Is it a sin to abandon a cat?

  • Thread starter Thread starter AlNg
  • Start date Start date
Status
Not open for further replies.
err, yes.

Absolutely.

But if you do feed it, you take on an obligation, as you’ve created a situation that stops it from moving on.

A cat will not wander far from its last meal, even as it starves.

When I caved on this one (not knowing at the time that they had fed it), I had noticed that it was clearly starving, stumbling as it walked, and I limited the amount of food (so that it didn’t take itself sick).

It had already tried our neighbors for a day or two. (jumping into arms and laps), and probably would have kept going. But had we not taken it in after they fed it, it probably would have died (currently, it’s sitting by my chase peering into the darkness in the back yard).

Our best bet is that it was abandoned in the neighborhood when it was evicted.

(as a side issue, we have a feral cat and a couple of their issue that seem to be out there frequently. They seemed to have learned to drink from my irrigation system, and I guess they catch enough lizards and mice . . . the kittens sure don’t look stunted. Next year after I plant my lawn and it germinates, I’ll try to catch them and get them eunuchized . . .)
 
crenfro said:
Animals are not humans, and putting them to sleep, when there is no other choice, is the lesser of 2 evils, and is not a sin, as they are not humans.
Click to expand...
The shelter informs me that Each year, approximately 2.7 million animals are euthanized . Euthanasia seems pretty brutal to me.

petapixel.com

Disturbing Photos Capture the Realities of Euthanization at Animal Shelters

Warning: This post contains strong and disturbing photos of euthanasia and animal suffering. Every year in North Carolina, over 250,000 animals are
petapixel.com petapixel.com

And the bodies of the dead animals are disposed of, which means a total waste of food. Many countries have the practice of eating the meat of cats and dogs. Such as for example: China, South Korea, The Philippines, Thailand, Laos, Vietnam, Cambodia and the region of Nagaland in India. At the same time The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) estimates that about 815 million people of the 7.6 billion people in the world, or 10.7%, were suffering from chronic undernourishment in 2016. that is a lot of hungry people. Because of lack of food, 150 million under-five-year old children were estimated to be stunted in 2017. With so many millions of people starving to death and with so many countries already eating the meat of dogs and cats, is it not a sin to waste the life of a poor cat or dog by bringing it to a shelter where it is almost sure to be killed and its body disposed of? Should not there be a way of feeding people who are starving with the meat of these millions of euthanized animals?
 
dochawk said:
if you do feed it, you take on an obligation, as you’ve created a situation that stops it from moving on.
Click to expand...
Is that written somewhere in the Bible, that if I see a poor hungry cat and feel sorry for it and give it a bite to eat out of sympathy for the poor animal, then I have taken on an obligation of some sort? I doubt that it is written down as a legal obligation in certain states or regions, but considering the mentality of some lawyers, perhaps I am wrong.
 
Anne1964 said:
Also, listing for free on Craigslist doesn’t mean you have to give the cat away for free. Ask $25-50 for it to discourage people who may want to harm it.
Click to expand...
The problem I see with this is the illegality of selling something that doesn’t belong to me. Wouldn’t that be a criminal offense to do such?
 
Starvation, dying of exposure, and being eaten alive are also quite brutal. I am not posting further on this thread. I think I’ve well made my feelings known.
 
Last edited:
AlNg said:
Is that written somewhere in the Bible, that if I see a poor hungry cat and feel sorry for it and give it a bite to eat out of sympathy for the poor animal, then I have taken on an obligation of some sort?
Click to expand...
No, not written in the Bible. But it’s written in your conscience, whether you like it or not. The other user (dochawk) only pointed out to you what causes your current moral dilemma in the first place. You fed the cat without being willing to commit to continuing feeding it. That’s a mistake with animals just as much as it is with humans. The cat’s response has been perfectly natural of course: to stick with you. And now you feel bad about wanting to get rid of it, because on a deep level you know that you gave the cat the signal to stick with you.

I’ve been there. I once ended up taking a long drive to the countryside with two cats that had decided they were mine, to put them in the care of friends who didn’t mind, have plenty of land, and would feed them (I payed for part of that).

Anyway, on a practical level I’d like to ask what you mean by taking it to a “park”. You mean a public park in a residential or urban area? If so, the cat won’t stay there. Public parks have nothing to offer cats: noone feeding them, very little shelter, and not nearly enough prey. So it’ll wander from the park and get picked up by animal control or run over by a car. It’s not a good idea. Unlike dogs, cats don’t do very well on their own in or near an urban or residential environment. They’re too fragile, don’t form packs, and there’s not enough edibles in the trash for them.

So, if you’re going to release the cat somewhere, do it in the wild. But honestly, you might want to consider just continuining taking care of it. (As for desexing, I don’t like it but I admit that sometimes it’s the only practically viable option, since leaving them fertile is going to bring down the wrath of many neighborhood residents on them later.)
 
Last edited:
What about a cat rescue? Google cat rescue, and then call them.
 
You stated what you thought was kinder, however you condoned dumping the moggie in the park. And that is what I still disagree with.
 
Last edited:
It sounds like rather than track down a no kill shelter you think it is okay to just release the cat in a park. Easy for you, but difficult for the cat. If someone had been feeding it regularly, it may not know how to survive on its own.

I just don’t understand how you think your choice Is the humane thing to do when there are other options.
 
AlNg said:
The problem I see with this is the illegality of selling something that doesn’t belong to me. Wouldn’t that be a criminal offense to do such?
Click to expand...
This just sounds like rationalization on your part to do nothing.
 
My neighbor is a cat feeder and there are at least 10 in the vicinity of my house at all times. This has caused my front and back yards to smell horrible enough to make me gag sometimes. My puppy has had parasites several times from eating cat poop in my backyard which has costed me a lot of money in vet bills. People think they’re being nice by feeding strays but in reality they are being inconsiderate to those around them.
 
Last edited:
Wouldn’t t there be a better chance for the owners ( if there are…)to find their cat if you take it to a nearby shelter?
That is probably where they would go look for a stray animal first…
 
Last edited:
No clue but it would break my heart to do so. Bring it to an animal shelter or call the animal
shelter people over to take care of the cat.
 
If you get caught feeding feral cats in my township, you can and will be held responsible for any damage or mayhem they cause. This is the burbs though. According to the law, if they’re eating out of dishes on your property, they are officially your cats.
 
I know I’m a big meanie here, but as far as I see it, cats are an invasive species. We have had to deal with two feral can infestations in our yard and after spending literally days on the phone, I determined that there are not a lot of options. There are no charities or organizations that will come to your house and pick up feral cats. Cat rescue organizations are for established pets and have no interest in feral cats. There are some organizations that will rent you expensive traps that only catch one cat at a time, and will allow you to bring the cat to them and pay them to alter the cat, only to have them release it again. You’re talking at least $25 a cat. Not reasonable at all. If you can catch the cat and take it into a shelter, it will most certainly be euthanized. Meanwhile, they kill off native wildlife as well as the neighbor’s chickens. They pee all over and cause other damage. They can become aggressive, give diseases to pets, and make noise. And they breed quickly. We dealt with our infestations by frightening them away. If that hadn’t worked, we would have taken them to a shelter. I personally think it is wrong to release them in a park. If it’s an urban park, it causes problems for the park patrons. If its a wildlife park, it damages the native wildlife populations. Unless it’s a bobcat or cougar, it’s got no business in a park around here!
 
The thread title was “is it a sin”.
There’s no definitive answer on this in the catechism, AFAIK.
Hence, the answer.
 
If you didn’t feed the cats, wouldn’t they find mice? Were they outside cats to begin with?

I don’t understand why people feed outdoor birds.
They’ve survived millennia without our help, foraging. What makes outdoor cats unable to fend for themselves?
 
Robert Heinlein once famously said " your place in heaven will be determined by how well
you treat cats on earth"
Of course we know better BUT anyone who mistreats one of God’s creatures should
answer to St. Francis
 
I was attacked by a feral cat as a little girl. I didn’t know to not approach it and it scratched the entire length of my arm .

I thought the cat in the OP was neighbor ‘s pet that was abandoned.

But yeah, feral cats are wild animals. I heard pepper flakes disturb them. Sprinkle it around to deter them.
 
Last edited:
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top