Meet Ramses, the Cranky cat : the Cranky family rescued him from a shelter some years back. He is obese, arthritic, and an awesome lap cat. He lives indoors and thus is protected from coyotes and such: he is also neutered and microchipped, because we don’t live in a wilderness.
Meet Luna, the Blunt dog (decidedly not cranky, but one must make allowances): the Cranky family rescued her from a rescue organization three years back. She is happy, energetic and dumber than half a box of rocks. She lives indoors and outdoors, and is protected from predators and passing cars: she is also spayed and microchipped, because we do not live in a wilderness.
Meet an anonymous dead kitten who got run over on a street. It never got a name, never saw a vet, probably never ate much of anything, and died young because we do not live in a wilderness.
The only difference between the fates of these animals is the degree of responsibility taken by humans. The first two were taken in by responsible people, and third was not. Odds are the kitten was born to an adult cat belonging to some stupid, irresponsible f*** who doesn’t care about their critters. Or worse, some loon who thinks that dogs and cats are “wild” animals who need to live according to “nature”.
News flash: almost none of us live in “nature”. We humans have pretty much annihilated it, replacing it with an environment suited to humans, and not at all suited to animals. Dogs and cats were not created to contend with concrete, asphalt, and the vehicles that fly across such roadways. They were not created to cope with the loss of habitat that provided their distant ancestors with food and lodging.
If your animal does not live in a wilderness, you can’t treat it like a wild animal. It lives in an artificial environment that ill-suits it. It cannot survive and thrive in this alien mess we have made of the natural world, unless we take the steps required to help it do so. That means immunizing, keeping them safe, and spay/neuter. For every animal we “own”.
People need to nut up and take responsibility for our animals, and the hash we’ve made of the planet.
Mr. Blunt and Cranky
bluntandcranky 