When we do a Trap Neuter Release [TNR] the cat gets a rabies vaccine. If that is handled through the shelter they do not get a tag because they know that cat’s going to be re-released and no one’s ever going to need to prove it was vaccinated. If anyone has any doubts they can just see that it’s got a clipped ear and know that it’s already been done.
But if it’s done through a veterinary office, you get the tag. But the tag doesn’t follow the cat. So I have a pile of rabies tags.
Keep thinking I need to get all the rabies tags that all the other TNR people have and do some kind of art project with them. Maybe get it put up at a local watering hole with a plea for people to donate to our local SPCA to help fund this work.
Future recipients of rabies tags:
Someone really dumps neutered cats back into the wild? Why!? Poor babies.
Because they came from the wild. It’s the space they know. They know where the food, water and shelter are. These aren’t cute cuddly kittens. These are adult feral cats that will rip your face off. They can’t be adopted. The alternative is euthanasia. So we put them back where we find them.
Unless we notice something weird. We caught one that wasn’t coming out of sedation correctly. Very cold and twitching. We cuddled them up and kept them warm. We knew we weren’t in danger because they were really not able to manage themself much less attack us.
They recovered and we kept them for observation for a few days. Dude was chill. We found that he had some kind of neurological issues. His back legs never worked correctly. We adopted him because there was no chance of him surviving in the wild. He was with us for just a couple of years before his kidneys failed.
But most cats, 99%, aren’t chill. They will ram themselves against the trap. They will claw and bite you. Cats aren’t domesticated. They are feral animals that with proper upbringing we trap in a kitten mentality. If they grow up without humans they will be the apex predators that will do everything possible to show you that they would rather die than give you control.
So yes. The wild. Because it’s the best place for them.
How do we prevent this? Fix yo damn pets. Until everyone does that there is an army of volunteers putting them back where they found them but incapable of creating more cats and spreading rabies.
(Emphasis mine)
… And now I’m going to hear, “Bow down before the one you serve; you’re going to get what you deserve,” in the context of a cat who feels that she deserves our worship. That song will never be the same again.
Meow down before the one you serve
I can’t take that away from you.
Catch and release is pretty common in communities that are overrun with stray cats like mine. More sterilized cats on the streets means fewer cats reproducing in the same area.
Most of them still suffer agonizing death because of disease, accident or deliberate cruelty. Cats also inflict death and destruction in the wild where they are not natural.
I love cats, and thus under no circumstances can I condone abandonment. There is alternatives, no matter how displeasing one of those is.
Yeah the alternative is euthenasia. I guess that would be better for the ecosystem.
Yeah for sure, can make blood and bone fertiliser
Dying from disease or accident is normal and called living. The ecosystem issue where they aren’t native is very real but keeping wild cats caged in an overpopulated shelter is nothing short of torture for them (it’s probably bad enough for domesticated cats). And I don’t see how just killing them would be any better for the cats (tho arguably for the local ecosystem that would often just be the overall right move). Claiming to want to do either out of love for cats just seems extremely misguided.
No, it’s called abandonment if animal not fit to live in the wild is put out there to try and survive. If you fancy “normal” then why neuter and vaccinate either? Is it ok to do the same to other animals, like dogs for example?
Humans are really bad at correcting their mistakes.
Cats are perfectly fit to live in the wild, they are apex predators with insane kill-ratios, that will decimate the local small fauna. Even most escaped housecats will survive just fine on their own. Only ones, that have some health conditions, or have been inbred, to have flat faces and excessive fur etc., cannot survive without human care.
They were abandoned before we trapped neutered and vaccinated them.
You want to fix the issue? Advocate for spaying and neutering pets.
I love that you asked about dogs. We didn’t used to have spaying in neutering as a common thing for dogs. In the 1950s dogs roamed in packs throughout every neighborhood. They bred out of control. They spread disease. They attacked people. " You couldn’t get elected as dog catcher" or variations along that phrase used to being incredibly common. Because it was a extremely common profession. Someone had to deal with all those stray dogs. And then we fixed it. We started encouraging spaying and neutering of dogs. So now instead of roving packs of dogs that would get rounded up and euthanized The population was controlled. Now if you see a stray dog, you wonder which house it escaped from. Back in the '50s you didn’t ask that question. You just knew that it was a stray dog living moment by moment with no owners.
Fix yo damn pets.
Fix your pets but don’t abandon any animal.
The animals were already abandoned. We’re playing cleanup
You aren’t going to get through to some of these people.
Thanks for doing good work. Also I like your batshit insane heathcliff edits.