Assaulted by a cat

Following the recent developments in the area annexed to the back of a three-star hotel in Bugibba, the field that was once habitat to entire ecosystems is now an excavated site awaiting further progress.

Among previous residents were the local street-cat clan, gawked at incessantly by tourists and my five-year-old cocker alike. However, construction development on the site stripped the land of its previous habitat qualities leaving the feline pack no choice other than to set their fluorescent eyes elsewhere.

Having crossed the road, the choice fell upon the few square metres of soil and tile that comprise my front garden, and there they marked their territory among the last of my mother's surviving home-grown herbs. Needless to say, the tourists still gawk and the sun still shines upon the now botanic massacre performed by the whiskered savages.

This may seem a harsh depiction of the fluffy purring domestics we are used to, however, street cats are not domestic and their genetic code lacks the combination "tame". This was involuntarily confirmed by my father as he was attacked by a tabby cat in an attempt at watering whatever he deemed worthwhile watering. In what can be dubbed a "freak accident", the cat, one of many, made a leap towards the wall, missed, and rebounded back, landing full clawed upon my father's bare chest.

Slowly healing vestiges of this event give evidence to a number of things beyond the truth in the term "cat fight". First, that these homeless and often sick cats are terrified as they have resorted to attacking humans in an attempt of self-defence and, second, that, once again, humans have failed to foresee the consequences of eradicating a natural environment.

The inability to stroll your own garden without fear of being scarred is pathetic enough. This notwithstanding, the problem has reached far beyond over-fertilised gardens and unwanted sentries. The increasing number of run-over cats in adjacent roads has become less of an eyesore and more of a concern as the possibility of consecutive "accidents" is ruled out. The implication being that some of the accidents may well be the result of wrath and vengeance. I strongly believe that the overwhelming cause is not cold-hearted people but avarice, which ceases sensibility even towards the helpless, in this case the cats.

Such things cannot continue to go unnoticed, especially in the light of these animals' desperate cry for attention. Every successful relationship is based on grounds of give and take. Unfortunately, we have acquired great skills in taking but have undermined the importance of rendering back, thus failing to maintain a balance.

Cats are not insects, you cannot spray them out of existence the minute they become pests. There is, however, a lot that can be done, such as a joint effort to better the situation, thus ridding cats of such a derogatory title of which they are neither worthy nor deserving.