For Marigold

The birds are dying, so they tell us. We are considered the enemy. We are the soldiers who fight on behalf of the cats.

 Cleveland Amory a stellar animal champion, once talked of his belief in “the army of the kind.” But we are not allowed that title, we who trap the unwanted and move them to safer places. We carry the title, Crazy Cat Ladies, which we accept with a smile, never acknowledging its trivializing effect. 

To allow ourselves to fall into a category which is considered a joke we are not acknowledging the truth that it is those who fight us who are the crazy ones.

Today it became clear that it is worth writing about.

 Isn’t it crazy for someone to be so full of hate, that he would take a tiny creature barely 2 pounds, caught in a trap and bring this defenseless kitten to an animal hospital and ask that it be killed? The indictment was that cats were killing the songbirds. And we are the crazy ones?

 As an avid “birder” who photographs my feeder friends, I have not seen a dead bird in my yard in almost 19 years, despite 2 feral cats who regularly visit me. I’m not saying it never happens, I’m saying it’s not rampant and not a reason to kill a kitten.  Of course the same mentality excuses the slaughter of deer for their decimation of flowering shrubs.

I love birds, I draw them endlessly and except for my sadness at the idea of caging them, I would have dozens of them around me singing, talking and doing all the loveable things that birds do. But I love cats and dogs and deer, squirrels, raccoon and lots of critters that at times clash with our personal hobbies, homes and lifestyles. Eradicating them is not the answer.

If I had my design, I would choose the Edward Hicks model, the Peaceable Kingdom. The lion would lie down with the lamb. I’m sure I’m not alone, when one considers Hicks is considered one of America’s favorite artists and he painted that subject over 100 times.

It is a common dream and one worth working towards, so, if not the lion and the lamb right now, can we at least declare a moratorium on the attempts to eradicate feline colonies? Don’t they have at least  as much right to live in our towns as the squirrels who raid our bird feeders?

The humane solution is Trap, Neuter and Return, and it is a movement whose time has come. We are evolving as a species and recognize, however slowly, that these are moral issues, not to be trivialized by names that deny the effort, wisdom and compassion of those who spend their time, money and yes their lives fighting for a kinder world.

So here’s to little Marigold who survived a verdict through the kindness of a vet, and a few dedicated women who are nurturing her and trying to convince her that the crazy ones, the real crazy ones, will never get their hands on her again. We hope she will give humans a second chance.