What Can I Do to Help the Environment?

Feral cats wandered about when we first came to live in my area. It is country, near a large city. I had a cat of my own and did not wish him infected. My neighbor and I decided to try and trap the cats, to have them spayed and neutered. We lured them nearer with food. My vet was willing to perform the surgeries if she could determine they were not rabid. After some difficulties, and lots of patience, we finally got most of them. Eleven. They appeared to be related. Two were extremely ill, so were put down. The veterinarian then went ahead. The kittens stopped coming, and eventually I was able to lure three cats into the house. Frightened of man, they suffer touching poorly, or not at all. They also suffer dreadfully through a cold winter, lose parts of their ears, and have an early death. My three lived into their twenties.

Before these events, I fed them all at a raised area. I tried to play with them by dragging a stick along the ground. They had no concept of play-just sat and stared at the stick. One day a worker came for the furnace. I opened the door to his stunned expression. "Do you know you have six cats on your roof?" I smiled. He had no idea. Another day, an old, long-haired male came, and sat in the next yard. The two older females went directly to him, rubbing sides and noses. There was an answer to the burgeoning population. He had come to say goodbye to his family. We never saw him again. All of the other cats who refused to come in, gradually disappeared.

I imagine a few of you who live in the country have been faced with this dilemma. Back when I was uncertain what to do, the local vet suggested trapping them to put them all down. I could not. A woman who had a shelter further into the country, said, they are God's creatures; you must feed them. I did. These are sad situations, and we must do what we can to help these unfortunate animals who are innocent victims of their environment. We must take a higher ground.

What would you have done?

Someone, one day, had abandoned a cat.