Rosie and Ginger are our porch cats now, and some reflections on community animals

Ever since Raven was rehomed, Rosie was the first to move into our house compound. Then, Ginger joined her. Now, both of them are our porch cats. I hope they will stay in our compound as much as possible and not go over to the neighbours who might not tolerate the presence of community animals in their compounds. Also, there is the problem of cats jumping on roofs, accidentally causing roof tiles to fall, things to break, etc. and some people might not be tolerant of such things.

It’s easy for us to say, “But they are animals; it’s their natural instinct to jump and they do not understand that they are not supposed to do what humans expect of them….”. It’s easy for us to say this, yet we cannot expect others to empathise with this. Or to tolerate it. And sometimes, community animals pay a high price…just for being what they are.

Sometimes, in my frustration in failing to convince people to empathise with the plight of community animals and to be just a bit more tolerant of their presence, I do silently wish that animals ruled the earth. But such thoughts are counter-productive and actually negative. So, perish the thought, and let’s work towards creating more harmony…somehow.

Humans always claim that they are superior beings. Superior in power, physical strength and control, perhaps. What about superiority in compassion and kindness?  Aren’t these values that are more worthwhile in pursuing?

 Rosie on our patio and….who is that?

 It’s Tabs, of course!

 It’s pretty much confirmed now – Tabs is not very friendly to other cats. In fact, she fluffed up and tried to antagonise Rosie. But here she is, eating lemongrass. Tabs seems to be more friendly towards humans only, not to other cats.

 

 Antagonising poor Rosie.

The rest looks on.

 Poor Rosie.

 The brood has been quite disturbed that Rosie and Ginger have moved into the house compound.

Cow’s spraying has increased….again. With Raven rehomed and Rosie moving in, nothing much has changed except that the room is tiled so cleaning is SO much easier now.

 We thought letting them out one by one might ease the tense situation a bit….or, at least, foster some acceptance amongst them….we hope.

 Rosie and Ginger are most welcome to stay in our house compound where they would be safe.

But being community cats, they have their usual favourite places to go to. I just hope they will be safe. I do notice that the community cats probably have a rain shelter somewhere. They always disappear when it rains.

This is something that cats like to do – rest in high places. It’s something natural in them.

But do you know, according to a councilor I spoke with, the No.1 complaint by residents (in general) is that cats sleep atop their cars and for this “crime”, they call the councils to catch the cats? That’s signing a death warrant for these cats – just because they sleep atop cars. Use the water gun, use the water hose, don’t sign their death warrants, please. Yes, they do not know any better, but that’s still no reason to have them captured and eventually euthanised. Right?

 Our doormat is Rosie’s favourite place, besides the top of our cars!

We moved this bench out for Bosco, actually, but he never got to sit on it.

Now, it’s Rosie’s bench. Bosco’s remains lie in the big flower pot nearby.

 Rosie is a “talker”. She meows a lot.

I can only hope her meowing does not disturb the neighbours.

While we carry on “educating” people, appealing for some compassion and empathy in them, we cannot expect animal-intolerant people to change their perception of animals. They demand that animals KNOW what they want (to me, that is rather foolish, isn’t it?), but the sad thing is that they are still superior in control, so the animals suffer.

I guess the next best thing to do would be to protect these animals from such people.

A few days ago, a friend asked for advice. Apparently, someone was mistreating his dogs. Is there anything we can do about it, she asked.

Well yes, here are our options:

1. Speak in an amicable fashion to the person and suggest better ways for him to treat his dogs.

2. Speak in an amicable fashion and offer to take over his dogs (if he is willing to part with them) since we are not happy with how he is treating them. Then, look after the dogs – it becomes our responsibility. Complaining doesn’t do much good. The best is to do it ourselves.

3. Enlist the help of organisations like the SPCA that plays an advisory role in such matters.

4. Report to the DVS (that’s the ONLY authority that can prosecute) but be forewarned that the dogs might be confiscated by the authorities.

But for many animal-lovers, the above is not enough. They want to do more. I cannot think of anything more to do, actually. I would strongly suggest No.2.

But what if he doesn’t want to give up his dogs? I’m afraid there is nothing more we can do then. No.4?  But please be informed that confiscated dogs have an uncertain future.

Sad, but animal rights is still not respected much over here. We have to go on…with all these constraints and do the best we can.