Cohousing-L Mailing List: Re: RE: cats: the real extreme position

[Elizabeth Stevenson (tamgoddess]

I hardly think this is an extreme position. One's own life choices are
simply a matter of taste or belief. The difficulty in cohousing is always
when we bump into others' choices and beliefs, and mandating change based on
them. 

I've also stuggled with the ownership issue. But owning a cat is an oxymoron
anyway. My current, formerly stray, adult cat chose me eight years ago. My
new kitten was brought home by my son, who begged me tearfully to allow him
to stay. These animals already existed, and their fates would have been
worse by far if I didn't take them in. My commitment to the end of domestic
animals is simply to make sure no new ones are created in my sphere of
influence. But there will always be people for whom companion animals are
necessary for their health and/or well-being, and I don't have a problem
with that. There are also many breeds of domestic animals, and I feel that
they should be preserved for other reasons: historical significance and
agricultural diversity. We have changed the ecosystems of this planet to
such a degree that stewardship is necessary, for better of worse. There is
beauty and utility in human agricultural systems, and I don't see any shame
in that. But I digress-

I think that there is a growing consensus here, if I may use the term a
little loosely, that the issue ideally needs to be addressed before move in,
and that outdoor enclosures or airy porches are sufficient for the cats'
well being.

Having said that, I don't think we handled it very well. We tried to come up
with a policy while we were also trying to do all the other important things
at move-in. It was never successful in getting everyone to buy in, and that
could have been avoided if the policy were something that was decided long
before, and everyone was aware of it as they joined the group.

-- 
Liz Stevenson
Southside Park Cohousing
Sacramento California

http://members.home.net/southsideparkcohousing/
tamgoddess [at] home.com
> 
> Personally, I have owned and loved many cats and other types of pet.
> However, I have decided that when my responsibilities to the current ones
> (one 12 year old polite feline and one zebra danio) are fulfilled, I will
> have no more.
> 
> Why?  It occurs to me that keeping pets is anachronistic and not entirely
> ecological.


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