith, Niah and Whimaway usually go out to play with the ducks for a bit. Today I left them in while I fed the horses. I was on my way to the feed shed when I saw RiverStar. "Oh. Hey You...." My voice trailed off in horror.
At her feet were four fluffy balls. Oh Shit. RiverStar bolted, and so did I - towards the garden shed the kittens had just come from. Being young it only took me about 20 mins of biting and scratching and yowling and spitting before I had them secured in our largest travel box. All four are heavily infected with cat flu and their poor eyes are gummed up horribly. Astoundingly, they seem healthy and well fed - RiverStar knows her stuff, I guess.
I spent two and a half hours on the phone. No one wants to help me.
First, Cat Protection Society. I spoke with the same person who tripped over herself to help me when I called up about Zenith. I said (In much nicer words) You guys already have all my money. Help. What can I do? They said the cattery is full. No room. Even if there was room, it would be fifty bucks per kitten for a surrender. But you guys HAVE all my money!
Next, Animal Welfare League. He said they can take them, at no cost, but we have to get them to a city centre. He gave me a number for a local woman. Tried her. They have no cattery, but you could try this lady...Tried the next lady. Oh, Im so sorry, but I already have 5 litters of 6 each Im re homing...Now this ladys a real winner. She takes in ferals like these and gets them friendly so they can be adopted out. Whatta gal. She asked if I could cope with settling down these four. I said Id be happy to, but I now have 8 cats Im working on, and I cant afford to take on 4 ferals with severe cat flu. I dont have the room, I cant create a proper quarantine and I cant provide the necessary medical attention. I just do not have the money. Not to mention, I have to keep a close eye on the cats I do have because one fight gone bad could mean a vet visit we cant afford. And flea treatment and worming is looming and I dont know how I'll pay for THAT! So, lady says the same thing all the others have said thus far....Drop them off at the pound for a humane euthanasia.
I kept looking. Eventually, I got through to the RSPCA. She said they have room at the moment, and since they are feral, we can drop them off. People are only there to recieve them early in the morning, but if we want to do an overnight drop off there are cages in their front alcove, so we can run in tonight to the nearest centre. If they are lucky, they might get re homed.
But we must also catch RiverStar. She is the sole cause of the problem at the moment, if she disappears, the toms will move on and find females elsewhere. Right now, she is doubtless pregnant again and set to give birth to another damned litter. A litter damned to be feral, frightened, and diseased.
I couldnt help thinking - wherefore art thou, animal activists? Some of those greenie hippies say all cats should be murdered, for their crimes against the native wildlife. Ive even heard those bastards say MY DOMESTIC CATS THAT HAVE NEVER LEFT THE HOUSE, should be euthanased due to the POTENTIAL RISK to native fauna. But you got these other tree huggers out there, the ones who say every single last animal has a soul, a personality, and deserves the best life possible. I AGREE. These are the ones who abuse the farmers for shooting and poisoning and drowning, abuse the Animal Welfare League and RSPCA for murdering thousands of kittens - A DAY - but where the hell are these people when cats actually need a home? In city apartments sipping machiatto reading about the problem and saying "Well, I donated X amount to animal charitys, Ive done my bit"
I was once one who protested against killing and cruelty. Now, as a property owner, I recieve a magazine twice a year, the last one had advertised 'The Great Fox Hunt' and showed pictures of farmers with a collection of fox tails - its a sweep to rid certain areas of feral fox. I love foxes. I love cats. But I had a few ladies tell me today...."Honey, I know, we all love animals.....But I think its time you got a 22 and got some target practise"
Have you heard about the fate of the feral brumby? Im sure you've heard - dams killed and foals left to starve to save bullets. Stallions shot through the abdomen taking days to die. I love horses, but do you know the horrific damage their hooves and voracious eating do to the environment? I once saw a big burly auzzie dude in an akubra bawling his eyes out on camera, in defence to the animal activists - "I love horses. They are my FIRST love. I grew up with them. *sob* Thats why Im out there, up in that copter, culling. This shit has got to be done right"
Indeed mate. This shit has got to be done right.
So right now, I have the four poor kitties in an old bird cage. Its quite large, and Ive pulled out the bottom so they can dig a toilet in the floor if they need to. I have provided water, and soon I will offer food, but being feral I doubt they will take it. RiverStar comes by intermittantly to try and free them, this I will not allow. Zayfir is keeping an eye on it - when I go out he nods towards the cage, then over at the bushes where the ferals den, "Trouble mum. Its all trouble" My poor stallion, with his big compassionate heart. He knows the 'little meat eaters' cant be left to roam, and like me, he wants them to have their freedom, and there is no way to reconcile this in between. Polar male and Polar female have no answer. We can only do what we can do. And its not enough. Ive saved some, and failed others.
My heart is breaking. Oh RiverStar...If only that so long ago owner had not abandoned their cat. If only I were a millionare. I would take you all, all four toms, RiverStar and all four babies...If I were a millionare, no force on Earth would stop me keeping all these kittys and breaking the cycle right here and now. But Im not. Im just a pack leader, Alpha Female, and I have to do what I have to do, to protect MY pack, even if I dont like it.
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Comment by Mrs M
Mum's Word
I love cats and it is really hard to think of them as feral and vicious. But I know that can be.
I would love to take every cat in if I could.
Sometimes it's hard to have to read stories like this, but there's no point in being in denial either.
You have a good heart Kleo.
Love & stuff
Mrs M
Comment by Kleonaptra
Kalikapsychosis
Thanks for that,
Im going to do an update post today. This is really hurting me. I used to be so soft, I swore when I had property I wouldnt turn into a gun toting redneck....That I would find a better solution.
But for a wild cat, is it better to be forced terrified into a cage, surrounded by humans in a clinical smelling environment while they painfully inject you....Or cut down quickly and cleanly mid hunt.....Out in the wilds, under the laws of nature?
Whats humanity? Being soft, and letting it go on while I try and find a solution, or bending to the cave man in me that rules the food chain indiscriminitly?
Sigh. My heart is hurting.