North Haven, Connecticut, community in uproar over trapping and euthanizing feral cats

NEWS AND COMMENT: The video tells the story nicely. I can't guarantee that this video will stay on this page forever. If it disappears I'm sorry. North Haven is approx. 100+ miles northeast of New York City.

The nub of the story is that the authorities in North Haven, Connecticut, USA were receiving complaints about feral and stray cats in their community and there was a decision, it appears, to trap and euthanise i.e. kill these cats but then this story rattled around social media, particularly Facebook as I understand it, and the community reacted to the news by rejecting the concept of euthanising these cats. There are better solutions. They are correct. 

This information was fed back to the authorities and they responded wisely and sensibly by changing their policy and the animal shelters in the area, the non-profits, have also stepped up to help remedy this situation. That's what I get from the video. I will add some detail from the written word on Yahoo News!.

A New Haven councillor has confirmed that they will not be euthanising feral cats after animal control declared that they would euthanise feral cats after trapping them.

Animal control in New Haven post on Facebook on Friday that they would start trapping euthanising the cats at the beginning of October. The post was then deleted apparently after a community backlash in comments.

I like that! The community often rallies around when there is an injustice about to be perpetrated towards animals. Essentially, the American citizen is sensitive towards animal welfare. There are many millions of Americans who are very tender towards stray and feral cats. Often they become volunteers in TNR programs and help them directly. These are great people. They deserve all the praise in the world.

The police stated that the trapping of the cats was "prompted by complaints of feral cats in the area, causing unsanitary conditions, as well as danger to domestic animals."

Apparently a dog had their eye scratched by a cat that attacked it. Comment: that wouldn't surprise me because the cat was in a defensive mode and attacked the dog because they felt threatened. And when a cat attacks a dog they slap the dog around the face with their claws which clearly in this instance caused an eye injury. This is unsurprising. I don't think it is a reason to trap and euthanise cats! And clearly the community agrees with me.

Police in general are often a bit negative towards feral cats. And in this instance they said that feral cats are carrying diseases like rabies in toxoplasmosis and damaging gardens, lawns and flower beds and cars et cetera. Comment: one can paint a negative picture about feral cats. It's quite easy. But you have to go back to the original root cause which is careless human cat ownership. The problem is a human problem and therefore the problem needs to be fixed humanely. Often the police are unaware of this.

Anyway, the end result as I understand it is a good one. The cats will be trapped but taken to shelters where if possible they will be rehomed. Some of these cats will be stray domestic cats and therefore can be rehomed. The true adult feral cat will probably be euthanised although even adult feral cats can be socialised but it takes time, sometimes as long as 12 months or more which is going to be beyond the means and abilities or capacity of the animal shelters but perhaps individual volunteers might step up.

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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. Also, sources for news articles are carefully selected but the news is often not independently verified. And, I rely on scientific studies but they are not 100% reliable. Finally, (!) I often express an OPINION on the news. Please share yours in a comment.

Tabby cat walks on stage during Beethoven’s ‘Pastoral’ symphony in Istanbul

The Turkish like their cats and they have a lot of stray cats probably because there is not enough spaying and neutering under TNR programs and also with domestic cats in homes. 

Here we have a cute video of a tabby cat wandering onto the stage during a concert in Istanbul. Nothing happens which is great. The musicians carry on as if nothing has happened although one of two of the ladies and the men look at the cat as he/she ambles by. They smile in recognition. Cats tend to make us smile.

It seems that the the audience took it in their stride too. This may be because as mentioned the Turkish are used to seeing lots of stray cats. Perhaps they are integral to city life and accepted.

That's a good and bad thing. Bad because too many cats are procreating and good because they are in general well treated.

@animatedserenity Stray Cat Steals the Show at Istanbul Concert! 🎻🐱 #StrayCat #ConcertCrashes #IstanbulConcert #LucerneFestival #Beethoven #OrchestraMoments #UnexpectedGuests #ClassicalMusic #CatLovers #TikTokAnimals ♬ original sound - Animated Serenity - LofiAnime Harmony

You'll see mother cats bringing their kittens into mosques for sanctuary and the iman accepts it. And you see Muslims praying in mosques and cats joining in. No one blinks an eye. 

This is the link between the Prophet Mohammad's love of cats and the Islam faith which encourages Muslims to treat cats well.

The video is embedded from TikTok and it may disappear one day. Sorry if that has happened.

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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.

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

National Parks Service wants to get rid of the cats of Puerto Rico's historic seaside capital

NEWS AND COMMENT: I am going to stick my neck out and say that the National Park Service is incorrect in their reasoning in their desire to get rid of the stray cats that roam Puerto Rico's historic seaside capital. I'm told by The New York Post that there are about 200 of them and they have a long history.

A stray ginger tabby cat of the capital of Puerto Rico, a US administered territory.

It is said that they had descended from the colonial-era kittens. They are unique to San Juan according to Darnell Wakefield, a solar contractor who visits the cats every week. They love to see them along their walk. They say that it would be a boring walk without seeing the cats.

The cats occupy a 75-acre historic site surrounding the El Morro fortress home and have become part of the tourist landscape.

However, in going against the grain of popular opinion it seems to me, the National Park Service say that the cats spread diseases to people. They are a nuisance and "inconsistent with the cultural landscape".

They want to get rid of them all and have announced a six-month plan to trap the cats. A spokesperson said that: "visitors will benefit from the removal of a potential disease vector from the park".

A "disease vector"! Comment: they are incorrect. The possibility of a stray cat passing on a disease to a visitor is remote. There are very few zoonosis i.e. zoonotic diseases which can be transferred from cat to person. And, in any case, if you don't touch them there is no possibility.

The park service also states that the cats deposit urine and faeces around the place which is unhygienic et cetera. I would bet my bottom dollar that nobody sees faeces or urine.

It is common knowledge that stray cats at tourist locations enhance the location from the tourists' perspective. You will see stray cats in pretty well all the Mediterranean cities and towns and they remain there as a tourist attraction. Nobody complains about spreading disease.

The National Park Service superintendent said that: "The situation that these animals experience at the park, specifically at the Paseo del Morro, is not ideal for them and is inconsistent with National Park Service policies regarding the feeding of animals and invasive species."

That seems to me to be the voice of a person who doesn't like cats who wants to try and 'clean up the place'. The problem as I see it is that you can't simply just get rid of the cats because they return.

You have to tackle the so-called "feral cat problem" holistically. That means dealing with the source of stray cats which will be ultimately be irresponsible cat ownership. You have to educate people about cat ownership and caregiving. You have to ensure that there is no informal breeding of domestic cats in the area surrounding the targeted area.

My understanding is that they're going to try and trap them and then rehome them but no doubt there will be many who are euthanised. And simply killing stray cats does not work out well because you inevitably receive criticism from animal advocates and also inevitably cats gradually creep back into the cleaned up area and so you have to start again.

They will have to do something slightly different and I would suggest a fully funded TNR program over many years (a permanent program in fact) to gradually decrease the population size humanely. These cats are in a defined area and therefore a well-managed TNR program should be effective over time. It's going to require patience.

It may surprise some people to know that Puerto Rico is an American territory. It is a special sort of territory described as an unincorporated territory of the United States officially known as the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico

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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.

The stray cats of Gaza during the Israel-Hamas war 2023

Of course, during the war all the talk of Gaza is about people. All of it. When animals are mentioned, it is in making unfair and derogatory analogies of Hamas terrorists 'behaving like animals'. That's the best the Israelis can do when it comes to animal welfare. Correction when it comes to animal destruction because there is lots of it in Gaza. 

Screenshot.

We know how many people have been killed in Gaza and how many Israel's were killed by Hamas. We know the latter with complete accuracy. The published number is 'over 1400'. The Palestinian authorities guess the former at around 8,800 at the date of this post but it climbs relentlessly.

Three-thousand children have been killed. How many animals? No idea. Not a clue. No one has said. No one cares. War exposes human speciesism. You can see how devalued animals are in war. They are no more important than a building that has been shelled to destruction.

I think people forget that they are sentient beings. So here is a little nondescript video (below) of a cat sauntering through the rubble of Gaza City. He is a ginger tabby and his nose is very sore. I wonder if he had to push his way through rubble to escape. It was probably something like that.

How does he survive? Where is the water? Water is scarce for people never mind the stray cats. And what about food? Perhaps he lives on his hunting skills. There must be a lot of rodents in the ruins. I don't see food as a major issue for the surviving stray cats of Gaza. But water, yes. A big issue. Look at all the dust and rubbish.

They say a cat can live for 3 days without water. But if they have prey to catch, they can get some water from the prey animal as mammals are 70% water. I reckon these cats will survive as if they are living in the desert like their wild cat ancestor. The domestic cat is well adapted to survive in arid environments.

But it is horrible to see these cats struggling. The same for dogs. We need to think of them a bit more. They are entirely innocent. As innocent as the infants shelled into oblivion or trapped under thousands of tons of rubble.

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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.

Extreme example of engine warmth being attractive to stray cats

Warmth is everything to a stray cat in a cold climate and this picture proves it. The engine heat is clearly funnelling through the gap between the hood and the windscreen forcing the cats to congregate; closely packed together in a line.

Image: Facebook.

The good thing about this is that the car owner can see the cats which is not the case when they are tucked inside the engine compartment. Many stray cats are harmed this way.

Some car owners would be dismayed at this if it was their car as they'd be claiming that the cats scratched the paintwork. Cats rarely do as they are such precise jumpers. They land with a feather light touch most times as the jump is perfectly timed.

This would seem to be a family or extended family as the coats bar one are similar. My guess it is the mother and her subadult offspring.

Ginger tabby cat embarks a Japanese train and is politely ejected

This couple of photographs have received a certain amount of fame on Twitter. The story went viral I guess for two reasons. Firstly, it is unusual for a wandering domestic cat to get onto a railway station platform and then try and jump onto a train. This has to be a very confident cat without fear of strangers and strange events.

Ginger tabby cat tries to embark a Japanese train and is politely ejected by the guard or driver. Image: Twitter.

Or perhaps the cat was used to getting onto trains! The train in question runs along the Kamaishi Line in Eastern Japan.

I'm told that the cat actually got onto the train and stayed there for 30 seconds before the driver or the guard spotted him and politely ejected him. He didn't have a ticket!

My guess is that he is male because nearly all ginger tabby cats are male.

This isn't the first time that cats have been seen to jump onto public transport. I've seen several domestic cats jump onto buses in the UK. Not in person but in videos and photographs online.

Japan is quite famous for its stray cats. They do like their cats in Japan and are generally respectful of them.

On the mothership.com website there is another photograph of another cat on a train integrating nicely with the passengers one of whom is reading a book. The cat joins him in reading that book! It looks as though this cat was on the train for quite a long time. See image below:

Domestic cat travels on Japanese train. Image: Mothership.com

What kind of cat does this? Both these cats look fit and in good condition. They might be fully-fledged domestic cats living with a human caregiver but with a great tendency to wander. They might disappear for a day or two and then come home. Sometimes cats are like that.

They might be stray cats who are looked after and therefore you might call them "community cats". It looks dangerous to me. I am fearful for their safety.

I've seen one domestic cat snoozing on the ticket barrier at an underground station.  It must have been warm. And another sleeping just at the top end of an escalator in an underground station. At the exact point where many thousands of people exit the escalator. Amazing and extraordinary. Once again, I expect the cat was there because the electric motor was just below the surface emitting heat.

These cats like human activity but above all warmth. They might be lonely. They might live in a home where the owner is out all day. That's a remote possibility but it does take quite an extraordinary cat to put themselves in such vulnerable positions surrounded by many thousands of people throughout the day.

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.

Cat on the track during Azerbaijan F1 sprint race 2023

Formula One F1 - Azerbaijan Grand Prix - Baku City Circuit, Baku, Azerbaijan - April 29, 2023: Charles Leclerc the leading Ferrari driver was misunderstood over the radio when competing in the sprint race which takes place these days before the main race.

He reported a cat on the racetrack but his team heard the word 'cut' and believed that he was reporting an engine cutout - misfiring, I guess. 

He clarified after the race when interviewed by reporters:

"Absolutely not. I said a cat -- which is different. There was a cat in the middle of the road and the safety car had to stop, but I think I was probably the only one who saw that."

He added:

"In the exit of turn one there was a cat and the safety car braked."

The reason why a cat got onto the track is because the circuit snakes through the old section of Baku. The fences around the circuit are not designed to keep animals out it seems but to protect spectators.

Maybe the organisers need to do something about that. They won't as it was 'only a cat' and it would be too expensive to make alterations.

But if the cat had been struck it might have resulted in a serious crash.

The incident is not shown on the video but here it is in any case:

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.

Why are there so many cats on Cyprus?

Community cats of Cyprus. Some of the estimated 1.5m on the island where there are 1.2m humans. Picture in the public domain.

There are several reasons why there are so many cats on Cyprus:

1. Historical background: Cats have been living on the island of Cyprus for thousands of years, dating back to ancient times. They were brought over by early settlers to help control rodent populations.
2. Climate: The warm Mediterranean climate of Cyprus provides an ideal environment for cats to thrive. They are able to survive and reproduce year-round without the threat of harsh winters.
3. Cultural significance: Cats hold a special place in Cypriot culture and are often viewed as good luck symbols. Many locals believe that feeding and caring for cats brings blessings and positive energy into their homes.
4. Lack of spaying/neutering: Many cats on Cyprus are not spayed or neutered, which leads to an overpopulation of cats. Without proper population control, the cat population can quickly grow out of control.
5. Tourism: The island's popularity as a tourist destination has also contributed to the cat population. Tourists often feed and interact with stray cats, leading to their continued presence in urban areas.
6. Overall, the combination of historical factors, climate, cultural significance, lack of spaying/neutering, and tourism has resulted in a high population of cats on Cyprus.

Community cat of Cyprus. Image by Dimitris Vetsikas from Pixabay 

Alonso High School janitor admits shooting at cats with pellet gun and faces the sack and immigration issues

The report is contained in the video. The story is a bit strange for the reason that this man appears to have jeopardized his right to remain in the USA (immigration detention hold) and will acquire a criminal conviction all because he does not like cats and likes to shoot a rifle. One word comes to mind: pathetic. He has been charged with a felony: aggravated cruelty to animals.

A TNR volunteer woman features in the video and she's great. I love her. She was very relieved that the cat shooter has been found and arrested. 

For TNR volunteers it is the worst kind of nightmare. She said that her job is to keep the stray cat population down and the stray cats come from people leaving them behind when they move on.  And this seemed feasible because this is a mobile home park.

Although, I thought they were static mobile homes. Perhaps they are or perhaps they are truly mobile. Or perhaps the kind of people living in the mobile homes at this park are transient. They move around a lot and adopt a cat while they are at the park and leave them behind when they move on.

The exact cause of the stray cat population is not stated but it comes down to cat abandonment and the TNR lady is picking up the pieces.

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. 😎😒

Two New Jersey towns support TNR with one trying and rejecting a trap/kill policy

NEWS AND COMMENT: This story concerns a couple of New Jersey, USA towns. One of them is Bayonne, a city in Hudson County and the other is actually described as a borough and it is Matawan. The latter tried to introduce, in a ham-fisted way, a feral cat trap/kill program which backfired badly.

Matawan

The borough administrators introduced an ordinance which said that they were going to trap stray cats and if nobody claimed them within seven days, they would kill them. And in a badly mismanaged way, they said that the Monmouth County SPCA would do the trapping and killing without consulting with them in the first place. And secondly, they employed the local police force to distribute notices about their new but flawed campaign.

From Facebook.

It all blew up in their face when the SPCA complained bitterly that they hadn't been consulted and the public rebuffed them. The police had to make a statement to say that they weren't involved in the killing of cats. Clearly, the campaign did the police no favours as it damaged their reputation.

Anyway, the mismanaged campaign, organised by Scott Carew (as I understand it), the borough's business administrator together with the animal control officer and councilwoman Melanie Wang, was abandoned without any stray or feral cats being trapped.

They made a U-turn on realising their error and have decided to introduce a new ordnance which focuses on TNR (trap-neuter-release). That's the way to go. But it took the public and the SPCA to teach them that lesson.

Humane and ethical approach

The public are concerned about feral and stray cats. Some people hate them while others are more sensitive towards their needs. But in general, the public want feral cats dealt with humanely. They realise that careless human cat ownership put them there in the first place and secondly, they are sentient beings. The ethical way to deal with feral cats is TNR. It is the only current way, but it requires a good investment and the involvement of the local authority.

This leads me nicely to another story from the same state, New Jersey, which reports that Bayonne's city council has decided to continue with a TNR program which is managed by the New Jersey Humane Society.

Bayonne

They have consistently put in sufficient funds (it seems to me) to run the program. This is a commitment from the local authority to fund TNR and they're using somebody who they respect, Geoffrey Santini, the city's animal control officer who works at the New Jersey Humane Society, to organise the TNR program.

Mr Santini is described by Bayonne's Municipal Services Director Suzanne Cavanaugh as a "lovely gentleman, and he is excellent at what he does. He is a true partner with the city of Bayonne."

That's how it should be done in my view. You have a city council or county council who are focused on TNR to control feral cat numbers. They fund it consistently and they work with the best people to arrange and manage the TNR programs.

According to the report, in the Hudson Reporter, the city has consistently funded TNR and recently agreed to an addendum to the ordnance to add a further $25,000 to the program. The program commenced, as I understand it, in April 2021 when it was funded with taxpayers money amounting to $54,123.

Comment: perhaps local administrators are realising that TNR is the only way forward. It has its flaws according to ornithologists and others because in essence you are putting feral cats back on the ground where they can continue to prey upon wildlife. But patience is required and consistency. Armed with these two qualities TNR works if funded properly.

It needs to be as widespread as possible to be as effective as possible. It is the only way to deal with feral cats currently until something better comes out such as contraception (drug placed in food) which doesn't work well enough.

There are other instances of councils trying to trap and kill feral cats, but they almost invariably end up with a backlash from the public who complain because, as stated, the majority of the public are against the cruelty of trap and kill policies.

Domestic cats caught in trap and kill programmes

And there is always the potential for killing a person's cat companion. There are still places where there are indoor/outdoor cats, and you cannot tell the difference between a feral cat and an outdoor domestic cat (pre-TNR which ear tips ferals). You don't want to kill someone's pet because that would be a catastrophe and it would open the doors to a criminal charge against the local authority for criminal damage.

Greek stray cat's charm and loving personality compels British holiday couple to bring him home

Couple say a kitten "adopted them" after they found him meowing outside their hotel room in Greece. I say this sweet, Greek, stray, bicolour cat used his smarts and charm to compel the couple to adopt him 👍😎. That purr can be so persuasive.

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Toni Czogalik, 23, and her boyfriend were on holiday on the Greek island of Rhodes in October 2022. There was a thunderstorm outside. And there was a small, six-month-old black-and-white kitten outside their hotel room as well and he was meowing to be let in. He was soaked through.

It's probably pretty clear that the thunderstorm frighten the cat and he was looking for some comfort and used his charm and persistence to adopt this British holidaying couple. 

Toni said:

"One night on holiday there was a thunderstorm, and the kitten came to hotel door crying and soaking wet. We looked after him for the night and ever since then he kept coming back to our room and wouldn’t leave us alone. "

They named him Nermal and decided to adopt him. The video explains the difficulties of doing this and also the persistence and intelligence of Toni in achieving her goal. 

She had to go to a veterinarian to get Nermal micro-chipped and vaccinated. They bought a cat carrier from a local pet shop and an ID bag and some treats for the journey to the UK. 

Nermal was then flown from Rhodes to Athens and then he travelled by boat to Italy from where he was driven to the UK to be reunited with Toni. 

He arrived on November 8 and settled in well as you can see from the video. Toni explains the hurdles she encountered but she was aware of them:

"It was really difficult, the first few days I messaged every single charity in Greece that dealt with cats. We first took him to the vet to find out if he was healthy and microchipped. He wasn’t microchipped, so they said he was definitely a stray. The vet then gave him a microchip, rabies vaccination and a health passport, where I then began the process to have him flown over." 

The rescue cost £800 and it took four days in all. I'm not sure who drove him from Italy to the UK. It might have been her boyfriend. Perhaps they hired a car which must've added to the cost substantially. 

Toni and Nermal. Image: Toni and boyfriend.

Toni says that she loves looking after Nermal and she thanks all those who helped her to bring him back to the UK. She said: 

"We fell in love with him as he is the friendliest and most loving little kitten I have ever met. He is so cuddly; he wants to jump on and cuddle you all the time. We are so excited to spoil him and give him the best life in the UK. He is loving life; he is so spoiled. The volunteers were amazing - without them, we wouldn’t have been able to do it." 

It's the kind of task which is a bit daunting but when you fall in love with a stray cat there's nothing else you can do but take him home.

Uncontrolled sibling breeding evident in this black cat brigade

The problem of uncontrolled breeding of unowned (and owned cats regrettably) is very evident in this picture of a group of black cats in the US on a country road.  They all look the same down to the spot of white on their chest on some individuals. 

RELATED: How fast do cats breed?

They are all closely related, parents and siblings.

The capacity of the domestic cat and domestic cats turned stray and feral to procreate is one of the big challenges of humankind. 

RELATED: Female feral cats avoid inbreeding in colonies.

Uncontrolled breeding in a colony of feral cats all of which look the same or very similar. Image: see embossed credit.

Apparently, we are not entirely capable of controlling it despite widespread spaying and neutering. 

A failure to sterilise is the cause of cat hoarders ending up in a massive mess and cruelly neglecting their cats. The opposite is achieved with well manages TNR programs supported by the local authority.

The benefits of controlling cat procreation are seen in TNR.

A tiny minority of cat people believe that a female cat needs to have one litter before feeling whole. This single incorrect superstition is the cause of hundreds of thousands of unwanted cats leading to many feral cats and in turn plenty of feline misery.

Some human thoughts are really silly and dangerous.

There are some interesting and technical downsides to universal spaying of female cats and neutering of male cats.

The most docile and friendliest cats are going to be captured and neutered while the wildest and meanest avoid people and are harder to capture and sterilise. This could lead to pushing the cat's evolution away from where we want it: more adoptable cats.

Also, if there were 100% sterilisation and no breeders the domestic cat would eventually become extinct. Not much chance of that bearing in mind that there are an estimated up to 500 million domestic, stray and feral cats on the planet.

Ingrid Newkirk, the co-founder of PETA would probably like the gradual extinction of the domestic cat as she is firmly against cat domestication. 

Click on this link to read four of her quotes and some comments on them.

Two feral cats are desperate to come in the house

A woman on the mumsnet.com website has befriended a couple of stray cats. She calls them feral cats but they might not be. She wants advice about it. She plans to let the cats come into and use her utility room by putting a cat flap in the door to that room. She is asking about how to arrange that and whether to put down a cat letter.

My answer on the mumsnet.com website is repeated below. I think the point that needs emphasising really is that once you get involved with caring for 2 stray, feral or wandering domestic cats you then become their caregiver and by your behaviour you have adopted them. 

You then have the responsibility to be their caregiver for the rest of their lives. Therefore, this particular moment in time for this woman is a very big one. It will change her life to a certain extent. It depends if she has a cat already.

Indeed, if she has a cat or cats already, adopting to strange cats might cause quite a big problem. She might be lucky but it is likely that the resident cat or cats with object quite strongly to the "invasion" of their home range by these two cats. This will cause quite a big complication for the lady in addition to caring for two cats at the same time.

Two feral cats are desperate to come in the house. She wants to care for them. Photo: mumsnet user: Swifey40.

Below is my answer to the question:

It is probably wise to check that they are genuinely not owned which means checking for a microchip. You can buy a microchip scanner on Amazon for about £30 which I think is better than going to a veterinarian to check because it would be difficult if they are genuinely feral cats.

However, if they are amenable to be placed in a cat carrier and taken to a vet, it might be useful because when checking for a microchip you can also ask the vet to check their health briefly for any obvious signs of injury or illness.

If they pass that test, once you let them into your utility room and feed them and look after them you will have two more cats for the life of the cats which is a big responsibility but it seems that it is one that you are prepared to take on.

I think you can train them to use the cat flap quite easily by leaving it open and putting food on the other side of it. And then after a while you close the cat flap and they will be motivated to get through it in the usual way.

As they are outdoor cats, I don't think you need to put down a litter tray at the moment. And if when you adopt them, they are indoor/outdoor cats, once again, you, strictly speaking, don't need to have a litter tray for them.

Although, it is said that a litter tray is useful in being able to check cat poop which allows you to diagnose some potential health problems as they develop. But that's a fairly minor advantage to set against the disadvantages of cat litter which are environmental and cost for example. Also, cat litter can be dangerous to cats because of the dust that they kick up and ingest.

Good luck and well done by the way for being so concerned about them. That's very good of you.

Postscript. I have an afterthought. If you have a cat or cats already the adoption of two new cat into your home of course will cause potential problems. Sometimes resident cat dislike this tremendously because strange cats are coming onto their territory, their home range. Just an afterthought which came to me a moment after I published my comment.

What would your answer be? I would be pleased to hear from you.

Why are some street cats afraid of humans while others are friendly?

This is a question asked on a social media website and it is an easy one to answer so I can be brief. It is all about socialisation. The street cats, or let's call them feral or semi-feral cats, who are afraid of humans are those that have not been socialised to humans. It is likely, therefore, that these feral cats have been born in the wild and never had the chance when they were newborn kittens to interact with humans and learn that humans are friendly and not to be feared. 

That, of course, is provided that the humans with whom they interact are indeed friendly! And there is also the issue of the personalities of the cats. Some are more confident than others. Timid cats are more likely to be fearful of strangers. But the biggest factor by far is socialisation.

It is part of a cat breeders job to ensure that this process takes place. Without it a cat cannot be a human companion.

Child protects a street cat from the rain. Image: Tumblr.

The way you socialise any cat to a human is to ensure that they are around humans and are interacting with humans as much as possible when they are very young and then they learn quickly that they are safe to be in the company of humans. It is quite likely, too, that some feral cats have the exact opposite experience and are therefore justifiably afraid of humans. That's because a lot of humans dislike feral cats.

RELATED: Kitten development – comprehensive discussion.

Those street cats who are friendly to humans are probably stray domestic cats who have been fully socialised to humans (stray domestic cats) or semi-feral cats that are part of a TNR program during which they interact with volunteers who care for them and ensure that they are spayed and neutered. So, it is all about early interactions with humans which if good ensures that the cat is unafraid when in their company.

RELATED: Sensitive Period of Socialisation for Kittens.

In some countries, there are street cats which are in between true feral cats and domestic cats. These are semi-feral community cats who are looked after by people in the community such as shopkeepers. The trouble is that they're not looked after in a complete sense. They are fed but the caregiving does not extend to veterinary treatment and therefore they must have shorter life spans on average than normal domestic cats.

Woman's new home came with two stray cats and they changed her life

Julia Davis, 24, begins the story of her relationship with 2 stray cats that she met at her new home by saying: "The new house that I'm moving into literally came with a cat". She subsequently found another! So, her new home came with two cats, one white and one black, and they changed her life.

Davis, Coop and in the background the chicken coop where he was found. Image: Julia Davis.

She already had a TikTok page and decided to document the story of her new cat companion who with the help of TikTok visitors decided to call him 'Cooper' because he was found in a chicken coop at the back of the house (is it a chicken coop?). I guess he had used it for cover and as a home. As she approached the construction, she saw the fluffy, white stray cat.

The video explains what happened. 

@julia_adavis Drop name suggestions in the comments! Bonus-I really like names that are nouns or names that have shorter nicknames that end in the “e” sound #names #cat ♬ original sound - Julia Davis

Note: This is an embedded video from another website. Sometimes they are deleted at source or the video is turned into a link which would stop it working here. I have no control over this.

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She noticed that he had not been cared for and was therefore a stray perhaps formerly owned as he was very friendly. She adopted him there and then it seems to me. She decided to take him to a veterinarian pretty well immediately and I guess as soon as possible because his ears were in a bad way and he needed to be checked over and receive some basic veterinary care. He had probably been in fights with other cats. That's how their ears get scratched and torn.

RELATED: No One Owns Stray Or Feral Cats.

A few days later Davies posted another TikTok video showing the discovery of a second cat, this time black, sitting on the roof of the chicken coop and waiting to be adopted! He was also in poor health. She named him 'Rufus' and decided to take care of him as well.

She provides regular updates on her TikTok page about her relationship with these two friendly stray cats who are no longer strays. As long as her viewers are interested - and they are - she said that she would continue to provide updates.

And she kindly said: "I honestly like to say these cats belong to all of us. Everyone who watches my videos has played a part in their care. It's been a massive group effort that's restored my faith in humanity."

She said that because of the help that she had received from the community of TikTok users, "These cats have a better life than they had before. I think that's really awesome".

And of course, they have helped her. She has a better life than before it seems to me with TikTok success. And the backstory is a good one: cat welfare. Two cats have a much better life; a life that they should have as domestic cat companions and not struggling strays. You can see how keen Coop was to receive the touch of a human hand in the video.

P.S. There have been instances of people moving home who have deliberately left their domestic cat companion behind because either (1) they want to get rid of their cat or (2) they believe that domestic cats should stay with their home as they are wedded to their home range.

Cyprus: where feral cats outnumber humans

NEWS AND COMMENT-CYPRUS: Cyprus is the place where archaeologists excavated evidence of the first domesticated wildcat. It is believed that the deceased person brought his 'domestic cat' over from the mainland. This would have been a domesticated wildcat and it happened about 10,000 years ago. And now Cyprus is in the news again. They don't know how many feral cats they have but at a rough estimate they think it could be a similar number to the human population of the island which is 1.2 million.

Sadly, Cyprus has a reputation-a long-lived reputation-of having too many feral and stray cats. They are known for it. But it seems that the government has continuously brushed the problem under the carpet. Perhaps they think that it is a tourist attraction! I don't think it can or should ever be a tourist attraction.

Is the breeding season for cats extended in Cyprus? We know that oestrus is brought on by extended daylight hours after shorter hours of daylight. And temperature has a role in inducing ovulation in domestic and stray cats. Perhaps the climatic conditions of Cyprus induces oestrus more efficiently than in the northern European states?

REALTED: Cats may have been first domesticated 14,500 years ago.

Stray and feral cats of Nicosia. Photo: Cyprus Mail.

And when there are that many feral and stray cats sitting around and wandering around the streets of Cyprus you are bound to get the odd person who wants to kill them and abuse them. And in any case, it is simply cruel to create or to allow to create feral cats in these numbers because they live tough lives. No doubt they depend upon kind people to feed them but they're not going to receive veterinary care unless under exceptional circumstances.

What I like about the story is that the policymakers of that island i.e. the politicians, see that the solution is to put money into TNR programs. They admit that the current funding of TNR programs on the island is far too low. They are spaying and neutering between 1500-2000 cats annually. At that rate, is estimated, it will take between 500-600 years to spay and neuter 1 million+ stray and feral cats.

The European Union has a target of 75% stray cats to be sterilised. The government of Cyprus is going to increase state funding of TNR to €100,000. The opposition party states that that is not enough. It almost certainly isn't enough. By the look of it, it is far too little, actually.

What is nice about this discussion is that the government is looking at TNR and not looking at killing stray and feral cats which is the policy in Australia. I don't see any discussion about mass slaughter in online news media. That, at least, is a step in the right direction. And it disheartening to think that the government is involved in TNR. When governments get involved and help volunteers and NGOs you get more effective TNR programs. In the case of Cyprus, it has to be an island-wide TNR coordinated programme. It has to be organised carefully. That is the way I see it working out.

However, Cyprus is well known as having a feral and stray cat problem as does neighbouring Greece. It must be the climate. These warm climates allow feral cats to survive more easily but the back story is straightforward: it's the people of the island who carelessly allow their cats to procreate. If every Cypriot sterilised their domestic cat and looked after them properly, there will be no feral cats. Every feral cat anywhere is the result of careless cat ownership, at root.

Clearly, the government of Cyprus has under-prioritised the feral cat problem. This is completely to be expected. Feral cats are low down the priority list for government expenditure. But there comes a time when something has to be done and that moment appears to have arrived.

And as mentioned, when you have a high visibility of unknown cats wandering around the streets, you're bound to get animal cruelty. There are often reports of stray cats and indoor/outdoor domestic cats being severely mistreated. This puts pressure on the government to tackle the problem because otherwise they are condoning animal abuse through inactivity.

For example, in January 2021, members of the public reported that up to 11 cats were killed near a cat café in Oroklini. And in August a person was arrested for killing a cat. A recent high-profile case has emerged from Greece in which a man kicked a cat into the sea by Taverna. 

The crime was videoed and uploaded to social media where it sparked outrage. As I recall that man has been arrested and charged. The news media states that he faces 10 years in prison. That will not happen believe me. In Greece, an act of animal cruelty can lead to a maximum of 10 years in prison and a maximum fine of €50,000. How many times is the maximum punishment dished out? Never, I would argue.