"I
first loved cats and only cats. The rest weren't noticed.
I saw the animal world as if looking through a tunnel of
cats. I didn't think in terms of issues...
I had a cat when I was small which was allowed to live in
the house, until she cleaned out her own litterbox. My mom
didn't take too kindly to that, and the cat was thrown outside
to live with the rest of the animals.
We had more cats outside, and rabbits in hutches, and a
little 'farmette' with a cow and some chickens. A rat chewed
the foot off one of the poor rabbits living in the hutch,
he never went to the vet. He survived, probably until the
warbles got him. Everyone got warbles, even the cats...I
came out one morning to see our gray cat's blood all over
the porch, and no sign of the poor guy again.
My father probably buried it before I could see it. It was
a time like that, and still is for many people today. Hide
the bad things from the kids, to "protect" them.
Meanwhile, the children grow up never learning to deal with
death, never learning to be there for an animal or human
in the time of death.
When we moved to the farm, we had our chained beagle and
a lab running the countryside, but I still didn't much notice,
since they weren't cats. We were not allowed to have any
animals in the house, but whenever Mom would go into town,
we'd sneak the cats and lab into the house. The poor chained
beagle, Maggie, never got off her chain, never got a chance
to see the inside of a house. She smelled, and even though
I felt so badly for her, I made no effort to get her a better
life. I wasn't taught to think for myself, and I was too
afraid to stand up to my parents.
As a result of sneaking them in, the cats started to hang
out by the door of the house, wanting in all the time, which
drove my mother crazy. She complained so much that my father
took them all out and killed them, except one token cat
left to assuage his guilt, I'd imagine. He denied it, of
course, but I wasn't that stupid. My mom admitted he'd done
it..."
This
work shows a child who's starting to become aware of the
harsh realities
dealt to animals in our world. She would never think to
do anything about it,
but she's starting to 'see' the animals.
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