Was it a kind act?

Yesterday I saw a report on the news which made me wonder if what some people think of kindness isn’t really a good thing. There was this man who had been feeding a stray cat for about seven years. The cat came to his place to eat but always left. It lived in the streets, or wherever cats hang out. Apparently, stray cats usually don’t live longer than 2 or 3 years. They have to fight off other cats, dogs, and possibly other  wild animals. Most of them get hit by cars. Now this guy figured this cat was getting old and should have a better life and a chance to live longer. Somebody started a website or a Facebook page, I don’t recall, but that is not important. They collected money. Then they caught the cat and took the cat to a shelter, where it was examined, got shots and whatever they do with stray cats they catch. Now they are waiting for somebody to adopt this cat. The cat has to get used to living with people and other animals. From what I saw this cat didn’t look overly exited about its futur

What got me thinking was the fact that here was an animal that had been free most of its life, foraging for itself, roaming around doing whatever cats do when they’re on their own. And so far it had been quite successful surviving all the dangers it might encounter. Now suddenly it has to live in a closed environment, can’t roam around on its own, has to lie around on a blanket or whatever when it would rather be outside, enjoying the outdoors. Perhaps chase a few squirrels, or stalk a bird, or catch a mouse. Things that  cats do naturally.  Sure, now it has all the comforts of home, but is it happy? Did they do this cat a favor?

Why do people always think they know what’s best for an animal? Why would they assume an animal is happy living with people, living inside a house where the air is not as fresh as the air outside? Where there is no open sky above them, where they can’t bask in the sun and lie in the dirt or on the grass. That’s what they are used to, not soft blankets or pillows.

Animals are not people, be they cats, dogs, rabbits, or monkeys. They are wild animals that should not be treated like people. I cringe when I see people dressing up their cats or dogs to make them look like humans. That is already a little bit sick, as far as I’m concerned.

I’m not saying people should set their cats and dogs free. That would be a disaster. There are too many stray animals already out there. Most of them ended living like that because people got tired of them and just abandoned them. That is not right either.

My wife and I are not quite innocent either when it comes to keeping pets. We have a canary in a cage. When it was young we let it fly around as long as it wanted to. It always flew back into its cage. But our canary was born in captivity. It doesn’t know any different and it is happy. We assume that because it sings. Should we decide to set it free, it probably would never survive on its own, because it has been spoiled, getting food and water every day, getting its cage cleaned every day, and even getting its nails cut when they grow too long. It  has never been free and doesn’t know any better.

People have been keeping pet animals around for thousands of years and will still have them thousands of years from now if humans survive on this planet for that long. The way things are going, kept animals will probably be the only ones alive, since the wild ones will all have been eliminated by then. We’re destroying their habitat at an alarming rate and are poisoning them with our pesticides.

To come back to that stray cat. I hope it is happy with its new life and doesn’t miss its freedom too much. One can only hope it has a short memory and adjusts easily and quickly to living the ‘Good Life’.