I’ve not written about the New Zealand cat ban, for the same reason that Vox Felina dragged his heels on doing so, with the thinking that if you pay trolls no heed they will hopefully slink back into the slime from once they came. If you haven’t read the Vox Felina article, go here and read it now because it is awesome.
But this morning Sunrise on Channel Seven, brought the contemptible idea to our shores, and Steve Coleman represented the RSPCA and the cats of Australia.
As our second most popular pet, and the RSPCA’s second biggest cash ‘cow’ – with cat and dog owners being the life-blood donors for the association – cat owners are literally PAYING the RSPCA to act as the spokespeople for cat welfare. We know they’re a friend to our pets, right?
Someone who will stand up and tell these ‘Cats to Go’ chumps that they weren’t only being ridiculous, but that OUR cats in Australia deserved protection.
Someone to point out that the science in Australia shows that human habitation does far more damage than cats could ever do, and that cats are doing much good in the community keeping other much more fecund and damaging species in check.
Not to mention all the health and emotional benefits cat ownership offers all people, including city dwellers, the elderly and cat-loving families.
In short Steve from the RSPCA, as Australia’s representative for humane cat treatment and the largest champion of their welfare is going to tell this guy to take his stupid, 15mins-of-fame-idea and go jump. Ready…. GO STEVE GO!
*crickets*
I’ll just let you think about that for a moment. Our leading organisation for animal welfare just used the million-dollar opportunity in the mainstream media – not to discredit this overseas campaign for the pile of incoherent, cat-hating crap that it is – but to instead issue YOU, the ‘irresponsible masses’ a warning. This is YOUR ‘wakeup call’… whatever that means.
So far from being a friend to our pets are they, that they would rather side with a twisted anti-cat campaign from New Zealand, than stand up for our pet’s right to live free from harassment.
This is a sad day for cats and a very sad day for our animal protection movement.
See the full interview here.
Hi there Shel,
Thanks for your post on this emotive topic and sorry to hear that you felt we didn’t defend cats enough. In the very limited time allotted to me during the interview I tried to communicate clearly that this campaign was an offensive concept to the 2.6 million cats in Australia.
Unfortunately there are many who feel that cats should be banned and ultimately what we want to communicate is that no matter what animal you have, responsible pet ownership is key to keeping a healthy balance between wildlife and domestic pets.
Regards,
Steve Coleman, RSPCA NSW.