Kristen Lindsey won’t face criminal charges! | PoC

Kristen Lindsey won’t face criminal charges! | PoC

This is a simple cross-post to spread the word. Please click on the above link to read about this unhappy development from the perspective of cat and animal lovers. I am sure this outcome will have surprised many but many people will also be unsurprised as there appears to be a lack of will to process prosecutions against animal cruelty. The news is disappointing by somewhat predictable.

For those who have not heared of the notorious veterinarian Kristen Lindsey please read these articles. She likes to kill animals. She made that known to us all on Facebook in her own words. Not ideal for a vet, don't you think?

Dogs Allowed in Outdoor Dining Areas in New York but Not Cats

I suppose it goes without saying that when a new law is being debated in the New York Senate concerning whether they should allow dogs to accompany their masters into outdoor areas in restaurants in the state of New York, cats are bound to be omitted from the discussion because cats don't do well on leashes, do they?  Well, a lot of cats do just fine on a leash although it does take longer to train them.  It's a great shame that cats are difficult to train to accept a leash and also that they are essentially solitary creatures and not pack animals because it makes them unsuited to accompany their owner to a restaurant or so the legislators believe.

In May 14, 2015 it was reported that the legislature of New York state were debating the right of dog owners to take their dogs to outside areas of restaurants.  The impression was that the bill would be passed.  Provided the dog is accompanied by the diner they will be allowed into outdoor eating areas.

Under the new law (not yet enacted) dogs will have to be kept on leashes.  Dogs cannot set foot inside the restaurant and they will enter through an alternative entrance.  Dogs will not be allowed into any outdoor areas where food is prepared.

It does seem very natural to allow a dog to eat with his owner because I'm sure that this happens a lot at home.  As mentioned, the bill makes no mention of cats being allowed in outdoor areas of restaurants.  Is the bill discriminating against cat owners? I wonder why they couldn't include cats into the legislation because there are cats around, as mentioned, who act rather like dogs and who are comfortable on a lead.  Provided they complied with all the rules are set out under the new legislation, I cannot see any reason why they should not be allowed to do what dogs can do.

Ah, I have just thought of a reason: the dogs will chase the cats! Therefore this is discrimination. Another form of discrimination is that cats are taken to the vet less than dogs.

The bill and the discussion indicates that people think that companion animals are inherently a health hazard to people otherwise the legislators would have allowed cats and dogs to company people to restaurants in the past.

As an aside, I consistently read that people who look after companion animals are some of the most prolific lobbyists of legislators in the USA.  They write the most e-mails and make more calls to politicians than other people.  This indicates a passion which we know that cat and dog owners have.

At the moment, as far as I know, California is the only state allowing dogs in outside areas of restaurants.

Five Female Wildcats Are the Ancestors of All Today's Domestic and Feral Cats

It seems extraordinary but based upon DNA research five female North African wildcats (felis silvestris lybica) are the ancestors of the entire world's approximate 500,000,000 house cats.  To reiterate; the research tells us is that all of today's domestic cats come from just these 5 female North African wildcats.  

The researchers concluded that five females of this species of wildcat made the transition from being wild to being semi-domesticated within settlements where they were safe from predators and where they had a ready supply of rodents as prey which infested the settlers' homes and granaries.

As all the feral cats in the world today come from domestic cats then we have to say that all of the domestic, stray and feral cats on the planet today are descended from five female cats of the species felis silvestris lybica.

The research was carried out by Carlos Driscoll of the US National Cancer Institute and colleagues including David MacDonald of Oxford University. They spent more than 6 years analysing the DNA of wildcats,  purebred cats and house cats.

They discovered that the DNA of all house cats (including of course purebred cats) fall within the DNA cluster of the Near Eastern wild cat.  This made this subspecies of wildcat the ancestor of the domestic cat.

Source: NY Times June 29th 2007. The photo is of my tabby cat in whom you can see the North African wildcat ancestor!

Eastern Cougar To Be Removed from the Endangered Species List

Camera trap photograph of cougar

The Fish and Wildlife Service propose removing the Eastern Cougar from the Endangered Species List because they say that it is “likely" to be extinct.  Therefore they are not completely sure.  The reason why they're not completely sure is because there are still cougar sightings in the east of the United States.  There are often seen in North Carolina for instance.  The Fish and Wildlife Service would say that these odd mountain lion sightings are cats that have wandered in from the west or escaped captive cougars.  They might also be from Florida where there is a small population of cougars and finally they may be incorrect sightings.

I have noticed that way back in 2011 the Fish and Wildlife Service made a similar pronouncement that the cougar was extinct in the East.  The difference this time is that they are proposing removing the species from the Endangered Species List.  Obviously if an animal is extinct there is no point in listing it as endangered.

Most cougars disappeared in the nineteenth century as they were killed by European immigrants or due to loss of their habitat when forests were cleared.  In addition, the cougar's main prey, white-tailed deer, was hunted by humans and almost became extinct in North America.

One formally reported sighting of a male cougar in the east of the USA was in 2011 when a solitary young male travelled 2000 miles from South Dakota through Minnesota, Wisconsin and New York.  It was killed on the highway in Connecticut. A motor vehicle killed this cougar.  In Florida, as I understand it, the Florida panther is most often killed by motor vehicles as highways criss-cross the state.  Highways also present natural barriers to wild cougars.

I wonder how may people consider this to be a sad day to declare the eastern cougar extinct.  There is one question mark for me and that is whether the eastern cougar is a distinct subspecies.

Why Cats Purr When Under Duress

The classic reason why cats purr is because they are content.  That is the image we have but since the age of the Internet most of us now know that cats purr at other times, when for example they are in great pain, injured or even dying.  Contentment is not only the reason for purring.  Dr Morris says that this can be explained if we decide that purring is a signal indicating a need for friendship.  It is signal which says to an owner “thank you for your friendship given".

Some people still consider that purring is a mystery.  They believe that we still don't know why cats purr because it occurs on so many occasions other than when they are content.  I wonder if we can look to ourselves for an explanation.  Often when people are under duress or stress they present to the world an image that they are unconcerned.  They do this by trying to look calm and sometimes they vocalise in a way which indicates that they are calm and content.  Some people whistle when they are under stress or they might become more talkative.  Some people might hum as a way of looking calm and also calming themselves.  These are survival instincts which are still present in humans. I wonder whether these human behaviours shed some light on why cats purr when they are under duress?

My instincts tell me that cats purr when they are under duress as a way of calming themselves and presenting to the world that they are less concerned than they really are, as a means of survival.  That is my personal assessment and it is different to that of Dr Morris.