On Sun, 3 Aug 2003 02:29:57 -0500, "DeAnna"
wrote:


"Bob Brenchley." wrote in message
.. .
On Thu, 31 Jul 2003 23:17:21 -0500, "DeAnna"
wrote:

If you live in an area where, for whatever reason, you feel unable to
allow a healthy cat its freedom to roam for at least some time each
day (and only you can judge your area) then don't have a cat. To have
a healthy cat, knowing you will keep it in 24/7 marks you are being
cruel, selfish, or both.


Sir-

Where do you live?

You don't have any cat haters for neighbors?

No. There may be the odd one who doesn't like cats very much, but that
would make them odd now wouldn't it?

Or perhaps you don't *know* you do? You know,
the ones who are nice to your face, but secretly put antifreeze in a dish next to the
garbage can that your cat rummages in, because he is throwing trash across their patio?

You have some strange garbage cans if a cat can do that.

Also, all antifreeze produced in the EU is "pet safe".

Or
the one who shoots the cat with a pellet gun,

Heard of that happening - guy got a very heavy fine and was soon
forced to move as a result of the hate campaign he earnt himself.

because the cat digs up his garden? Or the
person who just hates cats because they are 'cats' and knowing swerves to HIT instead
of
swerving to miss, as kitty crosses the road?

Sure, and then he gets done for hitting the parked cars

Are you aware that cats are the most
frequently tortured of all domestic animals?

Nope. Are you aware how infrequent any animal torture really is?

So there is no traffic where you live?

Lots.

No cases of feline AIDS?

Not many.

No fleas

Lots of those, but then humans bring them indoors on their clothes as
well.

or mosquitoes

Nope.
carrying worms or other blood-borne disease or parasite?

Let me know where this Cat Utopia exists, because I'd love to live there.

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.

The feral we just took in, was because the neighbors (on whose destructive dog I had
complained to Animal Control) were threatening to harm the cat,

Something I would have reported to the police.

because (and I must say
unfairly) they couldn't just CALL animal control, as there is currently no law
forbidding
cats to roam and destroy, but there is a law prohibiting DOGS from doing so.

That is how it should be. Cats represent no danger to humans - dogs
do.

It wasn't
even our cat, but looked similar to our cat, so they 'assumed' it belonged to us and
threatened harm if we didn't 'keep it from bothering their dog'.

As I said, such threats would be reported to the police.

Call me an 'abuser' all
you like. This baby isn't going any where near the outdoors.

The you are not just an abuser - but a very sick one.

I prefer to call myself a
'responsible' pet owner.

You would, but your lack of understanding of a cats needs makes your
an appallingly bad cat owner.

I am responsible for the behaviour of my kitties, as well as my
dog, and NONE of them are allowed off the property. They can go outside on leashes, or
attended if they obey me and stay in the yard (as my "son" did). They will soon have an
area that is 'enclosed' keeping them safely away from any predators, especially the
humans
predators, of the ignorant and violent persuasion, yet allowing them access to the
grass,
and sights and smells of outdoors.

Your animal abusing sickness seems to be very deep rooted. Maybe you
should seek treatment for your mental problems.

I am not going to turn this little darling outside, to find her headless body on my
doorstep as part of some nasty neighbor feud, simply because I wouldn't allow their dog
to
live at my house, eating my shoes and chewing up my garden hose.

One bad thing about domestication. We teach animals to trust humans. Sometimes I think
that is ultimately a bad thing. Like I tried to explain to a friend about
rehabbing
wild creatures. You must not imprint them too much, because that fear and mistrust of
humans may save their lives. Not all humans are kind and good.

Sorry, I have to go "abuse" my babies, it is time for their nightly snack of cream
and/or
tuna, and they have all taken turn to come remind me. They certainly have me very
well trained.

You really are sick.

D.

PS-The door was opened to let the dog 'do her business' for the night. All of the cats
ran
in the opposite direction as I held open the door, though I made no effort to stop them
going onto the porch. The dog went out long enough to accomplish what she had to, then
promptly sat at the door until I opened the screen for her to come in. I am thinking
they'd all rather be in this comfy A/C, lounging on comfy furniture, and licking the
tuna
from their chins, than 'roaming'......

--


Moronic posting style corrected. You have been charged $50 for this
service, please remit by international money order as a donation to
Cats Protection (cats.org.uk) within the next 7 days. Be warned that
repeated use of this service will incur a escalating rate of charges.

Mr. Brenchley-

Have you no better manners than to hurl unfounded insults at those who disagree with your
personal opinion? Shame on you.

After many years on cat groups trying to educated the ignorant - no.

I do not believe for one moment that you can sit on your self-righteous high horse and
sanctimoniously claim that you have no "cat haters" in the UK or Northern Ireland.

Where did I ever say that?

You've
folks there that kill other humans for their difference in religious beliefs. And you
expect me to believe that no one becomes enraged over the destruction of their property?

By cats? No, not really.

Oft times, it is not a hatred of the animal, but a resentment of the inconsiderate
neighbor who'd let them run amok, defacing things that do not belong to them, that spurs
the retaliatory behaviour, which is then taken out upon the unsuspecting, trusting pet.

People who do not like animals in their gardens have the right to keep
them out. They do not have the right to harm the animal though.

It is a matter of personal responsibility, and not only cats, but dogs, and any other pets
or livestock, and even extended to children, that are bound by this code of civility. You
don't break or destroy, or allow to be broken or destroyed, that which you do not own.
Anything less is vandalism, and the owner has every right to want retribution. Some owners
however, take less than legal forms of retribution, and the end victim ends up being the
poor trusting creature.

As for the antifreeze in EU, it is wonderful that you have only the non-toxic form.

Nope - not none-toxic. A chemical that is added makes the antifreeze
unpalatable to animals (and kids). The basic anti-freeze is the same.

However, I am sure you folks have rat poison. That is how Aja, my mother's beloved Persian
died. D-con mixed with canned cat food. The neighbors were upset that the cat used their
prize winning garden as a litter box. As it could not be proved, there was nothing we
could do, and it wouldn't have mattered. The kitty was dead, and no matter of finger
pointing or even criminal conviction would have brought him back.

But for the sake of other cats a criminal conviction would have
helped. Most people would not have rat poison, in fact I can't
remember the last time I saw any being used. And of course, tests
would soon link the poison to the death and then the police would
prosecute.

You say "Not many" cases of Feline Aids? Watch one of your babies waste slowly away,
slowly dying before your helpless hands, and say "How many?" is too many. To me, ONE is
too many. A generic "not many" doesn't cut it. I don't enjoy seeing any animal die in my
arms.

Life can never be without risk, but you try for the balance.

As for the neighbors making threats, you can report 'such threats' to police (I reported
them to animal control when I posted the cat as "found"-here you must post an animal as
found for three days, and when the 'owner' fails to come to the pound looking for them,
they belong to you).

Only three days? It really should be three weeks, which allows for
people taking a couple of weeks holiday and the cat going AWOL on the
first day.

However, you can't prosecute someone for what they *might* do. *IF*
they carry through, and *BIG IF* they can *PROVE* they did it, THEN AND ONLY THEN, will
they be held responsible.

Well if they make threats, that in itself can be a criminal offence,
but it would at least get them a warning from the police that they had
better not try anything. If something then happened to the cat, well
the police do not take being ignored like that very lightly.

But is it better to prevent the misdeed, than to attempt to gain
recompense after the fact? Would you allow your child to be murdered so you could
prosecute the guilty party?

Your stupidity is showing. A cat is NOT a child, by the age of a year
it is a full adult. Would you keep your sister in 24/7 just because
there is a risk she could be mugged or raped if she went out?

What you do is to look at your area, and if you consider it unsafe for
cats to freely roam for at least some time each day, then DON'T have
cats.

If you think animal torture to be infrequent, you must either by someone who doesn't watch
the news, or someone who is delusional. And the frequency is of no matter to the victim's
family. It only takes that once, to drive a stake of pain through their heart. The fact
that it hasn't happened often is of no consolation to those who lost a loved one.

But it is no excuse to ill-treat cats by keeping them indoors 24/7.

Even in the UK, some children are murdered by strangers - but that
does not mean we keep all our kids indoors 24/7. What it means is
that, as a society, we do all we can to catch and punish the murderers
- making it less likely that others will be tempted to follow suit.

I hope my "deep rooted" "sickness" and "abuse" of protecting and nurturing my animals with
the same care and tenderness

But you are NOT showing then care and tenderness - your are not
providing them with a proper life. At best the manage a rather meager
half-life, cut of from so much that is important to them.

that I show my human offspring spreads to every human. I have
had very few cats that ever desired to be outdoors.

Liar!

Even when THEY are given the choice,
they prefer to be indoors.

Well if you systematically abuse them long enough that is the sort of
miserable half-cat you get as a result.

Perhaps they know more than any of us give them credit for.
Those who truly love their animals would literally lay down their lives for them, and
would never intentionally put them in harms way.

You live in a very sad little dream world - life is a balance, and you
are not allowing your cat to live its life.

That includes in the path of a moving
car, an angry neighbor, or a disease infested wild animal, that picks a fight out of the
need to survive. No animal in my care will come to any harm at all,

Liar! You put your cats at greater risk of disease than I do, because
their immune systems will not be able to cope with things properly.
You put your cats at FAR greater risk when they do eventually escape
(as all cats do).

if I can at all help
it. They are all very healthy, happy, and loving, and that speaks volumes more truth, than
any opinion typed in ignorance.

The only ignorance is yours - animal abuser.

If you truly believe in all that you put in your posts, I feel very sorry for you, and for
the animals in your care. You must be a bitter, miserable person to be so hateful, and
contemptuous in the way you treat other people, and it makes me wonder how that translates
to how you treat those poor creatures who are in your care.

D.

--
Bob.

Alas, your intelligence qualifies you more for the primordial soup
than for the "master race." Recognize your limitations. Then shut
up.