Some people are so arrrgh!

We live on the second floor of a building and we have a colony of some 15 ferals in the yard. There's a nice old lady in the next building that is their daily caretake and feeder. We (my hubby and me) are the ones that deal with the authorities and take care of the spaying and neutering.

A couple of minutes ago, I was just standing in my kitchen, washing some dishes and looking out of the window, when suddenly I saw this brute of a man walking over to the cats with his dog (seemed to be a nice quiet dog). One of the cats was sitting on some kind of a pipe or somehing, getting some sun after this morning's rains. This man just walked over and kicked either the pipe of the cat, I couldn't see for sure. Just like that, for no reason whatsoever!

I got so mad I shouted at him and we've had a nasty exchange of words! Well, I'm not one for confrontations really, and I'm lousy at fighting, so all I said was "why are you kicking this poor cat?" while he had a lot to say about me butting my nose in and such. He finished off with what he probably thought was a terrible insult telling me that if I love this cat so much why don't I take him in.

Sorry about venting here. I got sooooo mad and I needed to share with someone.

Anne,

I know exactly how you feel! I would have reported him to the ASPCA or the authorities. He sounds like he's one of these people that would poison the whole colony just to get rid of them. He is obviously a DOG person. People like that you just can't reason with. It's best to let the authorities handle it. Keep an eye out for the kitties. Report any kind of abuse to them. The public nowadays treats cats like they were disposable pets. And its disgusting. Afterall, cats didn't ask to be abandoned. And the trust they lack towards humans is truly justified. Afterall, it's humans that put them in the wild environment to begin with.

I volunteer for a rescue organization and see it all the time. I work for a newspaper and had this editor who was feeding a mama and kitties in her back yard. Everyday she'd fill me in on how they were doing. Knowing that I am with animal rescue, she asked if I would be willing to trap them. Well, this was fine, but I have absolutely nowhere to put them. Most of the rescue groups in Connecticut are jam packed with cats for the winter. When I told her she needed to buy a 19 gallon tub, cut a hole in it and fill it with blankets, hay and food and water to keep them from the winter elements, she was aghast! I told her that they needed to be trapped, spayed and vaccinated and put back (the kitties are semi-feral, mama feral). I told her about a spay/neuter mobile unit that goes around the state doing just that for only $39 per kitty, she got angry saying she would fix and vaccinate only 2. I explained that she was defeating the purpose by only fixing two instead of the whole litter. In other words, she wanted ME to take away the problem. She even tried using guilt on me saying they were going to die out in the cold. I was willing to work with her but she wouldn't hear of it. I finally told her that I couldn't do it. Afterall, she makes FAR more money than I do and she wanted me to do it on my own time, which I have very little of these days. I avoided her until she finally left me alone.

Good luck and keep me posted.

Donna

Donna forgot to tell everyone about our Thanksgiving dinner. We all got together to celebrate as friends and we got a call...roughly 50 cats were put into a small kennel and taken to a field, where the door was let open and these poor cats were left for dead. Most had such bad ear mites they were bloody, all had upper respitory infections and infested with fleas. Not to mention some lost sight because if infected eyes. I suppose someone didnt spay or neuter their farm cats and it got out of control. So why not throw them away and leave them for dead. We got all but a few and only lost 3 kittens. All the rest thank god went to homes thanks to the newspaper and the local news. This is the kind of world we live in!!!!

Thanks for the feedback - not that it made me any happier hearing about cat problems everywhere, but it's nice to share the frustration with such understanding people. Thanks!

In a sense I should be thankful. This is a very well looked after colony. I am so proud of the Tel Aviv city authorities. We have a free Trap-Neuter-Release program here, so all you have to do is call them in. We do pay for the vaccination but it's really subsidized so we only pay 3$ for each cat to be vaccinated while they're being spayed/neutered.

They have already spayed and neutered about 15 cats a couple of months ago but people abandon new cats here all the time (knowing someone else will feed them), so I think I'll call them to come again.

I don't think this guy will dare do anything to the cats. We have already reported him to the police once, when one of other neighbors complained that the dog was harassing the cats. They were quite good about it - a policewoman called him the very same day and warned him. I guess if anything happens to the cats he'll be the first on the suspect list and he knows it. I did tell him I was going to call the police and that's when he left off (cursing me no doubt ), so I guess he doesn't want to get into trouble.

Donna, I know just how you feel about this woman. It's incredible how some people expect you to take care of all the cats in the world and never stop to think that as you're already taking care of so many, maybe it's time they were doing something about it. It's tough because too often we're the ones left feeling guilty when it's so not our fault!

That Thanksgiving story is appalling - guess we have these monsters everywhere. I'm glad it had a happy ending! Well done!

Some people are simply idiots.  It happens.  Most of them damage themselves primarily, but some take it out on others.  I know of no effective solution, though better funding for mental health programs wouldn't hurt.

Margret