Safety Of Pets
The Safest Place For Pets is Home Sweet Home
By Joe Viglione
President Bill Clinton's dog "Buddy", a chocolate Labrador, was a three month old pup in December of 1997, was named after Clinton's great-uncle Henry Oren "Buddy" Grisham, who had passed away six months prior to the dog's arrival at the White House. Early January 2002 "Buddy" was killed by a 17 year old driver on the busy two lane street outside of the Clinton's cul-de-sac Old House Lane in Chappaqua, New York. Six months later The Clinton's brought home the great nephew of their beloved dog, a puppy born about a month after Buddy's passing, and named him Seamus (pronounced Shay-mus). Born at the same time as Seamus was a cloned cat in Texas named CC (for Copy Cat). The ability to "resurrect" your pet is impractical, the wild dreams of the 81-year-old financier,John Sperling, who is behind "cat cloning", making the fantasy from Arnold Schwarzenegger's "The Sixth Day" movie a reality. "Copying" a pet is a perfect solution for careless owners who aren't concerned about their companion's well being in this world of Feline Leukemia, teenagers speeding in cars while on cell phones, or natural predators like hawks and alligators. The modern world is fraught with danger for our four-legged friends making home sweet home a heavenly concept for owners who want to give their pets the best chance at longevity. The horror a friend or colleague feels when they run over someone's pet is compounded by the fact that events like that wouldn't happen if people kept their pets inside a loving home. Cats and dogs can also bring diseases into the household when their natural predatory instincts have them going after moving - living - objects that are better off left in the wild. There's an excellent webpage http://www.abcbirds.org/cats/ titled "Cats Indoors! The Campaign for Safer Birds and Cats" which explains how cats were "domesticated in Egypt around 2,000 BC... (and) were introduced to North America when European settlers arrived. In the 1960s this writer recalls the next-door neighbor distraught that he had just killed "Richie", their cat. The memory of how it shook up the twenty-something fellow next door remains to this day - his words "I killed Richie." "The Campaign For Safer Birds and Cats" also states how "Domestic cat predation on wildlife is a serious conservation issue, particularly in California, Florida and Hawaii." Another site is the "Keep Your Cat Indoors" webpage hosted by the Champagne County Humane Society of Illinois. http://www.cuhumane.org/topics/indoor.html It states that "Although cats are smart, alert, and adroit, they are no match for the many perils that await them outside. That's why the average outdoor cat lives only a third as long than the cat who's kept safely inside." The page goes on to list dangers such as poisoning, the threat posed by other animals, becoming lost or trapped, diseases, people and - the big killer -cars. Yet another web page, http://teched.vt.edu/TE/StudentWebSites/SPCA/Cats.htm , provides "Pet Care Tips" noting: "The average lifespan of an outdoor cat is only 2-3 years. Wouldn't you like your pet to be around longer than that? An indoor cat's average life span is 12 to 15 years or more." The site also reminds us that because mankind decided to domesticate felines "Cats are no longer wild animals that fit into an ecosystem, but are dependent on us, receiving the things they need to live from us." At one time we had seven wonderful strays making the transition from living in the cold cruel world outside to finding a warm and loving home where they have each other as well as us, the humans who take care of them. Country Club Merchant Magazine publisher Ava Cannie actually drove Zsa Zsa and Duffy all the way from New Jersey to Boston after the two littermates were found under a house in New Jersey. Zsa Zsa lived to eleven, having developed a thyroid problem. She was a rambunctious little ball of energy who loved scampering on the lawn only under the supervision of her daddy. And as smart as she was, she would have been no match for a car. The thyroid problem eventually led to complications and her passing left a void, but we cherish the eleven years she spent with us, years we might not have had if she were allowed to zip in and out of the house and face the constant dangers presented by the outside world. At least two of our cats were killed by cars in the mid-1980s which made this writer determined to keep these precious little personalities inside the safety of home sweet home.
http://www.countryclubmerchantmagazine.com
posted by wri @ 9:54 AM
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