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| Cats. They're complex. |
The world seems divided between those who care about the
welfare of cats and those who would rather see them gone. Welfare of cat
populations – owned, semi-owned and feral – is a complex, emotive issue.
What is beyond doubt is that cats are sentient beings, capable
of suffering. In the words of Professor John Webster, they have “feelings that
matter”. And if we are going to address problems associated with cats –
particularly semi-owned and feral – responsibility needs to be taken by
Governments, NGO, cat owners, cat breeders and sellers, those who feed cats and
veterinarians.
International Cat Care has released an “International
Declaration of Responsibilities to Cats”.
I was interested in all of it, but as a veterinarian
particularly interested in my responsibilities to cats. These include ensuring
cats in my care have their welfare needs met, refusal of declawing (fortunately
not an issue as declawing for non-medical reasons is not legal in Australia), stress-minimising
veterinary facilities and handling, encouraging them to
microchip and desex cats, providing pain relief when required, providing humane
euthanasia, striving to keep up to date about cat welfare and working constructively
with local authorities and NGOs on cat welfare issues. All of which I am happy to continue to do.
You can read the full declaration here.
If you agree, you can sign the declaration here.
Here is a message from International Cat Care:
We’d be really
grateful it you would read and sign the Declaration. You can also support
this initiative by posing for a photo using one of our signs and sharing this
photo on social media. If you do this, please use the hashtag #catdeclaration,
as we’d love to see your photos!
At present, after a ‘soft launch’ of
the document, we have just under 6,000 signatures from 80 different countries.
In addition, we need help in
translating the Declaration into other languages, so it can be used
worldwide. Can you help? Currently we volunteers for Hebrew and Portuguese
translations, but would be very grateful if anyone could help with others – it
would make a big difference.
