Years in the past, my mother took care of a number of stray cats who confirmed up at our place. She fed them, housed them in a shed and neutered and immunized as many as she may.
We lived in a rural space, so it was no large deal for our neighbors. It was simply one thing she did out of compassion. It was a problem, particularly for me within the summertime, after I was the designated cat funeral director. But what have been we going to do, allow them to starve?
Those reminiscences got here again as I examine a proposed ordinance in Cedar Rapids that might create new layers of forms aimed toward individuals who lure, neuter and return, or TNR, feral vehicles.
Anyone participating in TNR would must be licensed as a “cat manager” and carry legal responsibility insurance coverage. Just name Jake from State Farm and ask for cat insurance coverage.
And what about all of these Karen cats demanding to see the supervisor?
Cat managers could be required to register with the town and supply details about the cats they feed, also called a “colony.” Every cat within the colony would additionally must be registered together with their vaccination and sterilization data, microchip information and an outline.
You know, furry, striped with whiskers. Doesn’t ring a bell?
And that’s not all. There would even be a compulsory census depend for every colony, together with deaths and births. If there are sufficient of them, perhaps these cats will get illustration in Congress.
And, beneath the ordinance, cat managers could be instructed to cease feeding cats as soon as 90 p.c of the colony is TNR’d. Hit the highway, feline freeloaders.
OK, I get it. This is a metropolis, not the countryside, so the principles are certain to be totally different. I do know Animal Care and Control is recommending what its workers assume is greatest. But this looks as if a type of conditions the place no good deed goes unpunished.
I exchanged emails with somebody I do know who used to feed feral cats. She and a neighbor as soon as caught 17 cats and had them neutered, at a cost of greater than $600. The census depend, she says, gained’t work as a result of ever-changing cat inhabitants. And it’s robust to think about individuals who look after these cats will cease feeding them on the 90 p.c threshold.
Basically, she argued that every one these guidelines will do is discourage folks from getting concerned. Add that to the harassment she and others have already obtained for feeding cats. Will the cat harassers must be licensed and insured?
And how will this ordinance be enforced? I’m pondering cat-seeking drones.
This might be concerning the level on this column the place individuals are already making ready their emails to inform me how terrible it’s residing subsequent to some cat-feeding bleeding coronary heart. But doesn’t the town actually have larger fish to fry?
All I can say is that we stay in a world the place each day we’re solely moments away from studying of some new cruelty. We all take care of it in several methods.
So perhaps some folks craving kindness discover it by serving to homeless cats. They don’t need to turn out to be cat managers or census takers. They simply need to present a bit compassion for animals.
The metropolis, in its quest for order, effectivity and regulation, goes too far. Now, let’s speculate on who the cats will elect to Congress.
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