Freethought & Rationalism Archive

Born Free · 05-27-2003, 04:15 AM

A very unfair, biased, opinion generated article in a newspaper I would like you to read. I've already sent her a strong letter.

Melanie Reid's opinion

Click on OPINIONS on the right hand side menu, it should come up with Melanie Reid, click on the article "Tiddles, the silent killer at the bottom of the garden".

Now we all know cats can and do hunt and kill birds but she takes her opinion to extremes because not all cats do, plus she does not cite any reasonable sources of information for the figures she quotes.

Plus she conveniently left out the fact that foxes must also take some blame, that large birds eat field mice, that the RSPCB so called bird lovers society pressed the UK government for a cull of ruddy ducks in Britain and that it is illegal for anyone to stop a cat entering their garden using violent force in Scotland.

Oh and apparently we're all irresponsible people and I quote "People choose cats precisely because they don't have to be responsible."

villainess · 05-27-2003, 04:49 AM

Sentimental people are downright ludicrous at times.

Natural selection absolutely requires that the majority of fledgling birds die before they are fully mature. No, it's not pretty to look at. But birds in Britain have adapted over the eons to cope with small predators, certainly far more so than they've adapted to cope with plate glass windows, wind turbines, cell phone towers, pollutants, Italian gunners, deforestation... the list of real problems facing songbird populations is endless and cat control issues are a band-aid at best.

There might be a point to all this whining if she lived on a flightless bird sanctuary off the coast of Australia. But as it is, it sounds like she threw together a TV program and a few visceral dislikes and old grudges to meet a deadline.

the_villainess

a vile, dribble-phobic feminist who keeps her cats indoors, because this is America and we have sociopathic small boys with lighters here.

Born Free · 05-27-2003, 04:59 AM

This is what happens when a quality newspaper employs a former tabloid journalist.

Anyway there are so many nutjobs out there who could take Mel's cue for the"brave euthansia" of unwanted cats.

I personally think she should be neutered and that's my polite version.

Just the other day it was reported that a cat was electrocuted on a fence erected round some old bastard's garden. He didn't know it would kill a cat

he didn't think the voltage was high enough. Got away with it as well. The parents of the little girl whose cat it was are now watching her have terrible nightmares and flashbacks because it was her that found it.

And they want kids to respect their elders???

villainess · 05-27-2003, 05:09 AM

That sounds like either a badly installed or an excessively strong electric fence for a neighborhood with children in it. I grew up on a farm, and none of the fences that were more than sufficient to contain cows and horses ever killed a cat or anything else.

If it were my neighborhood or my kid I'd see about having an electrician around to inspect it.

If it's any consolation, I saw a cat run over by a lawnmower once and I recovered, eventually, so I expect the child will be ok in the end.

the_villainess

NonHomogenized · 05-27-2003, 05:41 AM

That has to be the worst rationale I've heard so far this week that didn't involve religion.
She talks about the "solution" being to tag all cats with beeping microchips? Well, disregarding the animal cruelty involved, it would also be fantastically annoying to hear all that beeping. Perhaps we should instead tag her with a microchip which emits a powerful electic shock every time she goes near a keyboard or writing implement, or opens her mouth.
I note that her argument relied mainly on "cats kill cute birds". This is stupid on so many levels, I don't even know where to begin. She (the author) bitches about how shallow cats are, and these times are; well, in this article, she shows that she'd be out of her depth in a puddle.

emphryio · 05-27-2003, 08:21 PM

Although I like just about all animals, I have this extremely emotional reaction to the idea of a cat being hurt. I don't understand it.

If I ever saw someone kill a cat, I'd probably end up in jail.

emphryio · 05-27-2003, 08:25 PM

I just remembered something I hadn't thought of in years.

When I was a kid I had a newspaper route. One time while collecting money. I went to this house with my cat following me, (he followed me everywhere), this guy comes to the door. See's the cat with me and opens his door and sic's his much larger dog on my cat.

........
Extreme anger.
Must have been 20 years ago. I was just a little kid myself. Dude's probably dead by now. Still like to......

The Lone Ranger · 05-27-2003, 11:44 PM

There have been several studies suggesting that feral housecats kill lots of small mammals and birds, and because there are so many of them, that the cats can have a significant impact upon small bird/small mammal populations. In the case of some rare mammals/birds, predation by housecats is thought to be a real threat to their continued survival.

Accordingly, there have been suggestions that people who let their cats roam around outside should put bells on the kitties' collars, to make it harder for them to sneak up on little critters.

***

Does the author of the original article not know the difference between a civet "cat" (Paguma larvata), in which the SARS virus is suspected to have originated, and a house cat?

Civet "cats" are much more closely-related to mongooses than to cats. If the author is going to rant, she should at least get her basic facts right.

Cheers,

Michael

Taffer · 05-28-2003, 01:46 AM

To all people who have ever considered putting bells on their cats' collars:
Cats are night active creatures. This means many sleepless nights spent with a lightly ringing shadow hovering around your bed, waiting for you to get up and feed it. If the shadow decides to spend the night on your bed, it means loud blinging every time you or the cat decides to move an inch. If you have two cats, it could mean furious bouts of ringing whenever they decide to spar at two in the frigging morning.

Trust me, bells on cats are a bad thing for your sanity. Unless your cat is well-trained, but then you don't have a cat. You just have a purring pillow.

I couldn't finish the article. The author obviously has little idea of what she's talking about.

Born Free · 05-28-2003, 01:54 AM

He he I'm not daft, moggy has a collar with a nice shiny loud bell on it for during the day and since she is kept in as soon as it gets dark it comes off. It's bad enough listening to her biting her toe claws at 2 in the morning never mind a bell.

Oh and talking of cats and birds. Our moggy tried it once. She jumped in the window with small live bird in mouth and hid under the table.

Well I dived in after her and basically forced her to let go by a certain means and the bird was okay, I checked it over gently and quickly. All was well. She's never tried that one again with anything.

05-27-2003, 04:15 AM	#1
Born Free Veteran Member Join Date: Jun 2001 Location: Scotland Posts: 4,177	Cat owners come hither- you're all feminists A very unfair, biased, opinion generated article in a newspaper I would like you to read. I've already sent her a strong letter. Melanie Reid's opinion Click on OPINIONS on the right hand side menu, it should come up with Melanie Reid, click on the article "Tiddles, the silent killer at the bottom of the garden". Now we all know cats can and do hunt and kill birds but she takes her opinion to extremes because not all cats do, plus she does not cite any reasonable sources of information for the figures she quotes. Plus she conveniently left out the fact that foxes must also take some blame, that large birds eat field mice, that the RSPCB so called bird lovers society pressed the UK government for a cull of ruddy ducks in Britain and that it is illegal for anyone to stop a cat entering their garden using violent force in Scotland. Oh and apparently we're all irresponsible people and I quote "People choose cats precisely because they don't have to be responsible."

Thread Tools	Search this Thread
Show Printable Version	Search this Thread: Advanced Search

05-27-2003, 04:49 AM	#2
villainess Regular Member Join Date: Jul 2002 Location: Ithaca, NY Posts: 471	Sentimental people are downright ludicrous at times. Natural selection absolutely requires that the majority of fledgling birds die before they are fully mature. No, it's not pretty to look at. But birds in Britain have adapted over the eons to cope with small predators, certainly far more so than they've adapted to cope with plate glass windows, wind turbines, cell phone towers, pollutants, Italian gunners, deforestation... the list of real problems facing songbird populations is endless and cat control issues are a band-aid at best. There might be a point to all this whining if she lived on a flightless bird sanctuary off the coast of Australia. But as it is, it sounds like she threw together a TV program and a few visceral dislikes and old grudges to meet a deadline. the_villainess a vile, dribble-phobic feminist who keeps her cats indoors, because this is America and we have sociopathic small boys with lighters here.

05-27-2003, 04:59 AM	#3
Born Free Veteran Member Join Date: Jun 2001 Location: Scotland Posts: 4,177	This is what happens when a quality newspaper employs a former tabloid journalist. Anyway there are so many nutjobs out there who could take Mel's cue for the"brave euthansia" of unwanted cats. I personally think she should be neutered and that's my polite version. Just the other day it was reported that a cat was electrocuted on a fence erected round some old bastard's garden. He didn't know it would kill a cat he didn't think the voltage was high enough. Got away with it as well. The parents of the little girl whose cat it was are now watching her have terrible nightmares and flashbacks because it was her that found it. And they want kids to respect their elders???

05-27-2003, 05:09 AM	#4
villainess Regular Member Join Date: Jul 2002 Location: Ithaca, NY Posts: 471	That sounds like either a badly installed or an excessively strong electric fence for a neighborhood with children in it. I grew up on a farm, and none of the fences that were more than sufficient to contain cows and horses ever killed a cat or anything else. If it were my neighborhood or my kid I'd see about having an electrician around to inspect it. If it's any consolation, I saw a cat run over by a lawnmower once and I recovered, eventually, so I expect the child will be ok in the end. the_villainess

05-27-2003, 05:41 AM	#5
NonHomogenized Veteran Member Join Date: May 2003 Location: no longer at IIDB Posts: 1,644	That has to be the worst rationale I've heard so far this week that didn't involve religion. She talks about the "solution" being to tag all cats with beeping microchips? Well, disregarding the animal cruelty involved, it would also be fantastically annoying to hear all that beeping. Perhaps we should instead tag her with a microchip which emits a powerful electic shock every time she goes near a keyboard or writing implement, or opens her mouth. I note that her argument relied mainly on "cats kill cute birds". This is stupid on so many levels, I don't even know where to begin. She (the author) bitches about how shallow cats are, and these times are; well, in this article, she shows that she'd be out of her depth in a puddle.

05-27-2003, 08:21 PM	#6
emphryio Veteran Member Join Date: Oct 2001 Location: WV Posts: 4,369	Although I like just about all animals, I have this extremely emotional reaction to the idea of a cat being hurt. I don't understand it. If I ever saw someone kill a cat, I'd probably end up in jail.

05-27-2003, 08:25 PM	#7
emphryio Veteran Member Join Date: Oct 2001 Location: WV Posts: 4,369	I just remembered something I hadn't thought of in years. When I was a kid I had a newspaper route. One time while collecting money. I went to this house with my cat following me, (he followed me everywhere), this guy comes to the door. See's the cat with me and opens his door and sic's his much larger dog on my cat. ........ Extreme anger. Must have been 20 years ago. I was just a little kid myself. Dude's probably dead by now. Still like to......

05-27-2003, 11:44 PM	#8
The Lone Ranger Veteran Member Join Date: Oct 2001 Location: Eastern U.S. Posts: 1,230	There have been several studies suggesting that feral housecats kill lots of small mammals and birds, and because there are so many of them, that the cats can have a significant impact upon small bird/small mammal populations. In the case of some rare mammals/birds, predation by housecats is thought to be a real threat to their continued survival. Accordingly, there have been suggestions that people who let their cats roam around outside should put bells on the kitties' collars, to make it harder for them to sneak up on little critters. *** Does the author of the original article not know the difference between a civet "cat" (Paguma larvata), in which the SARS virus is suspected to have originated, and a house cat? Civet "cats" are much more closely-related to mongooses than to cats. If the author is going to rant, she should at least get her basic facts right. Cheers, Michael

05-28-2003, 01:46 AM	#9
Taffer Regular Member Join Date: Jan 2003 Location: Bern, Switzerland Posts: 348	To all people who have ever considered putting bells on their cats' collars: Cats are night active creatures. This means many sleepless nights spent with a lightly ringing shadow hovering around your bed, waiting for you to get up and feed it. If the shadow decides to spend the night on your bed, it means loud blinging every time you or the cat decides to move an inch. If you have two cats, it could mean furious bouts of ringing whenever they decide to spar at two in the frigging morning. Trust me, bells on cats are a bad thing for your sanity. Unless your cat is well-trained, but then you don't have a cat. You just have a purring pillow. I couldn't finish the article. The author obviously has little idea of what she's talking about.

05-28-2003, 01:54 AM	#10
Born Free Veteran Member Join Date: Jun 2001 Location: Scotland Posts: 4,177	He he I'm not daft, moggy has a collar with a nice shiny loud bell on it for during the day and since she is kept in as soon as it gets dark it comes off. It's bad enough listening to her biting her toe claws at 2 in the morning never mind a bell. Oh and talking of cats and birds. Our moggy tried it once. She jumped in the window with small live bird in mouth and hid under the table. Well I dived in after her and basically forced her to let go by a certain means and the bird was okay, I checked it over gently and quickly. All was well. She's never tried that one again with anything.

Freethought & Rationalism Archive

The archives are read only.