Emailed by regular commenter Bayard, some bullshit from PETA entitled Why all cats should be indoor cats (nope, that link doesn't seem to work properly - it flips straight to a picture of Pamela Anderson in a tight T-shirt - but you get the gist).
Bayard dutifully commented as follows:
"I can't believe that an organisation for the ethical treatment of animals is advocating the mass imprisonment of all domestic cats. It's like saying hens shouldn't be free-range, because they might be eaten by foxes. Cats are the least domesticated of all domestic animals and I thinks it's cruel to keep them penned up indoors. I agree with Ju above. If you live in an area where it's not safe for a cat to roam outside, don't have a cat. To keep a cat in those circumstances is pure selfishness."
That makes good sense, you might think. But he then received the following automated email:
"Hello,
PETA strongly recommends that all companion cats be “indoor” cats. Cats who roam outdoors face many dangers: disease, environmental hazards, attacks by other animals, and—most frightening of all—human cruelty.
Cats sent or allowed outdoors unattended don’t always manage to return. Some are abducted; others are injured or even killed. “Bunchers”—animal kidnappers—cruise neighborhoods looking for friendly dogs and cats to abduct and then sell them to dealers, who in turn sell them to laboratories to be used in experiments. Given the many dangers that animal companions face outdoors—heavy traffic, animal dealers, intolerant neighbors, bored juveniles with baseball bats, rat poison, and toxic antifreeze spills, among a great many others—cats and dogs risk their lives every time they go outdoors unattended.
If you have free-roaming cat companions, make them safe: Bring them indoors. Time and patience are both required, but the change will greatly increase your cats’ chances of staying healthy and content. The key is to make the change gradually. If you feel that your cats require time outdoors, take them for walks on a harness and leash and/or enclose your yard with a secure fence topped with Cat Fence-In, a netting kit that prevents cats from wandering from the safety of their own yards.
To learn more about ways to help protect cats and other companion animals, please visit http://www.helpinganimals.com.
Sincerely, Heidi Parker, Mail Coordinator, PETA Foundation."
I'd love to be able to sum up my thoughts in a pithy yet humourous fashion, but to be honest, words fail... the only way it might all make 'sense' is to assume that the whole campaign is bankrolled by the manufacturers of Cat Fence-In...
We don't need no stinkin' objectivity
1 hour ago
6 comments:
I visited the Cat Fence In website and was intriqued by the mention in their brochure of a Masonry Fence.
Was this some new invention the Murricans were keeping for themselves
Then I realised they actually meant a Brick Wall.
"“Bunchers”—animal kidnappers—cruise neighborhoods looking for friendly dogs and cats to abduct and then sell them to dealers, who in turn sell them to laboratories to be used in experiments."
The bullshit alarm went into overdrive when I read this.
Can you imagine a couple of blokes curb-crawling for cats and dogs? No, me neither.
I dont give an arse about what Peta say or dont say, they are a bit like the BNP, ignore the shitsters. Last time I looked the were advocating veggie diets for dogs and cats.
BUT I do have cats and they are indoor cats, And If I felt it was cruel I would not keep cats or just let them out. (but at 300 quid a pop, my ragdolls would probably stolen)
Cats only really wonder if they are not secure in their environment, and or in need of a shag, which adds to the misery of other cats in itself.
So if they are snipped and fed properly, given free run in the large home they will live a long and happy life. They certainly need another cat and maybe dog to keep them company, and like to be part of the family pack.
My last three cats where all house cats and lived 17, 19 and 22 years, a depressed animal would not live this long, this is the equivalent of a 100 year plus for a human.
Bunching?
That sounds like the most cost-effective way to get cats for experiments, and no risk of adverse publicity either.
As opposed to just, say, putting a randy tomcat in a spare lab room with females then experimenting on their already-captive offspring.
Mark, I think you are being a bit generous to Heidi Parker: I don't think it was an automated e-mail. Standard BS, perhaps, but I think Ms Parker or an underling pressed the button to send it out.
B, possibly true, but I thought I'd better err on the side of generosity.
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