City Hall’s lack of consideration for cat ranch is heartless

By Lethbridge Herald on May 4, 2022.

ditor:

Lethbridge City Hall’s callousness towards the homeless felines at the Last Chance Cat Ranch somewhat reminds me of the heartlessness exhibited by the city hall of Surrey, a city neighboring mine.   

 Along with individual people, society collectively can also be quite cruel towards cats, especially ‘unwanted’ felines. For example, it was reported a few years ago that Surrey, B.C., had an estimated 36,000 feral cats, very many of which suffer severe malnourishment, debilitating injury and/or infection.   

  Yet the municipal government, as well as aware yet uncaring residents, did little or nothing to help with the local non-profit Trap/Neuter/Release program, regardless of its (and others’) documented success in reducing the needlessly great suffering. And I was informed last autumn by Surrey Community Cat Foundation that, if anything, their “numbers would have increased, not decreased, in the last 5 years.” 

It’s the only charity to which I’ve ever donated, in no small part because of the plentiful human callousness towards the plight of those cats and the countless others elsewhere. These include the cats I too-often learn about, whose owners have allowed to wander the neighbourhood at night only to be tortured to death by cat-haters procuring sick satisfaction. … At age 54, I’ve long observed that higher human intelligence is typically accompanied by a seemingly proportional reprehensible potential for evil, or malice for malice’s sake.

I believe there’s a subconscious yet tragic human-nature propensity to perceive the value of life (sometimes even human life in regularly war-torn or overpopulated famine-stricken global regions) in relation to the conditions enjoyed or suffered by that life. With the mindset of feline disposability, it might be: ‘Oh, there’s a lot more whence they came’. 

I believe that this mentality, regardless of any alleged cat-shelter odours, prevails almost everywhere, though especially in Lethbridge and Surrey. Yet, these mammals’ qualities, especially their non-humanly innocence, make losing them such a great heart break for their owners.  

  Only when overpopulations of unwanted cats are greatly reduced in number by responsible owners consistently spaying/neutering their felines might these beautiful animals’ presence be truly appreciated.  

Frank Sterle Jr.     

White Ro​ck, B.C.