Human beings look after their animals.
We’re glad the Polo Club is enlightened enough not to round up the stray cats on the premises and throw them in the river or worse. Okay, they’re looking for homes for the kitties. If you have room in your houses for a(nother) feline, please adopt.
But if the Polo Club were really enlightened and serious about promoting the humane treatment of animals, they would have their resident cats spayed/neutered and then put them back where they found them. Spaying/neutering keeps the cats from breeding, improves their quality of life, and modifies their behavior so they don’t mark their territory (i.e. pee on stuff).
They do this in Disneyland, and it keeps the rat population under control. They do this in Bel-Air Village (See our column from last year, The Compassionate Cat Catchers). Surely the Manila Polo Club can defray the costs, or find member cat ladies who will. Their kitchens should have enough food to feed the feline residents.
You cannot treat stray cats and dogs like a pest problem—throw them out, end of story. You find a way to coexist peacefully. They have as much right to live there as you do. Yes, there are costs and some inconvenience, Tough. This is the price of being a human being: you look after the animals.
Answers to questions you might be asking, unless you wandered onto this site purely by accident >>>
April 3rd, 2013 at 08:37
I’ve always wanted my own cat – and I now share cat-feeding duties for three felines, since I can’t own them full-time – but I’ve learned over the years that humans cannot adopt cats the way cats adopt humans. You can own a dog and that dog will be your friend for life, but cats… well, if there is such a thing as a Cat Whisperer, I’d love to hear about it.
Does anyone know the exact procedures for cat adoption at PAWS? I haven’t visited them yet, but I’m assuming that their cattery is similar to the facilities I’ve seen in the States where the kitties are allowed to run free before one of them crawls into your lap and owns you.
April 3rd, 2013 at 17:21
stellalehua: You’re right, the cat picks you. You can visit PAWS or CARA, or just figure out which one of the neighborhood kitties likes you and bring him/her home. All our feline housemates adopted us. Mat literally turned up at our doorstep.