As people walk through the streets, they can easily spot many animals. There are various kinds of animals, birds flying in the air or ground- dwelling dogs and cats and so on. Above all, people most often see cats than any other animals. Why are they especially familiar with stray cats rather than other stray animals?
According to article 14 of the animal protection law, people have to take action to protect stray animals when they run into them. So it is easy to take stray dogs to an animal shelter. But stray cats have not been qualified for protection under the same law. Also, there are more stray cats than dogs because their reproductive rates are much higher. Since people live near stray cats, there are rising problems of hatred for cats. It develops into a hearty dislike of cat-moms who take care of stray cats. They think that stray cat problems like noise and smell are getting worse by cat- moms because they gather cats and help increase the stray cat population.
Unfortunate incidents caused by hatred for cats and cat-moms have also happened these days. A dismembered body of a cat was discovered four times in a row in a month around the area of Mapo-gu last year. Also, the petition was posted on the Cheong Wa Dae website, demanding the harsh punishment of the case that strangle and throwing stray cats just because pregnant stray cat entered his shop. After seeing an interview of cat- moms, anyone can easily notice that the number of attacks on cat-moms during caring for stray cats is not exactly low.
But people coexist with cats. Certainly, everyone is closely connected to cats. Because human beings share living areas with cats and also cats control a reasonable population of rats in ecological systems. People must show consideration for cats to live with them on the same ground. Let’s take a look at what people are
doing now to be in harmony with stray cats and think about what we should do from now on for a better future.
It is necessary to fully understand cats to live together with them which have different characteristics from people. If people know the meaning of a cat’s behavior and habit in advance, it would be easier to relieve vague fear and repulsion.
Therefore, it is important to learn about the traits of cats. Attitudes of cats being cautious about people would be more an instinct for survival learned from bullying by people for a long time than just a habit. Manner maketh man, manner maketh cats. It means that the way people treat cats can change acts of cats. Typical examples of a cat’s behaviors and expressions are as follows. It means cats are feeling of trust when cats are blinking fast looking at people. The motion of cats keeps covering something by their front paws due to the habit of covering tracks. And cats show their belly to express affection but people should be careful not to touch the belly because they hate it. Also, if they have their tails up straight, we must not touch them because cats are in a tensed and unstable situation at that moment.
Someone who takes care of stray cats is called a cat-mom. To live together more peacefully with cats, it is important to not only co-exist between people and cats but also understand one another in the relationship between cat-moms and other people. So let’s take a look and understand the role of cat-mom.
Cat-mom is commonly known as people who feed stray cats. These stray cats live 2~3 years on average while cats originally live 15 years on average. Stray cats are more likely to die at an early age because of unstable living conditions like insufficient foods and exposure to various cruelty. So, cat-moms have a role of protecting and caring for the weak. But there is also unwelcome attention to cat-mom. There are some people who don’t like cats because cats are scary, noisy, and their droppings smelling bad. Moreover, stray cats disfigure the cityscape but cat moms gather stray cats and make their population grow. Cat haters point out some unclean places after feeding stray cats.
The first introduced way to deal with the stray cat problem mentioned above was the ‘mercy killing’. Jongno-gu implemented the policy of trap-mercy killing between 2006 and 2009, but a new problem occurred. An increased number of rats chewed electric cables and scrambled in the restaurants.
Moreover, it was found that the declining population of stray cats by mercy killing does not last long enough. When stray cats in a certain area disappear, the cat population would increase rapidly because of the reproduction by other stray cats from the neighboring area. This is called a 'Vaccum effect'. Therefore, the way of the past is considered to be ineffective and unethical.
These days, TNR is used to deal with a matter of stray cat problem. TNR is short for ‘Trapping most of the group cats, Neutering them, and Returning them to the original site’. And then, we feed them regularly, make a shelter for them and monitor the site not to introduce cats from other sites.
According to statistics by Seoul Metropolitan Government, the number of stray cats has decreased 53.6%, from 250,000 to 116,000 by a policy of TNR. It means TNR is more ethical and effective way than the way of the past.
The question that must be asked here is this: What is the proper role of cat moms?
The role of cat moms should not be ended in just feeding, Cat-mom should participate in steps of TNR and make an effort to control the population of stray cats. If cat moms feed stray cats regularly, cats would less likely to ruin bin bags and they would not disfigure the cityscape. Also, if cat moms take part in doing TNR for stray cats, the population of stray cats would decline and it leads to solving the noise problem due to mating or fights and control breeding of rats.
The point is that complaints about problems by stray cats would be solved through the role of cat moms. So, others have to know exactly about what cat moms are doing and understand them.
What are the ways for cat moms to do TNR step by step? But above all, there is one point you should be aware of. There are definite standards for classification between targets and non-targets for TNR. Cats who are under six months old or weigh less than 2.5kg are not qualified for TNR. Cats who are pregnant or nursing and cats who have been less than 2 months after giving birth are excluded too.
If all requirements are met, we could start enacting TNR through local governments. For example, in the case of Cheong-Ju, click the ‘citizen participation’ tab on its website and we can see several categories including ‘TNR.’ Other local governments are doing the same. In addition, Korea Cat Protection Association, KARA, and abbreviation for Korea Animal Rights Advocates, are also supporting their member’s expense on TNR under some conditions.
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Interview Here is a full transcription of the interview with the chief of the club ‘Stray Cat Edu’. (This club does stray cat protection activities.) Q1. Introduce about club activities, ‘Stray cat Edu’. A. We aim to make peaceful coexistence between people and stray cats without damaging each other on the campus. We are running a soup kitchen for stray cats, taking part in the business of TNR, supporting medical assistance for stray cats, conducting profit businesses for raising money to do club activities as mentioned above, and so on. Q2.Have you ever been in conflict during caring for cats(club activities) with people who don’t like cats? How did you solve the problem? A. Some anonymous postings were saying that “Stray cat Edu is a club for just adoring cats.” or “Stray cat Edu is attributing to growing population of cats. Q3. Are there any changes in your mind after your direct involvement in caring for cats? So what changed? How did it change? A. Before taking part in club activities, I thought that stray cats live in a leisurely way. But since Q4. Is there anything to be aware of or consider when feeding and caring for stray cats? A. It is good for both cats and people that trying not to touch stray cats. It would be easier for cats to be exposed to harassment if they become familiar with people. It is also easier for people to be infected and attacked by stray cats when they touch stray cats. Especially, someone who has a cat at home needs to be more cautious about hygiene to prevent infection to the house cat. Q5. Are there any problems with caring for stray cats on campus? A. Our club has a lot of items to care for and manage, like donated animal foods and snacks, cages for TNR, a stack of straws for keeping shelter warm in winter, and so on. So, the most difficult thing is that there is no fit place to store things because our club is not qualified as an official club since we were rejected in the last screening. We hope to receive enough votes in favor and become an official club next time. Q6. Is there anything else you'd like to tell members of the campus? A. I'd like to express my thanks to all who cheer us, ‘Stray cat Edu.’ We are accepting applications for members at all times. If you have any questions or comments, contact us through Kakaotalk or Instagram @straycatedu. |
It is necessary to have a recognition that everyone has collective responsibility for the rising population of stray cats. The major reason why stray cats exist in Korea where no native cats live is that house cats are abandoned. To minimize the problems with stray cats, it would be a good way to raise house cats with responsibility.
As previously stated, stray cats are weak things because they are not be provided a stable life.
Therefore people have to be more broadminded and be generous to them because people are relatively stronger than them. It is wrong to consider the stray cat problem as a matter of preference. The stray cat problem has to be considered as a social issue about coexistence between each different individual. So everyone should care about stray cats and understand what cat moms do. Thoughtful caring for them would be the first important step towards a harmonious shared society.