Friday, May 13, 2011

Why Cats Need Sanctuaries

You've heard: "We have a serious dog and cat overpopulation problem! There aren't enough homes for them all! Neuter and spay is the only way!"

I've checked the facts. Local pet overpopulation problems are, of course, possible...but the national pet overpopulation problem has been created when and where the Humane Society has taken over the job of matching pets with homes.

Unfortunately, current Humane Society president Wayne Pacelle is one of those who define "good homes" as homes where dogs and cats will be completely confined and sterilized. In fact, according to his blog, accessed just now, he's currently dispatching people to tornado sites, trapping suddenly-homeless dogs and cats to make sure that they'll never see daylight, or see their humans, again unless their humans pay into his "One more generation and they're out" agenda.

Since my definition of a good home does not feature solitary confinement, involuntary elective surgery, or imprisonment in a cell block with a bunch of strangers who may be dying of contagious diseases, I think it's very important to protect our domestic animals from the Humane Society and from many people who claim to care about animals. Those of us who love animals need to make sure that our support is going to those who want animals to enjoy as long, free, and natural lives as possible, rather than to those who want to preserve a few "wild" species from ever becoming friendly with humans and exterminate the species that have become friendly and useful to humans.

Confinement and sterilization have, in fact, made it difficult for residents of urban areas such as Washington, D.C., to acquire pets. Many Washingtonians need cats, since catless city neighborhoods acquire rat, roach, and other vermin populations faster than you'd believe unless you'd seen it...but they can't get a cat until they and their homes have been inspected by gaggles of "volunteers" (rich busybodies with too much time on their hands) to make sure that the cat will never have a chance to earn its keep. And where do these shelters find the "rescued" cats they release only after sterilizing and microchipping the animals? Not in the city...they have them shipped in from rural areas, where Humane Society types are kidnapping outdoor pets.



(I don't recommend encouraging this writer. You can probably find his overfunded, overpromoted book at a public library. Anything you can do to encourage the library to replace it with a better book, as it might be one of Jonah Goldberg's, is all to the good.)

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