I've been involved in 3 adoption drives so far... met and talked to something like a gazillion people.
Some are huge fans of our feline friends, others like them but are not interested in having much to do with them, the rest are plain awful... filled with silly demands and fancies. Not to mention those who hate cats, but want to unburden their grievances against them on the volunteers.
Basically, these people can be divided into 3 groups -- The Good, The Bad and The Ugly. Here are some examples...
The Good (made up mostly, but not exclusively, of cat-lovers)
- a young lady, having heard the fate that awaited 2 kittens if they were not adopted out soon, volunteered on the spot to foster them while we continued to look for a good family to take them in permanently
- a couple who wanted to adopt only 1 cat, but couldn't bear to have it separated from its sibling, so they opened their hearts and home to both cats
- a man, who isn't a cat-lover, was interested in finding out more them after reading the many forum letters in the newspapers about the ban of cats in HDB flats... he was also keen to understand how he could help if he saw pest control taking sterilised community cats away
- a man and his family who only wanted a Persian or Siamese cat... they had no interest in any of the rescued local cats because "they are ugly"
- a woman who wanted a black cat to match her furniture
- man who didn't think there was anything wrong in leashing up his indoor cats in the day and caging them in the night
The Ugly
- a man, who had no interest at all in cats, felt compelled to walk by and announce that cats were utterly useless and ungrateful, unlike dogs
- a man who tried to roughly remove a kitten from its cage, without the permission of the foster, just so he could play with it... he disregarded the many dogs in the same area who could have badly injured, even killed the kitten, if it had broken loose from him
- people who can't accept that it is possible for a cat of their choice to have just been adopted out to someone else... they believe they ought to get everything they want when they want it
- people who refuse to understand why we can't let too many of them near the cats... they don't care that noisy crowds, strange places and the constant poking with pamphlets cause the cats great stress, and they make their anger known to us (ain't that right, CatDonna?)
But, in spite of The Bad and The Ugly, I love being at adoption drives talking to the public. It is shocking just how many crap ideas people have about cats. So it's important to try and properly educate them on the caring for cats and living with them.
And I want to say a BIG Thank You to The Good from all of us volunteers and cats. You really are angels.
~5-Cat Style
13 comments:
for the non-cat lover to find out more about cats so that he could help in any way he can: 100 kibbles on the way. sorry, Bless x 1000000000... infinity.
for those who see it fit to poke cats with pamphlets or even forcibly taking the kitten out:i'd suggest that they go sterilise themselves in their face. sorry, ask what their mental age really is - that's more like it. singapoLeans cannot offend one leh, make them loose [misspelling intended] face one you know.
heh. what did i say about sin-gah-pore [that's how alot of them young, "modern", independent, graduate peasants pronounce our dear islet, don't they?]: first world infrastructure, populated by third world idiots.
sorry me again. thanks very much for the Spock and Captain "beam me up, Scotty!" Kirk - you know what it's like for a star trek fan :)
Cat lover AND Star Trek Fan! You rule!
I guess it takes all kinds, but the bad and ugly shouldn't be allowed to bring harm to animals with their bad attitudes. My people go to model train shows, where they see a similar cross-section in the parents who bring their kids. Good: parent and child look but don't touch, show interest, and ask questions. Bad: interested parent drags uninterested child around well beyond child's tolerance. Ugly: a parent who scolded *us* for asking her son not to touch the models. "If you're going to put them out, he should be allowed to play with them." Try that by the lion cage, lady!
I don't know Singapore at all, but if the cat adoption booths are run by women, are men more arrogant and disrespectful?
bonnie underfoot - your observation is spot on. my previous experience working at the town council office many many moons ago proved it many times over: whenever they hear female voices on the phone, these twats - i hate to say this, but they tend to be ethnic Chinese - will not hesitate to shout and insult your intelligence. i still clearly remember this episode:
the letter b: "good morning, xxx town council.."
twat yelling down on the phone: "F*ck your mother, yadda blah whinge....."
the letter b: "f*ck your mother too."
twat still yelling: "what you said? i want to compRain to your manager! how dare you raise your voice at me!"
the letter b: "go ahead, i challenge you to do so. anyways who the f*ck do you think you are?"
twat called again to speak to my manager, and guess what? he spoke CIVILLY to said manager because it's a he. and emphasising the fact that he didn't like the way i spoke to him. PARDON?
and it is their very disrespect towards women that their fellow lowest of the lowest denominator peasant females are so ever desperate to land a white [read: trophy] husband. besides their bulging wallet. read: white man -> fabulously wealthy who live in castles back home where the streets are paved with gold.
BUT on hindsight, any wonder why the men are arrogant and disrespectful if the women themselves are wont to dress scantily - "i'm so proud of my body that's why i'm flaunting it/oh less is more, or so my whitey boyfriend says".
I hope ultimately the good outweigh the bad & the ugly.
I'm with the letter b: Kudos to the non-cat lover who's broad and civic-minded enough to recognise the problem and what he can do something!
Hi 5-Cat Style, hopefully the number of good outweighs the bad & the uglies.
Yes you are right, an adoption drive is not just to find good homes for the kitties but it is a great opportunity to educate the public about cats.
Plus it is a great test on your patience to deal the bad & the uglies.
good job handling all those nutty people.
the cats all so cute. if i were there, sure end up with more cats...
gigolo kitty - "SPACE: the final frontier... these are the voyages of the starship enterprise. her five-year mission... "
good lordy, i can still remember those lines yet i can't even recall whom i met yesterday.
calsifer - thank you and bless :)
Hi everybody! :)
Well... the number of The Good seem to be about the same as The Bad and The Ugly. I certainly do hope that over time, we'll begin to see The Good outnumbering the rest.
Bonnie, in Singapore the adoption booths are run mostly by women... petite women. In my own experience, this does not result in a greater number of men acting disrespectfully towards the volunteers. But, it has shown that the men who chose to be nasty felt more bold about being that way because they believed that they could bully the women more easily. I doubt they would be as nasty if the volunteer had been a man.
~5-Cat Style
That's what I was afraid of - there are cultural issues on top of whether people like cats or prefer purebreds. It's sad that the cats are caught in the middle of the muddle, homeless because of humans and dependent upon humans to save them. I imagine it's frustrating, but the rewards - happy cats in good homes - are worth it. Kudos (and purrs) to all the cat rescuers of Singapore, Malasia, and elsewhere.
Enjoyed a lot! » »
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