Commentary: Cats and dogs (and hedgehogs too)

Mice are chased by cats. Cats are chased by dogs, and dogs are chased by... man. Or so is the state of affairs on campus. If somebody does not chase the pack of vicious dogs that lately have been roaming the campus precincts at night, they are free to wreak havoc. No, this is not a metaphor - there really is a real nasty pack of dogs running amok at night on campus. They have already slaughtered several of the cats on campus.

Among the victims was Petra, the long serving matriarch of the cats of which several alumni have many a fond memory. Now some of you might not think too highly of the cats on campus, some of you might not appreciate their aesthetic value, there ability to kill vermin, or their therapeutic value towards stressed students. But think about it: today it's a cat that's slaughtered, tomorrow (a morrow that is already here) it is a lecturer chased during a healthy brisk walk round campus, the day after it will be a child bitten while going to It-Tajra (a.k.a. the playschool), and after that?

The University authorities are well aware of the lack of security on campus, particularly after sundown. This is evidenced by the set of CCTV cameras recently installed around the administration building (who is watching anyway, if there is not even enough security personnel to mount a proper beat?).

This is why taking care of the cats on campus should be taken seriously, for if we cannot even make the place safe for a cat, an animal known for its survival skills, how can the place be safe for people, let alone equipment? The said pack of dogs is coming in from somewhere, and where a dog can get through, so can the bipedal variety of the same breed i.e. the child molester or the rapist.

While on the theme of protection of the weaker species, it is worth a mention that in the days of yore, campus was home to a fair number of hedgehogs. In recent times the only hedgehogs one would see on campus were squashed flat on the ring road. The poor animal would have committed the deadly mistake of venturing out of the valley, and its spines are no match for vulcanised rubber.

Today, not even the flat kind of hedgehog is to be found! Let me therefore suggest that for the benefit of any surviving hedgehog, if any, that might dare approach the ring road, signs be put up warning motorists of the risk. In the same way that along roads close to some forest on the continent one can see several signs warning of crossing reindeer, one should warn drivers on the ring road of crossing hedgehogs. The university has to care for animals on campus in an ostensible manner, for how else can one satisfy our educational duty to promote such care in the rest of the country?