Bruce Weir Posted October 28, 2010 Share Posted October 28, 2010 Most stray cat associations and refuges in France are fully occupied helping to alleviate feline suffering.I wonder if you could help us, here in Charente Maritime, by supporting our petition asking for approval by Local Government of Trap-Neuter-Release as the only means of humanely reducing stray cat numbers.If just one Department in France, out of 95, adopts TNR, then a door may open to the rest of France.Our petition is entitled 'HELP FRANCE BECOME A CAT-FRIENDLY COUNTRY' which we will present to Madame President of the Conseil General of Charente Maritime - Department 17 - France.You can click on the link to our website - http://www.la-protection-des-chats.com - and sign the petition there....or you can go direct to the petition by clicking on - http://www.thepetitionsite.com/1/help-make-France-a-cat-friendly-country.You will doing a great service for stray cats in France - thank you. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cooperlola Posted October 29, 2010 Share Posted October 29, 2010 My immediate response to this is that it sounds patronisingly anti-French. If I were a French cat owner, I'd say that this was a cat-friendly country, even if the evidence you have might contradict that. As an ex PR person, I'd say you need to think about your title a little longer, although I do applaud your aims and agree there is a need for this (in all countries of the world, not just France, but that's another argument.) Every time my neighbour opposite comes round to ask if we've found her cat, I suggest she has its bits cut off but she just won't (I think her o/h sees it as being akin to chopping his own off or something). They certainly adore their cat, they just don't get the connection between his wandering and his sexual urges, they seem to be convinced that he keeps being shut in somewhere! If you want to educate people, possibly best not to begin by insulting them! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Polly Posted October 29, 2010 Share Posted October 29, 2010 That's brave of you Cooperlola !I have to agree, a tad more finesse might help the cause. Having the petition page available in French for a start would be a good idea, as would a complete translation of the organisation's site. Inviting visitors to use the google translating tool is not an adequate solution IMHO Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bruce Weir Posted October 29, 2010 Author Share Posted October 29, 2010 Cooperlola and Polly.....our petition is in both English and French.....the French version is posted on a French petition site and also on Care2's petition site. I considered that the English version would be best posted into an English forum and the French version into a French forum.The country of France is not cat-friendly, neither is it animal friendly. In French law an animal has no status except as a 'thing' - a piece of furniture - it is not considered as a living being with feelings. I know many French people, as you do, who love their pets and I also know French people who dislike being French for the way France treat its animals. Of course this petition is not aimed detrimentally at French cat lovers - surely they will know that. It is France that has a bad reputation, not the French cat lover. The refuges are full, thousands of stray cats are euthanised every year and the stray cat associations try their best to help alleviate the suffering and will continue to do so until France becomes animal friendly - the sooner the better. How many thousands of kittens I wonder are drowned or abandoned every year? France is the worst country in western Europe for pet abandonment - see the Brigitte Bardot Foundation / 30 Million Amis Foundation websites. Happily animal abuse is being looked at more seriously now - California will soon have an animal abuser register, for example, and Israel is going to ban sport shooting of wild animals. Unfortunately in France its President supports bull-fighting and just recently I learned that the French hunting fraternity is trying to get into the school classroom to promote hunting, despite the fact that the majority of French people condemns hunting!The title of our petition may change when we get to the point of preparing and presenting the petition, in paper form, with whatever diplomacy is considered appropriate by the French association which will represent the Charente Maritime associations. Sorry if I sound a bit annoyed by your comments regarding the title but I consider the endeavor behind the headline to be more important. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cooperlola Posted October 30, 2010 Share Posted October 30, 2010 Well, Bruce, I'm sorry too but surely your aim is to persuade France towards more neuteringss of its stray and pet cats? IMHO, that should be all that counts. My point is that if I were a French cat owner I'd be seriously peeved at the prospect of a bunch of foreigners telling me I'm actually not cat friendly because I was born here and thus I reckon this would put me off signing your petition. Beware of assuming anything about your audience and beware of assuming that just because your cause is just that the way in which you present it won't matter, because it will. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frenchie Posted October 30, 2010 Share Posted October 30, 2010 Agreed, but I will sign the petition. Will do it for the cats, that I love so much. [;-)] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Richard51 Posted October 30, 2010 Share Posted October 30, 2010 Your idea sounds very sensible and should certainly be pursued. However, for all the animal lovers on this forum may I suggest:Simples: Look after your own animals carefully (including neutering) and allow the humane killing (or neutering if a home can be easily found) of the unwanted/strays. For the more extreme animal protectors could I suggest that they remove their canine teeth and, perhaps in a few thousand years, create an animal friendly society.Mr R51 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bruce Weir Posted October 31, 2010 Author Share Posted October 31, 2010 Richard51 - I say NO to what you suggest to animal lovers on this forum where you say kill the stray cats that nobody wants. The aim of any stray cat association is NOT TO KILL THEM and there are more than 500 stray cat associations in France. You are advocating extermination. Killing them solves nothing, and vets do not like to kill healthy domestic animals, only those which are terminally ill from disease or accident.To understand more about stray cats and why extermination doesn't work please see what 'Alley Cat Allies' says - http://www.alleycat.org/NetCommunity/Page.aspx?pid=434 Those people who abandon their cats or do nothing to control their breeding habits will provide a never ending supply of stray cats, and the work those 500+ associations do will never end! Trap Neuter Release is the 21Century method of stray cat control - yours is that of the Middle Ages!This is what Brigitte Bardot's Foundation does - One of the majot actions of the BBF in France is help stop the proliferation of stray cats. To do this, we assist organisations by financing the cost of sterilisation. This work was established many years ago, and was intensified in 1996. In total, since 1996, the BBF has helped sterilize 66,662 feral (unadoptable) cats at a cost of nearly 900,000 euros.Where you say owners should look after their own pet cats carefully, and have them neutered, I fully support and I thank you for that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.