Welfare of animals

Without any fault of their own, animals somehow seem to have a knack of bringing out the best or worst in people. Their innocence and playfulness draws us naturally to them and I cannot but admire those people who put in a lot of energy and money to take care of abandoned animals.

On the other hand, I cannot help but empathise with those individuals who feel that stray animals (notably cats) can cause unwanted nuisance, from the unpleasant evidence and smells they leave behind, to the high-pitched noises that go on all through the night.

However, no matter the trouble caused by stray animals in the neighbourhood, I will never be able to comprehend, least of all accept, how certain individuals are capable of resorting to poisoning the animals to remove the problem. I find such individuals to be utterly devoid of a conscience.

As for addressing the problem, despite respecting those who feed stray animals, what I find surprising is that some of those who proclaim to be loving and caring individuals for the very fact of feeding stray animals, seem to have no respect whatsoever towards their neighbours.

It does not take a genius to realise that the presence of a female cat has the obvious tendency of attracting a congregation of male cats to the neighbourhood. Since nothing is done to sterilise some of them, it is only a matter of time until the situation gets worse.

It is here that I find these "so-called" animal lovers to be highly irresponsible. This leads one to think that it is not so much the wish to help these stray cats that drives some of them, but rather the wish to be surrounded by animals without having to clean after them... a typical attitude in this country, with people not so much concerned about littering outside as long as their precious homes are kept spotlessly clean.

It is true that animals are a good form of therapy, providing relief and serenity to people who have been through a traumatic experience or whose life is full of misery. One can feel nothing but sympathy towards them for all their suffering. However, if for some reason or other, those who feed stray animals decide not to adopt one of them as a pet, then I believe they have no right to impose the burden onto others.

If it is really the well-being of these animals they are after, I would imagine they would try to find ways to get the situation under control, not make it worse! They might be surprised to learn that others would be willing to lend a hand in getting some of the stray animals sterilised, if only they were consulted from the outset. As for feeding them, it is one thing when there are a couple of cats - it is an altogether different situation when you have around a dozen or so!