Claims of radioactive stray cats living around UK nuclear power station

NEWS AND COMMENT: There has been a claim by anti-nuclear power campaigners that stray cats living in and around the Sellafield power station in Cumbria, UK, have become radioactive and are literally "pooing plutonium". They are a a hazard to locals they claim.

Sellafield. Image credit: see base of article.

It's further claimed that the cats have been fed scraps of food by workers at Sellafield and perhaps become radioactive because they have been sheltering under giant steam pipes for warmth for decades. There have also been radioactive leaks. I believe that Sellafield is no longer functional as a power station and is being decommissioned.

The campaign group is called Radiation Free Lakeland. And they claim that experts have confirmed that the cats' faeces contain small amounts of plutonium and caesium which are nonetheless detectable.

The Sellafield managers/administration deny the claims and say that the cats pose no risk to the public.

In an interesting development, however, the Mail Online website states that they've seen some documents which prove that some of Sellafield's 11,000 employees have been threatened with disciplinary action if they feed the cats. 

It appears that there really are cats there and they are being fed and the management is frightened that they'll end up congregating around the offices which, I will presume, could jeopardise the employees. That appears to be the thinking behind the management's directive that they stop feeling cats.

It appears that Sellafield has a reputation for being dangerous. For example, The Guardian newspaper reported that in 2019 there was a leak from the nuclear power station from the storage unit and the leak worsened over two years. It reports that 2.3-2.5 m³ of radioactive "liquor" had been leaking from the facility every day.

Moving much nearer to the present, seven days ago, the Irish Times reports that a leak at the site could have "potentially significant consequences". They are reporting on an earlier Guardian report.

It states that there are concerns about the safety of the crumbling building as well as cracks in a reservoir of toxic sludge known as B30. Apparently there is a leak from a huge silo of radioactive waste which can pose a serious risk to the public. There are cracks which have developed in the concrete and the skin covering a huge pond containing decades of nuclear sludge.

Okay, there are problems with Sellafield and they do have stray and feral cats on the site it appears. Therefore, it is not entirely implausible that the cats might become radioactive but survive nonetheless.

I can recall many animals reportedly living around the Chernobyl site which as you know has been shut down for decades since the explosion. The animals have survived despite becoming radioactive. The point I'm making is that animals have become radioactive and survived and live at the Chernobyl site. Clearly the level of radioactivity is not sufficient to kill them but sufficient to allow them to present as a radioactive animal.

But are they a threat to humans? I think not even when close to humans.

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P.S. please forgive the occasional typo. These articles are written at breakneck speed using Dragon Dictate. I have to prepare them in around 20 mins.

Image credit: By Simon Ledingham, CC BY-SA 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=7938296

Istanbul street cat is feed with a knife and fork at a restaurant

Istanbul street cat gets his way at a restaurant. Screen grab.

This is what I like to see only street cats can have fleas and sometimes very badly but this fella seems very healthy so perhaps he is looked after. I think he is a bit of a feature at this Istanbul restaurant and in being known he manages to get his way which is great.

The Turkish are pretty sensitive to the needs of stray cats which are often better described as community cats. Turkey (Türkiye) is the land of community cats.

This is a nice guy. The person with whom he is eating predicted the cat would arrive as they have their camera ready.

Street cats in Istanbul be like
byu/ledim35 inMadeMeSmile

In Istanbul, street cats are a bit of a feature and there are several reasons for this. I can think of three or four. Firstly, Turkey is an Islamic country and you probably know that the Prophet Muhammad loved cats and this has fed through over the centuries to the 21st century. 

His love of cats helps to protect stray cats today across the world where the Islam faith is predominant. Although it doesn't completely save them from being abused because even within the Islam faith you will find good and bad people and some people liking and some disliking cats but there's this background appreciation of the cat thanks to the Prophet.

Secondly, there are lots of tourists and visitors to Istanbul which is situated on the Bosphorus Strait. Tourists like to interact with the cats and feed them. In fact, the man in the video might be a tourist but I don't think that he is.

And perhaps the cats have become a tourist feature of Istanbul, part of the attraction of the city for tourists.

And thirdly, it's probably fair to say that Turkish residents might have a less than optimal attitudes towards spaying and neutering cats and therefore when they become strays they procreate. Although the municipality of Istanbul has implemented various initiatives to control the population with TNR programs.

And fourthly, Turkey is quite a warm place and this helps to foster the procreation of street cats because they are protected by the climate.

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P.S. please forgive the occasional typo. These articles are written at breakneck speed using Dragon Dictate. I have to prepare them in around 20 mins.

77-year-old Florida man arrested for feeding stray cats

NEWS AND COMMENT: The headline from an American online news media outlet, 21WFMJ, attracted my attention. Whenever I read about anybody, never mind an elderly bloke, being arrested for doing something apparently decent and sensitive, it makes me sit up and think a little bit.

We are told that the elderly bloke had empty tuna cans and cups of dry food together with food bowls; all evidence of feeding stray cats. The elderly man's name is Walter Comanitz and he was arrested on Thursday for committing a nuisance. Yes, he was arrested and charged with a nuisance violation under an ordinance which applies to Sebring, Florida, a city in south-central Florida. 

Clearly, they have a local law which states that people cannot feed stray cats. That's pretty clear and it can be a crime for doing so. That, to me, seems like employing a sledgehammer to crack a nut.

We are further told that a couple of local business owners had complained about the stray cat feeder and written statements against him and his cat feeding on their properties.

The business owners' complaints concern their belief that the stray cats cause a nuisance and in feeding them you attract the nuisance to their properties. I completely get that. I understand it. This sort of problem between people who are sensitive to stray cats and who want to help them versus other people, often businesses, who are insensitive to the cats and see them as a pest of vermin is not uncommon. That's because businesses are concerned about profit and they don't want anything to get in the way of making profit. Also, entirely understandable.

RELATED: 79-year-old Ohio woman ordered to spend 10 days in the county jail for feeding stray cats.

The root cause of the problem is careless cat ownership which puts the cats there in the first place. That is what needs to be tackled. The fallout is an argument between these groups of people: the cat lovers and the cat haters. The way to deal with this is in taking proactive measures in improving cat ownership through education. It sounds easy but it is incredibly difficult because you will always have a tiny minority of cat owners who are irresponsible and it doesn't just apply to America but everywhere else.

In fact, America is one of the best countries in terms of cat ownership. Places in Asia can be horrendous in this respect.

These business owners say that the cats are defecating and urinating on their business properties and lounging around on their vehicles.

Once arrested Walter became agitated according to the arresting officer. He claims to be an attorney and that he was going to get rich because of he's been arrested. I suspect that he was hinting at claiming compensation of some sort but that won't happen because there is an ordinance in this city. It appears to be a black and white law without wriggle room.

Walter was handcuffed and taken into custody. He was released on his own recognizance and will return to court on Friday morning.

As you might expect, this isn't the first time that Walter has been arrested for feeding cats. This is another phenomenon with respect to people who feed stray cats and those you don't like it. Some people are compelled to feed starving stray and feral cats which is part of the reason why they become a nuisance to some residents and most business owners.

We are told that Walter was arrested in February on a littering charge for leaving the feeding bowls on the ground. He was fined $20 and he had to pay court costs of $71.

Comment: I am highly sympathetic towards people like Walter but understand the issues. There have been some terrible incidents in respect of people like him been confronted by those that strongly dislike people who feed stray cats. On one occasion a stray cat feeder was shot dead by a resident after an argument. There can be a lot of background animosity between these two groups of people which boils over into violence on occasions.

RELATED: Man who fed feral cats lost his temper and shot a police officer several times.

It's quite unusual for a city to enact a local ordinance making it a crime to feed stray and feral cats. It happens in the US but never in the UK for instance. This, too, is an area of contention by residents in a municipality. The problem is that some people see feeding stray cats as kind and decent while at a more commercial level and on an amenity level it can come a nuisance.

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P.S. please forgive the occasional typo. These articles are written at breakneck speed using Dragon Dictate. I have to prepare them in around 20 mins.

TNR volunteers feeding cats need to put down WATER with the dry food

This may be common sense to many volunteers and it may be the norm but I think it needs to be said just in case. Pretty much the only type of food that I see being put down for stray and feral cats is dry cat food. 

This is for the obvious reason that is much more durable particularly in hot climates. It doesn't go off rapidly. This means that all the cats can take advantage of the opportunity to feed. 

But the problem with dry cat food is that it leaves the cat mildly dehydrated. In a hot climate the cat might become a little more dehydrated than normal if they solely feed on dry cat food. 

They need water to rehydrate. Even them they'll probably be slightly dehydrated as cats are poor drinkers and don't fully compensate for the lack of water in dry kibble. 

Dehydration can lead to illnesses such as cystitis because the urine becomes less dilute which in turn encourages a bacterial bladder infection which is cystitis. 

The potential to developing cystitis is exacerbated by stress. The life of a stray and feral cat is stressful.

The food for stray and feral cats should also be put down for a set period of time. That is probably well known as well. 

The idea here is to avoid criticism from neighbours who believe that in feeding feral cats you are also feeding 'vermin and pests' and unwanted wildlife. 

The compromise is to put food cat down for a limited time which the cats get used to. The cats are fed and the opportunity for wildlife to feed is severely limited. 

This doesn't necessarily preclude entirely wildlife feeding on dry cat food but it hopefully deals with the potential or actual criticism by others. 

There are some people who don't like TNR. They think it doesn't work and that it attracts unwanted animals. 

TNR volunteers need to appease these detractors; to keep them happy if they are to successfully discharge their work.

Are there stray cats in the Vatican City?

Yes, there are stray cats in the Vatican. And they are well cared for! We know this because Fr. Robert Ballecer, SJ (a Jesuit) feeds them and he posts tweets about them. He is an American priest who works as the Assistant for New Evangelization for the Curia of the Society of Jesus in Rome. He is a techie guy with experience in commuting.

Stray cat at the Vatican. Image: Fr. Robert Ballecer, SJ. Click on it for a larger version. Cat is on the balcony!!

He's well known and has a Wikipedia page! I'll let Wikipedia tell you more about him. He is high profile priest who thankfully likes cats and is compassionate towards them. He is active on Twitter which is the source of this photo and video.

Here is the video of him feeding some Vatican stray cats. Rome has hundreds of thousands of stray cats. They are a feature of the city. The Mediterranean countries in general are known for their stray cats because the climate is conducive to survival on the street. For example, there are more stray cats on the island of Cyrus than people. Israel also has a stray cat problem. Same reason:

The problem is a lack of comprehensive TNR programs to sterilise them. 

Vatican City is a city-state surrounded by Rome, Italy, and is the headquarters of the Roman Catholic Church. It covers 0.17 mi².

UCLA dorm dealing with stray cat feeding controversy but news media take the Mikey

NEWS AND VIEWS: Here is the news media video on this story about feeding stray cats on a university campus. The management have banned it which is likely to lead to real issues for the cats as they are habituated to being fed. But the news media presenter takes the Mikey out of the story by using made up cat words to describe what is going on. I don't like it. This is a serious matter and not one to belittle with silly cat language.

Look I don't want to overegg this and be too serious but this is speciesism. The presentation is saying that this is not a serious matter. Well, it is not a big issue for humans but it might be life and death for the cats concerned. One woman recognises that and is doing something about it.

Case dropped against couple of elderly ladies prosecuted for feeding feral cats on public property

NEWS AND COMMENT-Wetumpka Alabama: this is a good news story. It is a story which tells us that there is a little bit of common sense in the American judicial system. You may remember the two elderly ladies, Beverley Roberts (84) and Mary Alston (60) who routinely fed and looked after feral cats on public property but were then suddenly arrested by the police for criminal trespass and then disorderly conduct and obstructing governmental operations.

Here is the video and below that a still image:

Elderly lady arrested for feeding feral cats in Alabama. Image: body camcorder on officer.

To outsiders, and to 100% of cat advocates, it looked farcical. Two old ladies doing something good for the community being jumped on and stamped on by the police and then suffering criminal charges which were successfully prosecuted. They were convicted and sentenced to 2 years' probation and 10 years in jail. The sentence was suspended.

Trapping, spaying and neutering, and rehoming or releasing (TNR) stray cats is an act of kindness and not a crime.

Latest news is great news

Now, the latest news is that Wetumpka is no longer pursuing these criminal charges. An application was made to the Elmore County Circuit Court to suspend the proceedings. The Latin term is "nolle pros". It means that the authorities don't wish to pursue the prosecution at this time but they can restart it in the future. In my opinion, there's no chance of it being restarted in the future.

The judge, Amanda Baxley, wisely granted the application (motion). That is the story. The judge made no comment on her order. She was just following common sense as I state. She was doing what the general public would have done.

I would be surprised if she didn't think that the whole thing was farcical in the first place. It should never have happened. It was heavy-handed. It was unnecessary.

Even if this couple of ladies were doing something technically wrong, they should have been spoken to by the police and cautioned. That would have been it. It wouldn't have made the news. The police wouldn't have been made to look stupid.

I would argue that this case did the police damage. It harmed their reputation I would argue. And all police forces need to enhance the reputation because they're often disliked.

Why are there so many stray cats in Israel?

Feeding stray cats divides Israelis. Image in the public domain.

There are several reasons why there are so many stray cats in Israel.

Firstly, cats have a long history in Israel and the Middle East, and have been present in the region for thousands of years. In many cultures in the region, cats are considered to be good luck and are sometimes even kept as pets in homes or businesses to ward off evil spirits or pests.

Secondly, the warm climate in Israel allows cats to reproduce year-round, leading to a high population growth rate. Additionally, some owners may abandon their cats, which can contribute to the number of strays on the streets.

Thirdly, there is a cultural reluctance to spay or neuter cats, as some people believe it is unnatural or cruel. However, this has led to an overpopulation of cats, which can result in disease and other health problems.

Lastly, many Israelis feed the stray cats out of kindness, which can contribute to their survival on the streets. However, this also perpetuates the problem of overpopulation and can lead to issues with waste and sanitation.

Overall, a combination of cultural, environmental, and social factors has contributed to the large population of stray cats in Israel.

England World Cup footballers befriend a couple of stray cats

This is hardly earth-shattering news, but it is a nice little story which at least points to the fact that the English footballers are humans! I mean they have a brain and a heart. It also provides a little insight into Qatari life.

England World Cup footballers befriend a couple of stray cats. Photo of cats England Football. Note: I don't think the cat in the photo is Dave but a stock photo.

The England side are staying at a five-star hotel in Doha, Souk Al Wakra. And they've got some stray cats (believed stray cats) there which I find interesting. And the staff at the hotel allow at least two of the cats to wander around the grounds and inside the hotel. 

Bearing in mind the strict Islamic laws regarding citizens this is interesting. You'd think they'd 'clean up' the place by getting rid of stray cats before such high-profile guests. 

Perhaps it is the Prophet Mohammad's love of cats which makes them kindly towards them. Whatever, team-mates Kyle Walker and John Stones where in the 'canteen' at the same place they normally go to. Does a 5-star hotel have a 'canteen' or a restaurant? The latter, I think.

Two cats bowled up, one missing an eye.

“On the first night, a cat wandered up to us, so we chucked it a little bit of chicken and stuff like that. And then the next day, we went to the same corner, and he was sat there waiting for us"

They named this cat 'Dave' because it is the sort of name, they give Yorkshire people. The players are from Yorkshire I believe. The other cat was named Paul. 'Dave' was the first name that entered Stones' head.

Well done guys. Dave and Paul will be back for as long as you are in the hotel which won't be that long as you clearly are not going to go far in the tournament judging by your performance against the USA who played better than England. 😎😒

Cat abandoned when his owner died but neighbours stepped in

This is a story that, for me, begs some questions like 'How did it happen?' It comes from a local online local meeting site called 'nextdoor.co.uk' and this branch of the site concerns residents living not very far from me. Here is the post:

"A few weeks ago, I posted a rather different picture of this fine cat who was accessing our enclosed garden at night. I used a paper collar and after the second attempt I was contacted by a lovely lady who lives very locally who had been feeding him twice a day. She identified him as a stray boy who had been abandoned after his elderly human died. Poor boy. So now he is neutered, vaccinated and microchipped, and will never be lonely, vulnerable, hungry, fearful or cold again! A new beginning for Julius, who revealed his 'soul name' to me - we have no idea what name he had been called by his previous human. It was lovely to make a new friend too, in the shape of the dear lady who had been feeding him and generally watching out for his wellbeing too."

It is self-explanatory. The cause of the abandonment is concerning as you might have thought someone would have checked up on the cat. 

Julius, a cat who was abandoned when their owner died. Image: nextdoor.co.uk

I think it is reasonable to assume that neighbours would have known that the deceased woman lived with a cat companion but apparently not. 

It does point to a potential problem of elderly people living alone when relatives have pre-deceased them and perhaps, they do not have a will. They just die and few people if any know about it.

The story dramatically improves as neighbours step in. Firstly, one neighbour feeds the 'stray cat' who was a domestic cat. And a second neighbour then adopts him and calls him Julius. They don't know his previous name as there was no ID.

It appears too that he was not neutered or microchipped. That problem has been sorted out as well.

The end of the story is good. And there is a bonus in that the two neighbours mentioned got to know each other

Neighbor from hell threatens to kill the stray cats that I feed

USA: This is about a new neighbour from hell and how to deal with him. It is not an uncommon problem, but it is an almost intractable one and my advice based on a lifetime of experience is to move home.

A social media user is desperate for advice. They say that they bought a house five years ago after much effort and he is pleased that he has managed to secure a safe haven for himself and his family. It has a large backyard and a forested area beyond. Therefore, there is lots of wildlife including possums, foxes, raccoons, deer and groundhogs and even an otter. He enjoys this.

How do you combat neighbours from hell who want to kill stray cats that you feed, and this is in the country. Image: MikeB

And there are two neighbourhood stray cats hanging around his carport, so he feeds them every night at the same time that he feeds his three indoor cats.

"At a loss about animal hating new neighbors" - social media user desperate for help.

A new neighbour bought the house next door about a month ago. It is clear to him that his neighbour is an animal hater plus a neighbour from hell. For example, his neighbour said that he saw a groundhog in his backyard and that they are going to feed it with food baited with a constipation treatment so that the groundhog shits itself to death.

"Feed it Ex-Lax so it will sh*t itself to death" - neighbour from hell

And also, the animal hater has told them that they need to stop feeding the stray cats because they scratched his car (probably a lie). The neighbour said that unless they bring the stray cats inside, he is going to kill them.

When they told him that they've been feeding the stray cats for years he said that he didn't care.

As a consequence, they called the police non-emergency number, but they said that there is nothing that they can do because the cats are stray and also because the neighbour from hell hasn't actually done anything yet. Typical police, negative response. They could have at least spoken with the man.

Then they decided to bring one of the stray cats inside, but this made her miserable and the resident cats were also unhappy as expected. The other stray cat gets into fights with other cats and is a genuine feral and they can't get near him.

They want to protect the two stray cats but don't know how to do it except to keep an eye on them. The trouble is that he works and can't protect the cats 24/7.

To sum things up, the man (65 years of age) is seeking advice and has been living in a property for five years and his new neighbour hates animals and is threatening to kill stray cats that he feeds.

My advice

My advice on social media was very negative advice and one that I feel that many people would reject but I think it's the right one and it is this: to move home. I know that sounds awful but when you live with a neighbour from hell you can't beat them. 

Well, you can probably beat them in the end after an awful lot of argument and possible litigation but when you have achieved that you've actually lost because you are then living next to a person who hates you and will probably do all they can to make your life miserable for years.

As soon as you enter into a major dispute or long-term disputes with your neighbour even if that dispute was caused by their bad behaviour, there is no reasonable answer to the problem except to get out and move on.

In fact, my experience tells me that under the circumstances you should not complain about your neighbour from hell's behaviour. You should not talk to them. We should not do anything other than move home quietly.

If you complain about them and put in formal complaints to the local authority or whatever it has to be declared when you sell your home, and it will put off potential purchasers.

Neighbours from hell are irrational. And therefore, it's impossible to deal with them rationally. It's impossible to make progress with them. It's impossible to negotiate or discuss things with them because they want to dictate terms from the onset. Therefore, you either accept what they say, or you get out.

I guess there is another outcome which is to let the madman kill the cats but that is probably less acceptable than moving home. And in any case, you are left with living next to a neighbour who is a complete nuisance and likely to be a nuisance about something else in the future.

How do I stop my neighbour feeding my cat?

The best idea that I can think of to stop your neighbour feeding your cat is this one. You fit a dietary alert collar to your wandering cat. The collar has the following message on it: PLEASE DO NOT FEED ME and on the buckle, there is a medical warning sign. If you can buy a customised collar whereby the manufacturer allows you to choose your own words then you could put something like the following on it: I'M ALLERGIC TO CERTAIN FOODS - PLEASE DO NOT FEED ME! This is better.

Dietary alert collar

Alternatively, you can buy a collar with the above words on it and with a tag attached to the collar which certainly can be customised on which you can put a warning about your cat being allergic to certain foods but don't tell them what foods, obviously. This might frighten your neighbour to stop feeding your cat.

Dietary alert collar for a cat who is being fed by a neighbour and becoming obese. Screenshot.

I think the best way to stop your neighbour feeding your cat is through fear! That sounds a bit harsh but I don't think you will succeed by simply talking to your neighbour.

Clearly, you can put on the collar's tag the name of your cat and the phone number which would allow your neighbour to telephone you and discuss the matter and then you could ask them to stop feeding your cat but, as mentioned, I think this has a high chance of failure.

I say that because when a wondering cat constantly visits a nice home occupied by a nice person, they will enjoy the experience and come back. This is not a criticism of the home in which they live. It is just that some domestic cats don't feel attached quite so strongly to their human caregiver. All domestic cats have this slightly loose relationship in any case.

It doesn't matter how good a caregiver you are; some cats are going to wander and it doesn't matter how sensible the neighbour is. If they have a nice cat constantly visiting and they enjoy their company they might be tempted - even if told not to - to feed them.

But a stern warning which sends a message that if they feed your cat, they might harm them would, I believe, have a greater prospect of success.

This perennial problem is being faced by Fiona Keddie Ord who lives in Amersham, UK. The city has a Facebook page and her two cats, Simba and Arlo, wander off regularly. She lives in a nice part of the country and she does not want to keep them inside permanently because they enjoy the outside which is apparently pretty safe.

Arlo (right, white socks) & Simba (left, no socks). Image: FB.

RELATED: Woman issues flyer asking neighbours to stop feeding her cat. Who’s at fault?

But her neighbour feeds them and she is concerned about them putting on weight. She posted on the Amersham Facebook page a polite request saying:

“A gentle and polite request. These are our beloved cats, Arlo (right, white socks) & Simba (left, no socks). Simba often wanders from home for days because we suspect he is being fed treats from other homes. If so, please do not.

"He is fed the correct amounts of healthy food and additional food is not good for cats. We have to take him for his yearly health check and can’t because he is irregularly home. These cats are well looked after.

"You should never feed other owners’ animals. They may need specific foods, they may become overfed. If you come across an animal that seems mistreated or not looked after, take to a local vet to track owners or report. Do not assume and feed treats. Thank you.”

I don't know whether the post succeeded but she received lots of comments from other members of this Facebook page, one of whom suggested that she keeps cats indoors full-time, which she rejected.

Another queried why neighbours sometimes feed other neighbours' cats. They know it's not a good thing to do and they know it might upset their neighbour and cause a health problem in the cat because they might become obese. This is because cats will eat even when they're not angry sometimes. But they still do it. It's human nature.

What they should be doing really is discourage their neighbour's cats coming onto their property by gently shooing them away or making it clear to the cat that they are unwelcome. A gentle person might find this hard to do particularly when they are an animal lover. Punishment should not be involved. It should be 'divine intervention'.

RELATED: Cat punishment versus divine intervention.

But it clearly is the best thing to do unless the cat is in a bad way and underfed. Under these circumstances the neighbour's reaction should be entirely different. They have a duty to care for that cat and if necessary, take them to the local veterinarian for a checkup and treatment if they can't contact the neighbour and even if the can because the neighbour will probably be irresponsible.

Mumbai: medical student beaten up by a group of thugs for feeding cats

NEWS AND COMMENT - MUMBAI, INDIA: A 25-year-old animal-loving medical student, Moin Asif Darvesh, agreed with his father's request to feed stray cats outside of Sir Elly Kadoorie school at 7:30 PM in the evening. It was something that they did regularly and have done for 7 years.

Unbeknownst to the 25-year-old, his father had been threatened 4 days earlier by a few people who objected to him feeding the cats. It appears at the same people approached Moin and insisted that he stopped feeding the cats with chicken. There appears to have been a short discussion at the end of which Moin refused to comply with their demands.

Medical student Moin Asif Darvesh. Image: Mid-day.com

Four more people approached him and allegedly started to kick and punch him. The attack continued for 15 minutes. Onlookers gathered to watch. Police on patrol rescued him.

He sustained injuries to his face, elbows and forearms. He was taken to a local hospital and treated. He later attended the police station to register his complaint and provide evidence.

His father then confessed that he had been threatened 4 days earlier and told that he would be taught a lesson for feeding the cats. He didn't argue with them and went home. He said that the attack on his son was planned for him. He had not told his son to miss that feeding session at that spot.

He accuses a politician for backing the thugs who attacked his son.

The Byculla police recorded a series of offences against the alleged attackers including: voluntarily causing hurt, voluntarily causing hurt by weapons and means, intentional insult with intent to provoke breach of the peace, unlawful assembly armed with deadly weapon, rioting and every member of unlawful assembly guilty of an offence committed in prosecution of common object. These are crimes specific to India. The description of the crimes is different to those in other parts of the world including the UK.

Two people have been arrested concerning the incident and the senior inspector said that there was a search on for the others.

Comment: this is not the first time and it won't be the last when a person is attacked for feeding stray and feral cats. It has happened in America. On occasions the violence escalates. I can recall one cat feeder being shot dead by a murderer.

The animosity can become severe between those who don't like stray and feral cats and those who feel sympathy towards them and want to help. Stray and feral cats polarise the viewpoint of society probably in almost all countries of the world along the lines indicated.

Sweet American village of 180 don't know how to deal with feral cats and they argue about it

This is a post which is about drilling down to a small community in Lawrence County, Missouri, United States. It is the village of Freistatt. They have a population of 180. The village goes back to 1884. It's a small community and they have feral cats. The feral cat problem is everywhere.

Freistatt. Photo: Google Maps. A beautiful place.

At a council meeting they argued about how to deal with feral cats. They tried to figure out who was responsible for them. One council member, Richard Knight, told a resident that her complaint about feral cats should be taken to the housing authority because it is not the responsibility of the village council. The recipient of that information, Shannon Jones, disagreed and said that it was the responsibility of the village as a whole as did Debbie Schoen. They are correct.

The Board President, Elmer Conway, said that the village had tried to contract with an animal control organisation. They reached out to try and hire an animal control officer at the city of Mt. Vernon and the city of Monett but they weren't interested.

Board members Holly Hughlett and Larry Howard said that it was impossible to identify a stray or feral cat from a domestic cat. If you're going to catch and control feral cats how can you distinguish them from owned cats? On that basis Mr Howard said he doesn't know how the village can control them. And he said that most cats don't have collars.

Another problem they discussed was the fact that some people at Freistatt Housing fed feral cats. There were two colonies of feral cats living under a shed on the Freistatt housing property. A resident at Freistatt Housing, Schoen, said that she would tell people not to feed feral cats.

It all sounds a bit confused and confusing. And it is a very typical conversation between the managers of the community and the citizens regarding feral cats.

Comment: as there are people who are feeding feral cats, I would have thought it might be possible for those people to be trained on TNR work. They could be volunteers doing trap, neuter and release work on the feral colonies mentioned. This includes feeding them. What I'm suggesting is that they add to the feeding of the feral cats the neutering and spaying of them. This could be paid for by the community.

As part of that process, the cats' left ear flaps are tipped i.e. the top of them are cut off so that people then can identify feral cats from domestic cats. If that process were carried out for 10 years in such a confined are relatively small area as Freistatt, I would hope that the feral cat numbers would go down gradually to the point where they were no longer a subject of discussion in council meetings.

Note: Freistatt, as you can tell from the map, is an isolated village. This would be ideal territory to practice successful TNR because it is an island community. They're just going to need a veterinarian who can provide the spaying and neutering services at a discount. There would appear to be enough volunteers to do the TNR work. The council could pay their expenses. I'm sure the residents of this village would approved because they see that there is a feral cat problem which they want to resolve. A small contribution shouldn't trouble them.

Note 2: Freistatt seems to have been named after a German town.

Source: The Monett Times.

Feral cat has been living on a roof for four years

NEWS AND COMMENT- Sungurlu, a town in central Turkish province of Çorum: A feral cat who appears to be thoroughly unsocialised has been living on a roof for 4 years and her lifestyle is ongoing. It is highly unusual because it appears to be an example of self-isolation but she is being fed regularly. This may, indeed, be partly why she refuses to come down. She is female and most ginger tabbies are males.

Female ginger tabby has lived on a roof for 4 years and has no intention of coming down. Photo: IHA Photo.

This certainly isn't the case of a cat being stuck up a tree or in a high place. She remains on the roof voluntarily. Locals and firefighters have tried to get her down without success. We don't know the details of those efforts. It would be interesting to hear them. It is certainly possible to get her down by placing a trap on the roof and then bringing the trap down from the roof. So I think we can probably argue without knowing more that efforts to bring her down have not been carried out effectively.

The roof is on a building which is part of a bazaar. Muttalip Yavuz, who runs a coffeehouse said that this ginger tabby cat jumped onto the roof from a building opposite. He also said that firefighters have come multiple times to bring her down and failed. And shopkeepers have tried a few times but they couldn't capture her either. They have, therefore, decided to leave her and feed her.

The cat is unsocialised and fearful of people said Ahmet Köylü. She eats the food left for her but it appears that people who feed her have to remove themselves from the roof before she feeds. Apparently she constantly meows when she begs for food as it is not always provided on time. This is not a satisfactory state of affairs!

As mentioned, the solution is to employ standard TNR techniques. I'm surprised that this is not been carried out but of course no one is to blame. It's a question of finding somebody in Turkey, living nearby, who knows about TNR work. That will resolve the problem. I am sure there are TNR operatives in Turkey who'd assist. The cat can then be socialised with patience and hopefully rehomed.

Perhaps, the shopkeepers below quite like the idea of a cat living on the roof because it is a form of advertising for them. I sense that that is part of the problem too.

The story comes from İhlas News Agency (İHA) via Daily Sabah.

My friend's grandad feeds the local strays, this is what he woke up to today

'My friend's grandad feeds the local strays, this is what he woke up to today', said Reddit user: u/Gaib_Itch. I sometimes think that these guys see a photograph on the Internet that they like and figure out a caption to it which will catch the eye on Reddit.com. It's a way of generating a post on this well used website. 

I don't think the photograph was taken by this Reddit user. I think it was taken by somebody else under entirely different circumstances. That said, who cares because it's a nice photograph and it shows a whole bunch of young cats snuggled up in a flower pot. I think that you would call this a 'clowder of cats'. I am going to suggest that the photograph was actually set up by the photographer. I might be accused of being cynical but I would say that I'm being realistic. It looks too neatly arranged to me to believe that it happened spontaneously. 

My friend's grandad feeds the local strays, this is what he woke up to today. Photo: Reddit.com

The difficulties of creating bylaws which ban feeding feral cats and keeping certain animals

Raleigh in the USA, an expanding city, is facing the difficulties of creating local ordinances which control the keeping of certain animals and also bans the feeding of feral cats. These sorts of attempts to create local ordinances occur all over the USA. Councillors are often in discussion with how to manage the relationship between people and animals. Expanding towns and cities encroach on the habitats of wild animals bringing humans and animals into conflict.

Montage of Raleigh, the capital of N. Carolina. Image: Wikipedia.

In this instance the councillors decided to ban the keeping of certain animals and also ban the feeding of feral cats unless it is carried out under unauthorised TNR program. The full list of the banned animals can be seen in the screenshot below. They are described as wild and dangerous animals. The fine for a violation of the proposed law would be $100.

The incumbent mayor of Raleigh, Mary-Ann Baldwin said that if the law was in place at the moment, she would be in violation of it because she feeds a feral cat. She loves this cat and she makes it clear that she would continue to feed him and pay the fine on a regular basis. She regards her feral cat as one of the family and she would adopt him if she could but he is insistent that he wants to remain feral and won't come into her home.

CLICK FOR MORE ARTICLES ON FEEDING FERAL CATS.

Baldwin believes that the current proposals have gone too far and it is like cracking a nut with a sledgehammer. She says it's wrong to stop people keeping ducks in their back yard for example. And there lies the problem really; there will always be a decent person who cannot walk by when a stray cat needs help.

An ordinance which stops the feeding of stray and feral cats looks like good sense because it stops (the people believe) the spread of disease and nuisance animals but you can't expect people to ignore animals in need. Some can but a lot of people can't and to get an ordinance through a city administration and have compliance you need the consent of the people.

Associated page: Order banning 74-year-old woman from feeding feral cats was rescinded.

This sort of ordinance must be humane for it to work. By the look of it, it isn't at the moment. The whole problem was kicked off by an escaped pet snake which was captured two days later. One council member, David Knight, spotted the venomous zebra cobra and decided to introduce some sort of laws which curtail the keeping of such an animal.

The feeding of feral cats under TNR programs authorised by city administrators works very well. The volunteers don't seek payment and they spend a lot of their money willingly to help the cats. When they feed the cats for a limited time it helps prevent nuisance animals. It is a nice balance between humans behaving humanely while not spoiling the amenities of the community.

Cleburne City, Texas bans the feeding of stray cats

CLEBURNE CITY, TEXAS-NEWS AND COMMENT: Well, this is a very big step by a city council. To ban the feeding of stray cats in the city under the law is a rare move by a city council. Other city councils in America have thought about it but these proposed laws rarely get past the debating stage because they are inherently cruel. 

 Cleburne City, Texas bans the feeding of stray cats. Photo of Cleburne in the public domain.

They are cruel because in many cities there are volunteers who care for stray and feral cats under TNR programs. TNR programs incorporate feeding. If you stop feeding the cats you stop TNR programs and then you are left with more feral cats because they procreate. And the feral and stray cat starve because they are used to being fed. These are the negative aspects to this sort of law.

They've introduced a law because they claim that when you feed feral cats, they produce more kittens and it attracts animals to the area. Comment: this argument seems weak because of the reasons I've mentioned above namely that feeding is part of a TNR program and TNR prevents creation of litters of cats. Secondly, if you put food down for a set period of time and then take it up promptly you minimize the problem of the food attracting wild animals. Therefore, that objection can be dealt with.

I don't have any more substantive information about this law, sadly. The news media refer to the feeding of stray cats in Hulen Park. The city council want to stop it. There is no information on the Cleburne Animal Shelter Facebook webpage about this. The law has been passed into effect and I would expect that there is somebody in Cleburne carrying out a TNR program and feeding feral cats who is going to be very upset.

In the past, in other local jurisdictions I've seen volunteers become highly upset because they see these sorts of laws as causing feral cats to starve. Sometimes volunteers have been feeding stray and feral cats for many years which results in a colony of cats who are dependent on being fed. Stop it and it is a cruel act.

78-year-old woman persecuted by condominium administrators for feeding a cat or cats in common areas

NEWS AND VIEWS - THIS IS AN OPINION PIECE: This is a classic case of an elderly lady who is tenderhearted and decent and as a consequence she is feeding a cat or cats at a condominium: Tampa Racquet Club Condominium in Florida. Her name is Joan P Hussey. She's been in dispute with the administrators of this condominium before over this issue.

This image is for illustration purposed only. This is not Joan. Picture: Pixabay.

Hussey claimed that she only feeds a black-and-white cat that she ensured had been sterilised years ago. This cat's name is Cleo. The condominium say that she is feeding cats in the plural against their rules in and around the common parts of this condominium as reported by Tampa Bay Times.

They argue that she is attracting other animals and creating an wanted health issue for the neighbours and tenants, blah blah blah. It's the usual stuff if you are familiar with this sort of litigation and argument. It's usually the big, classy condominiums with expensive apartments who end up pushing around old ladies when they feed a couple of cats on the manicured grounds. And it's usually one or two leaseholders who complain about a little old lady who can't help herself feeding stray cat or cats. She's too nice to see cats starving.

Hussey says that she puts down a bowl of dry food under her car in its covered parking space. After her cat, Cleo, has eaten she picks up the food. She does this to avoid being accused of attracting other wild animals. She appears to be monitoring the feeding carefully and sensibly. She said that she is very surprised to be sued and that she looks after the cat respectfully.

The condominium administration say that she's been asked to stop several times and doesn't comply. The matter went to arbitration as it has to under the law but Hussey didn't attend the arbitration process because she was confused by all the jargon and papers. 

However, an order was made against her in her absence which required her to stop feeding the cats. She had, inadvertently, dug a bit of a hole for herself. Although she could probably get that hearing reheard and appoint a lawyer to attend a fresh one.

In the interests of justice a fair hearing needs to take place and it didn't for whatever reason. Now she's being sued in the courts and the condominium administrators want the court to issue an injunction against her. This would be an order to stop her feeding the cat or cats. It is not clear to me from the story whether the condominium are telling the truth about the number of cats or whether Hussey is.

The condominium are also asking her to pay their reasonable lawyer's costs and fees. The hearing is yet to be set and in the meantime the condominium administrators, through their lawyer, are saying that Hussey must comply with the arbitration order.

Hussey feels persecuted and concerned. She said: "I go to bed at night and I can't sleep, thinking about this thing."

It's the big machine against the little person. It's keeping a fancy residential complex tidy against what some consider to be unsightly community cats or a sole community cat wandering around. It offends the eye of some leaseholders. They want everything picture perfect. They don't see the need to be tender and decent towards what appears to be an abandoned animal which needs the help of somebody. That somebody is an old lady of 78 and she is paying the price for her kind heart and her tender actions.