CATastrophe narrowly avoided at Maryland school

  • Thread starter Thread starter ExCatholicGuy
  • Start date Start date
Status
Not open for further replies.
On first blush, closing the school sounds like an overreaction, but perhaps it wasn’t. The closure may have been done for legal reasons. If the cat had bit or scratched one of the children, the school district would likely be held responsible. An alternative perspective is that the school was trying to protect the cat, which would have been traumatized by 450 children eager to lay hands on it.

As it turns out, the cat was feral although probably not carrying any diseases. It has been captured and is receiving the care which feral cats normally get in a Trap, Neuter, Release program.
baltimore.cbslocal.com/2014/09/05/animal-control-releases-stephanie-the-feral-cat-that-closed-an-elementary-school/

(photo of the kitty is at the link)
 
Coatimundi said:
On first blush, closing the school sounds like an overreaction, but perhaps it wasn’t. The closure may have been done for legal reasons. If the cat had bit or scratched one of the children, the school district would likely be held responsible. An alternative perspective is that the school was trying to protect the cat, which would have been traumatized by 450 children eager to lay hands on it.

As it turns out, the cat was feral although probably not carrying any diseases. It has been captured and is receiving the care which feral cats normally get in a Trap, Neuter, Release program.
baltimore.cbslocal.com/2014/09/05/animal-control-releases-stephanie-the-feral-cat-that-closed-an-elementary-school/

(photo of the kitty is at the link)
Click to expand...
Your comment is probably correct, but it really points out that the problem isn’t feral cats, but feral lawyers.
 
I bet the children enjoyed the extra day off. I imagine that they closed the school early to protect students from being attacked or from getting a disease, like rabies, from the feral cat.

That said, I feel bad for the beautiful Calico cat. She was probably terrified. I am happy that she is being evaluated and receiving vaccinations. I am also happy that she is going to be in an animal sanctuary. I wonder if she’ll live out her days in the animal sanctuary?
 
Holly3278 said:
That said, I feel bad for the beautiful Calico cat. She was probably terrified. I am happy that she is being evaluated and receiving vaccinations.
Click to expand...
Yeah, me too. 🙂
Holly3278 said:
I am also happy that she is going to be in an animal sanctuary. I wonder if she’ll live out her days in the animal sanctuary?
Click to expand...
Yes, possibly so. I had first assumed that she would be returned to the world, as if often done in TNR programs. However, the website of the animal sanctuary says they have a room dedicated to feral or abused cats. These cats will live the rest of their lives at the sanctuary.
ruderanch.org/explore-rude-ranch/feral/
 
Coatimundi said:
Yes, me too. 🙂

Yes, possibly so. I had first assumed that she would be returned to the world, as if often done in TNR programs. However, the website of the animal sanctuary she is at says they have a room dedicated to feral or abused cats. These cats will live the rest of their lives at the sanctuary.
ruderanch.org/explore-rude-ranch/feral/
Click to expand...
Interesting. I am happy that she’ll likely live out the rest of her days in a sanctuary. That way she can have food, medication if needed, water, and a safe place to live.

Modern domestic cats cannot easily survive as ferals in our society and not in most modern societies either. As far as I know, all feral cats are the same species as house cats such as mine whose name is Precious. They have been domesticated for thousands of years and now it is very difficult for them to live a life as a wild animal without succumbing to death via accident, poisoning, disease, or some other horrible thing.
 
I hope she gets a nice home. She was probably catching mice. They should be glad.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top