Ferals in Peril

I’ve posted a lot about homeless people in the past, but we shouldn’t forget that there are a lot of homeless animals out there as well.

Basia Zamorska is a stylist, who, in her day job, rubs shoulders with the rich and famous, at photo-shoots and on movie sets. But by night she changes into bag lady clothes and prowls the unforgiving and sometimes dangerous streets of New York City, tending to various colonies of feral cats, feeding them and using the approved and tried and tested method of trap-neuter-return. This is generally acknowledged by cat charities to be a good method of managing feral cat colonies.

She’s also managed, against all the odds, to find homes for some of the feral cats she’s come across, and got them adopted. So far so good.

Now, however, one of the colonies she supports with her tireless efforts is under threat. The neighbourhood is being gentrified, and as a result, the owner of the site has come under pressure from some of the residents to stop Basia from feeding the ferals, on the grounds that the food she puts down “encourages rats”.

Now you would have to be one pretty brave (or desperate) rat to venture into the midst of a colony of feral cats and try and steal the food out of their mouths. It would make the charge of the Light Brigade look like a stroll in the park. Plus, these dumbasses don’t realise that, as this is a waterfront area, there are going to be rats there anyway, and without cats to keep them in check, there’ll be a damn sight more!

If I was feeling uncharitable today, I would be tempted to say that these people should be forced to spend a few nights on the street themselves, especially in a bitter New York winter. Then they might realise the valuable work that is being done here.

But for now I will confine myself to a few words from Gandhi:

I hold that the more helpless a creature, the more entitled it is to protection by man from the cruelty of man.

If you want to show your support for Basia Zamorska’s work, you can sign a petition online to do so here:

http://savedumbo.com/