I heard sad news today. In Wisconsin, despite protests and a petition with 17,000 names signed onto it against a new law allowing stray cats without a collar to be hunted and shot was voted in. Minnesota and South Dakota already have such laws. I will be sure to not live there when I get a pet cat. Though if my neighbor shot my pet dead, does that give me the right to shoot the neighbor. I didn't think so. Animals and humans are not the same in the eyes of the law. Pet owners disagree on that.
It is acceptable in this country to kill unadopted animals in shelters the exact same way the prison guards execute human criminals, lethal injection. And this country is pro-life? I find that hard to believe. I was happy in high school to learn a new word: no-kill shelter. I see they have gained in popularity. I donate money to one to help support a cat with a disease that will very unlikely be adopted. It has been in the shelter for 6 years. Poor thing.
Let me share some stray animal stories. My aunt who is an art teacher discovered a group of students hurling rocks at a stray black cat. She rescued the cat from her students and took it into her home. My uncle hated the cat because it was a mean cat, but never had the heart to toss it out of his yard. I think it got sick and died after several years with my aunt and uncle. It was buried next to their dog by the garage.
My brother-in-law was jogging one night in the rain and heard a cat meowing to discover a tiny yellow tabby kitten that could fit in your palm with a bruise on its forehead under a car. It followed him so he took it home. They asked around the neighborhood and nobody was missing a cat so they adopted it. The vet said the morning after the kitty was found that if it was left out in the rain a few more hours, it would have been dead. Today the grown cat still has its bruise on its forehead. I call the cat my buddy. It loves me. Later, they got another cat, part white, part dark tabby with raccoon-like tail, from a shelter that was said to be wandering around without a collar and no one claimed it. This cat adores me too. Then even later, they almost got a 3rd cat my brother-in-law found while jogging without a collar that they kept in the garage because it was covered in fleas. In a few days after contacting the animal shelter did a neighbor down the street claimed the flea-bitten cat. They were grateful to get their cat back.
I once worked with a woman whose dog had 2 puppies. She was so happy that she called herself a grandma. She even brought one into the store to show and tell. It was so cute. Then one kept eating her out of house and home so she tossed it over a fence into her neighbor's yard and waved good-bye as it barked at her. I was an inch from calling my friend a fucking bitch for that. Instead I simply asked why didn't she just take the puppy the animal shelter herself. She said she didn't want to abandon her puppy that way. She did find out her puppy was taken by the neighbor to the animal shelter and sits in a cage waiting to be adopted, but SHE was not the one who took it there as if that made her actions acceptable. I stopped thinking of her as a friend after that. I have no idea what ever happened to the puppy.
A car rental person next door out of nowhere asked if I wanted a free guinea pig. Excuse me? I asked. She explained she received a call from her friend who owns a salon. The friend said she saw someone in a car in the parking lot throw something out the window and drove off. The friend went out to the parking spaces to see what was tossed. It was a family of guinea pigs. 3 adults, 5 babies. I was suprised the baby guinea pigs' bones did not break went they hit the pavement. Now the friend was trying to give them away. I posted a sign on the back door of my car rental to help find homes for the poor guinea pigs. My Mom would freak at the sight of a guinea pig. She hates animals, especially rodents. The car rental person next door took 2 babies and 1 adult. When I was talking to her, she was on the phone with her husband who was giving the guniea pigs a bath. I could hear the animal noises fromt he receiver.
That's all the TRUE stray animal stories I know. So these legislators who voted this law in are saying my aunt's and sister's cats deserve to die because they had no collar. I am glad they thought otherwise. I thought it was interesting the lobbyists wanting the kill stray cat law were bird advocates claiming feral cats kill tons of birds. OK Newsflash, predators of all species (maybe not humans) miss 2/3 of their attempts at killing prey. Maybe these bird killing cats need to be shipped to my city. Crows and doves every year destroy public buildings, businesses, and churches with huge amounts of bird droppings. People have tried loud noises and flare guns to scare them away without much success. A dove killing law was dead before it came to the floor of the capital for debate from protests. Are these legislators insane passing this law? One bird advocate received death threats from his stand for shooting feral cats. I think that should be a clue to back away from the matter. To my knowledge, the main danger to birds in my state are the west nile virus and other birds, not stray cats.
Post later. Bye!
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