The bell tolls
My neighbor has declared war on wildlife.
Oh, she doesn’t see it that way. But she leaves her cats outside. They’re voracious hunters, going after bunnies, chipmunks and birds.
Sometimes she brings me the wounded, broken bodies and asks me to find help for them. In most cases, it’s already too late. Cats carry a deadly bacteria in their mouths called pasterella multocida. Their sharp teeth can produce puncture wounds when they bite. The wounds quickly seal but the damage is already done because the bacteria is locked inside.
Cats are one of the biggest threats to a dwindling songbird population. The U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service estimates cats allowed to roam outdoors kill hundreds of millions of birds every year.
I love cats. I have six of them, all indoors, all seemingly content.
Last year, my neighbor attached bells to her cats’ collars. That didn’t work. Cats can stalk so stealthily the bells never make a sound. This year, she’s trying a cat bib, advertised as preventing cats from killing birds.
The one sure way to stop them from killing is to keep them inside. But she’s not willing to do that. So the death toll will continue to rise.
My neighbor has declared war on wildlife.
Oh, she doesn’t see it that way. But she leaves her cats outside. They’re voracious hunters, going after bunnies, chipmunks and birds.
Sometimes she brings me the wounded, broken bodies and asks me to find help for them. In most cases, it’s already too late. Cats carry a deadly bacteria in their mouths called pasterella multocida. Their sharp teeth can produce puncture wounds when they bite. The wounds quickly seal but the damage is already done because the bacteria is locked inside.
Cats are one of the biggest threats to a dwindling songbird population. The U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service estimates cats allowed to roam outdoors kill hundreds of millions of birds every year.
I love cats. I have six of them, all indoors, all seemingly content.
Last year, my neighbor attached bells to her cats’ collars. That didn’t work. Cats can stalk so stealthily the bells never make a sound. This year, she’s trying a cat bib, advertised as preventing cats from killing birds.
The one sure way to stop them from killing is to keep them inside. But she’s not willing to do that. So the death toll will continue to rise.
posted by Brenda Hiles | 7:39 PM
5 Comments:
A lot of people really like cats. You sound like a real wildlife FREAK.
Dear "Anonymous,"
Guess what? I'm one of those people who really likes cats. I have six of them. I'll be writing about them on the News & Records new blog, "The Pet Shop." It's funny, the cats I've rescued that had lived outdoors show no interest in going outside.
I keep my cats indoors to protect them. I've seen cats savaged by opossums and raccoons. I've seen them dead along the road after they've been hit by cars. In my years as a journalist, I've read enough stories about cruelty to convince me it's unfair to expect our pets to fend for themselves. The most recent example, reported in today's News & Record, involves a serial killer in Florida who is disemboweling cats and throwing the bodies in the yards of their owners. That's the stuff of nightmares.
And yes, I am a real wildlife freak. I assume you mean that as a compliment.
Perhaps a better example of the dangers outdoor cats face is one that happened right here in Greensboro a few years ago. Someone was shooting cats in the Westerwood neighborhood. How can they protect themselves against that?
Guess what else. I came across this web site and had to comment. I have a neighbor like you. She doesn't speak to me and goes out of her way to be rude. What a shame for her and for me. As neighbors, though we don't agree on all issues or hold the same values, she is no more correct than I am correct. No harsh words have been said face to face. Other neighbors tell me she has stated she wishes I would move and that I am lazy because I have an outside/ inside cat. I sometimes wish I could move and sometimes wish she would. I am about one of 15 or more people who have indoor outside cats. I have a dog door for dog to go out to my fenced in back yard while I work. Cats go out too.
You can find a few home health nursing opportunities open or they may not be any open at the time that you are searching. Loved ones can act as advocates for the nursing home resident. Planning and managing the units finances and resources. A good nursing facility should acknowledge this and provide its residents variety of healthy meal options.
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