Letter: Irresponsible people make pets suffer

I buried a kitten this morning. His death is the responsibility of the person who refuses to spay/neuter pets, dumps pets, abandons pets.

Out of sight, out of mind, right? Wrong. This kitten should never have been born, to suffer his entire life. Only eight weeks old, found along a road, he was a complete skeleton, one of the skinniest animals I’ve ever seen. He was vetted, but he had gone too long without food.

I held him last night, petting him, talking to him, apologizing for wrongs that humans inflict on fellow living beings. Every person who refuses to spay/neuter their pets, every person who “gets rid of them,” every person who breeds or buys their pets, is responsible for this. For every dog/cat allowed to be born, one must suffer and die on the streets, in the hands of animal abusers, or in horrendous conditions at animal control centers.

Remember this while you sit in your warm house, with a full belly, while innocent dogs/cats are starving, dehydrating, freezing, being abused and suffering. Stop leaving us to clean up your mess.

I’m tired of burying lives lost at the hands of selfish humans who lack compassion and empathy. This kitten’s tiny life might not have meaning to the person who abandoned him, but he certainly fought for the one life he had, and it’s now gone.

Pam Leavy

office manager

Baton Rouge

Comments

1) Comment by gamerguy - 13/01/2013

If the person who dumped this kitten was any kind of responsible human being, they would have found this precious little kitten a home. What goes through a lazy person's head when they dump their pets? Maybe you imagine the cat makes it's way into the countryside, living some idyllic life, frolicking in pastures, catching field mice in pet nirvana. Or maybe with you, it's "out of sight, out of mind", in other words, you simply dont care about anything other than yourself. Or maybe in all your naivity and innocence, you think some kind person will find it. But here's what happens: they die. Excruciating deaths. Almost every one of them. Many of them wait at the spot you dropped them, thinking that you are coming back to get them. Many of them are easy pickings for dogs, coyotes, foxes and owls. They get beaten up by other cats and get horrible infections. Some barbarian humans will shoot at anything that moves, and certain types of children find glee in tormenting innocent creatures. Starvation is a slow unbelievably painful, torturous death. Dumping your animals is a coward's way of killing them. Because you dont have to face it. Get your animals spayed and neutered!

2) Comment by moonlady8 - 13/01/2013

Buying a dog or cat is about the disposability of life. Adopting a pet is about taking responsibility for all living creatures. @Bighug : Anyone who buys a dog should feel guilty and ashamed. Children learn values from their parents. When you buy a dog or cat, you are teaching your kids that a pet's life is a commodity to be bought and sold for profit. We all want our children to grow up to be kind, thoughtful, and caring. Set an example. Adopt shelter animals.

3) Comment by care4pets - 12/01/2013

It is due to people with no empathy or compassion for any living being, that we are a "throw away" society. Many unwanted animals are abandoned and abused, and will sadly, end up like the kitten Ms. Leavy talks about; suffering, dying, and dead at only 8 weeks old. There is NO NEED to BUY a dog or cat. Go to any shelter around the country, and you can find, adopt, and save, almost any breed of dog or cat you're looking for. "Buying" and "Breeding" animals, while millions of wonderful and loving homeless ones are being euthanized, is so very wrong. I love both children and animals, but to compare this to child adoption, is a foolish comparison. And of course we all have problems in life but to not care, about any living being, is a much bigger problem. If people don't start taking responsiblity for spaying and neutering their pets, Ms. Leavy won't be the only one to bury a little kitten.

4) Comment by spqr - 12/01/2013

@rgeraldwallace...given the murder rate in BR and the fact that shoppong today can often result in 200 punks closing a mall due to fighting I do not have "humans" high on my radar. I hurt for and prefer the cat.

5) Comment by Bighug - 11/01/2013

I agree with most of the letter, but refuse to take that guilt trip about owning pets not adopted. We have two dogs, acquired through purchase and breeding, and one cat which arrived as a stray about two weeks old. I also have two children who are not adopted. Should I feel guilty about that?

6) Comment by tjwesson - 11/01/2013

@[e-mail]: I disagree that, with all of that we must be concerned today, the concern of cats and other companion animals doesn't warrant our attention. In fact, studies have linked cruelty to animals with a greater likelihood of violence towards other humans. We know, for instance, that many serial killers first began torturing and killing animals before moving on to human victims. I believe that if we are to create a more peaceful, less violent world, we must promote and nurture empathy. Children have a large capacity for empathy, especially towards animals. What happens to so many as they age into adulthood that causes them to lose that empathy? Imagine how much safer and more peaceful our world would be if we all did what was right, practiced compassion, and cared for those in need...human and animal.

7) Comment by jdk944 - 11/01/2013

Wrong @rgerald, ALL life is precious and there is NEVER a reason to make excuses for it.

8) Comment by DMJ - 11/01/2013

Don't shop; adopt. Spay/neuter your pets. And for F's sake, don't breed anything.

9) Comment by phil - 11/01/2013

This is sad. Our society has gotten to a point of total irresponsibility. If you have a pet it is your duty to care for that pet. If your pet reproduces then it is also your duty and responsibility to care and feed those too. If you can't afford to care for your pet then you should not have a pet. If you cannot afford to care for the kittens or puppies born by your pet then you should either not own a pet or you should have your pet "fixed". There are only a limited number of new people to adopt pets so don't expect animal shelters to solve this problem. The no kill idea is a great idea but I doubt it can really work in the long term since the number of people who can adopt pets is limited. When you take a pet to the animal shelter, there is still a good possibility that pet will not be alive very long. Now we could also discuss parents who have kids and do not care for them and expect others to feed them and raise them. I guess that is another failing of our society and another subject for later. Maybe some parents should be "fixed", too. Oops, sorry - I guess I said too much here.

10) Comment by [e-mail] - 11/01/2013

I'm sorry Ms. Leavy suffered with the kitten and her empathy is touching, but with all people have to worry about these days one might be forgiven for not having cats too high on the radar screen.

11) Comment by swinham - 11/01/2013

Thanks for this heart-felt letter, Pam. Companion animals are a gift. There is no excuse for animal cruelty and cats and kittens seem to be devalued compared to dogs and puppies. It is amazing how many "animal lovers" allow their pets to multiply and then dump the progeny wherever they can with little or no concern for their futures. Public shelters are only marginally better than the wild for cats and kittens and are a miserable environment for dogs and puppies that can't survive long at all on their own. The people who dump these animals or have animal control pick them up are clearly subscribers to the "out of sight, out of mind" and the "that's why we have animal control" philosophies. Eliminating the ability to reproduce is the ONLY reasonable answer to the problem and many people, including those who can only marginally afford it, take the responsibilty for spaying and neutering. Many dedicated veterinarians offer their services at discounted rates. This problem could be solved if there were many more kind and caring people committed to it. Thanks, again, for your letter.