please, please, please, don't shoot the cat

the anti-cat undercurrent has got to stop:

pfeiffer, a one-year old cat, was shot with a cross-bow last week, and miraculously survived. no suspects yet. (warning: graphic image)

in a uk neighborhood, 8 cats have been poisoned to death. was it a pro-bird/anti-cat killing? it's happened before.

we've got a ways to go before we truly embrace the no kill philosophy, as a nation and as people.

this cute dog thinks he's a cat. he even uses the litter box and is being adopted out through a cat-specific rescue group! now that's a dog who'd fit right in here. he and lucy could cuddle.

poodles groomed to look like other animals: cruelty or comedy? tell us what you think.

larry lynx likes licking lakes! say that five times fast!

"it stalks the winter woods on big paws, its ears erupting with shocks of long hair." no, it's not grandpa - it's a lynx!

what part of "don't shoot the cat" do some people not understand?

another day, another puppy mill seizure. mills are for churning grain, not turning helpless dogs into baby machines. stop puppy mills!

ready for a daily dose of adorable? hold on to your hat cuz it's baby koala time!

treats are food, too! here's a good guide to picking the healthiest ones for your fur family.

cats and birds and who's to blame?

the new york times is running an article today questioning the old debate between birders and cat enthusiasts - who's killing all the birds? with no real conclusions reached in the article we thought we'd go ahead and side with team cats; not because we are biased by our cat-worshipping, or our rallying against that stupid cat-shooting bill, or because we don't love birds (we do!), but because there is plenty on information out there that exonerates the cat and places the blame squarely on human shoulders.

"in a 2000 report by the World Conservation Union surveying 1,173 threatened bird species, habitat loss was the most important threat, affecting 83% of the bird species sampled. across the United States, little land is left untouched by human development, modification, fragmentation, and pollution. already human activities have led to the extinction of 10% of the world’s bird species—in some locales, that number rises to as much as 90%. today more than a thousand bird species are listed as threatened, and scientists predict between 500 and 600 of those will go extinct in the next 50 years. "

alley cat allies, whose mission is "to end the killing of cats and lead the movement for their humane care," is one of the leading proponents of trap-neuter-return programs that seek to reduce the populations of feral cat colonies over time via sterilization and natural die-off, which in turn helps lower the feline threat to birds. killing the cats would not take pressure off the birds because there will always be more cats to move into that newly opened-up area, where resources (rodents, birds) will again be plentiful. t-n-r places the fixed cats back into their territory, where their presence prevents other cats from moving in.

nobody wants the birds to die, but we also don't want an entire species of animal to take the fall. we are all responsible for our part in the world. let's work towards a better future where we won't have to worry about losing any species of animal.

here, kitty kitty on pbs this saturday!

     you may not remember everything that happened back in 2005, but you probably recall the proposal that got the whole state talking - question 62.  it was the proposal to declare feral cats an un-protected specie and therefore shoot-able.  thankfully, it didn't pass.  we like to think that it's failure was in large part due to the success of  local, feral-friendly group, don't shoot the cat, and the efforts of madcat's very own fearless leader, ted.  

after the proposals failure, local filmmaker, andy beversdorf, filmed a documentary, called here, kitty kitty, that examined both sides of the argument and the controversy it caused.  happily, the documentary will be air this saturday night on pbs at 10:00pm, preceded by an interview with the director at 9:3opm.  be sure to tune in and check out ted and a couple of our now-famous west-side kitties as they tackle the issue that only pushed us further into no kill territory.