Dear Editor:
When my mom was a little girl, she had a favorite cat
– a gorgeous jet-black
”
indoor/outdoor
”
cat named Midnight.
Dear Editor:
When my mom was a little girl, she had a favorite cat – a gorgeous jet-black “indoor/outdoor” cat named Midnight.
One Halloween, Midnight went missing. Mom searched for him for days, and finally found him, dead, under the front porch. Midnight had been tortured – probably by neighborhood boys up to “mischief” – and had dragged himself home to die.
Halloween is a dangerous time for cats, but then, so is every other day of the year.
Animal shelters urge folks to keep their cats indoors on Halloween, and some even refuse to adopt out black cats in the days preceding it, for fear that cruel people will acquire them with the intent to do them harm.
Many go a step further and urge people never to let their cats outside unattended.
Every week, People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals is flooded with reports about horrific crimes committed against cats who go outside. We also hear from people frantic about lost cats, who they fear were stolen by thieves, or “bunchers,” who make a living cruising neighborhoods for friendly dogs and cats they sell to dealers, who in turn sell them to laboratories.
Others threaten “outdoor cats,” such as aggressive dogs, wildlife, poisons, and potentially fatal diseases – including feline AIDS, a highly contagious, incurable disease for which there is no vaccine.
Cats and dogs alike are safest indoors with their families on Halloween and every other day. They should only be allowed out under close supervision.
Liz Welsh, PETA
Submitted Tuesday, Oct. 22
