This article is from the source 'guardian' and was first published or seen on . It last changed over 40 days ago and won't be checked again for changes.
You can find the current article at its original source at https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2016/nov/07/catch-feral-kitten-wild-animal-home
The article has changed 5 times. There is an RSS feed of changes available.
| Version 0 | Version 1 |
|---|---|
| First, catch your feral kitten. Then call in the experts | First, catch your feral kitten. Then call in the experts |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| My neighbourhood is inundated with feral cats, scraggy wild things that cadge food from animal lovers in winter and cadge baby blackbirds and robins from their nests each spring. Typically, I’ve moaned about this without taking any responsibility – until last week, when I became so exasperated, I set a humane trap. | |
| I bought a wire cage to see if I could catch a squirrel or rat to show my animal-mad daughter, Esme. Luckily she was at school when the door slammed on an adorable kitten. Clueless about what I should actually do, for the first time in my life I called the RSPCA. Rather like the first time I needed a hospital and was astounded by the brilliance of the doctors and nurses, the RSPCA was amazing. | I bought a wire cage to see if I could catch a squirrel or rat to show my animal-mad daughter, Esme. Luckily she was at school when the door slammed on an adorable kitten. Clueless about what I should actually do, for the first time in my life I called the RSPCA. Rather like the first time I needed a hospital and was astounded by the brilliance of the doctors and nurses, the RSPCA was amazing. |
| The charity knew all about my street’s cat problem and had caught 20 feral cats so far. I was asked to take “21” to meet an RSPCA officer at a nearby vet, where the kitten was checked (cats are assessed and adults scanned for microchips to ensure they are not pets) and pronounced a feral tomcat. | The charity knew all about my street’s cat problem and had caught 20 feral cats so far. I was asked to take “21” to meet an RSPCA officer at a nearby vet, where the kitten was checked (cats are assessed and adults scanned for microchips to ensure they are not pets) and pronounced a feral tomcat. |
| Because 21 is only eight weeks old, he will be found a home as a pet. Adults are neutered and released wherever they came from, which my neighbourhood blackbirds won’t welcome, but feral cats have hard lives and only survive for a couple of years. | Because 21 is only eight weeks old, he will be found a home as a pet. Adults are neutered and released wherever they came from, which my neighbourhood blackbirds won’t welcome, but feral cats have hard lives and only survive for a couple of years. |
| The RSPCA has now lent me a better trap so I can join other neighbours in helping feral cats and other wildlife, at no expense to the taxpayer. Bravo for the big (cat) society. One problem remains: Esme is tearfully begging to keep the next catch. | The RSPCA has now lent me a better trap so I can join other neighbours in helping feral cats and other wildlife, at no expense to the taxpayer. Bravo for the big (cat) society. One problem remains: Esme is tearfully begging to keep the next catch. |
| Grouse negligence | Grouse negligence |
| I was pleasantly surprised last week to receive an email telling me that a petition I’d signed to ban driven grouse shooting had been debated in parliament. | I was pleasantly surprised last week to receive an email telling me that a petition I’d signed to ban driven grouse shooting had been debated in parliament. |
| Trying to ban one method of shooting one bird species to protect another (the much-persecuted hen harrier) might sound pretty niche, but 123,077 people petitioned for what’s actually a really important issue, encompassing the rural economy, the flooding of towns, and criminals driving a rare bird towards extinction. | Trying to ban one method of shooting one bird species to protect another (the much-persecuted hen harrier) might sound pretty niche, but 123,077 people petitioned for what’s actually a really important issue, encompassing the rural economy, the flooding of towns, and criminals driving a rare bird towards extinction. |
| Many of us tremble with fear these days when the will of the people is invoked, but the grouse-shooting debate revealed some MPs’ enduring contempt for the masses. | |
| An orchestrated procession of tame Tories waxed lyrical about the joys of wild shooting. Gerald Howarth spoke of his “cousin, Will Garfit, who is not only one of the most exceptional shots in the country but a famous artist” – thanks for that, Sir Gerald – before belittling petition signatories. Charles Walker smeared the petitioner, conservationist Mark Avery, for an “unforgivable act of premeditated malice”: Avery, a doctor of ecology who has published over 50-plus scientific papers, had highlighted scientific evidence suggesting that grouse moorland management might contribute to flooding. | |
| Of the 28,000 words spoken in the debate, just 20% supported its concerns. E-petitions are supposed to reboot parliamentary democracy but, on the evidence of this farce, they are another kick in its teeth. And MPs are doing the kicking. | Of the 28,000 words spoken in the debate, just 20% supported its concerns. E-petitions are supposed to reboot parliamentary democracy but, on the evidence of this farce, they are another kick in its teeth. And MPs are doing the kicking. |
| Austerity for yachts | Austerity for yachts |
| Is the relentless age of scaling up scaling down? Two-thirds of plans to build large supermarkets have been (ahem) shelved by the “big four” chains over the past two years. Sainsbury’s, Tesco and Morrisons have filed just one supermarket planning application each this year, compared with 20 two years ago. | |
| Meanwhile, Royal Caribbean Cruises has announced its new generation of vessels will be not quite as massive as their predecessors, after protests in cities such as Venice over the humungous ships calling there. Small is profitable. This could be the start of something big. |