Pro Life & Feral Cats

[joshua 1 9]

We had a Feral cat we were feeding and the cat had kittens. Three of my neighbors asked me to participate in the TNR (trap neuter & return) program. A fourth neighbor told me that he was going to call animal control because the stray - feral cats were using his flower bed for their toilet. He was yelling at me and mad at me because he thought it was all my fault and I should not feed the cats so they would go somewhere else.

I helped catch two of the female cats so that a neighbor could take them in to be "vetted". I was told that a vetted cat is a legal cat. So now I have two female feral kittens that can never have kittens. Their female organs have been ripped out, their hormones have been tampered with and their ear has been clipped. They vaccinated them and one was treated for flees.

I love the kittens, they are wonderful. Only the kittens grow up into cats and cats start to eat a lot and it takes some resources to feed them and take care of them. So now I have two cats that will never have kittens. They will never know the experience of being a mother. I wonder if that was fair for me to take that away from them.

Of course cats do not really have a choice because so much is regulated by their hormones. They go into heat and they have a desire to reproduce. Then once they are pregnant other hormones kick in so that they do all the stuff that a mother does.

Meanwhile the mother never got spayed and she had her second litter. They are 7 months and 2 months or something like that. Also she is pregnant with her third litter and my guess would be she is about 1 1/2 years of age. Right now I am thinking not to get involved in the TNR program but I do not have to worry about it for at least three or four months. We do not have to get them fixed until they are around 6 or 7 months of age. Only I do not believe in abortion so once the cat get pregnant she is going to term. The clinic we are using does not abort although I am sure there are other clinics that do.

 

[SPF]

I'm trying to understand why you posted this in the Debates on Abortion section. Do you have something beyond a story to discuss or debate?

 

[Grandpa2390]

I'm trying to understand why you posted this in the Debates on Abortion section. Do you have something beyond a story to discuss or debate?

Agreed, I am not sure what the question or the debate is.

But OP, you seem. to be making a statement that you are anti-abortion, so you can not abort the cat's kittens.
I think Perhaps you don't understand why abortion is a big deal to Christians.

It is not just about killing. It is about murdering.
Let me explain that there is a difference between human life and animals. We place more value on human life because humans have a soul. Cats do not.

animals cannot be murdered.

 

[joshua 1 9]

Let me explain that there is a difference between human life and animals. We place more value on human life because humans have a soul. Cats do not.

I believe these cats are going to be in heaven because of my involvement with them. That is not really the issue. The majority view right now is that it is the TNR program is the right way to manage the Feral cat population. The alternative is considered to be euthanasia.

Birth control actually goes beyond abortion. Although abortion is a form of birth control. The fact remains that I made a decision for this cat to never know what it would like to be a mother and have kittens. Most people believe that was the right decision to make. I am not so sure. We are to rule over every living creature and I just wonder if we are doing that in a way that pleases God. We are told in Rev 11:18 that: "destroying those who destroy the earth." So we have to be sure that we manage this earth the way God wants us to manage His Creation.

Genesis 1:28 "God blessed them and said to them, "Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky and over every living creature that moves on the ground."

 

[SPF]

I believe these cats are going to be in heaven because of my involvement with them.

Why? What in Scripture do you cite to support this?

And as far as being good stewards of creation, that is certainly an important discussion, and it sounds to me like you have done more for these cats than anyone else would, and if it wasn't for what you've already done, they probably would be picked up and put down.

 

[joshua 1 9]

I'm trying to understand why you posted this in the Debates on Abortion section.

Abortion rips a baby out of the womb. We are talking about ripping the womb out of the mother. Although with humans the approach is not quite so radical. They tend to tie the tubes and remove the rest of the sex orgrams at a later date if need be.

 

[joshua 1 9]

Why? What in Scripture do you cite to support this?

Again this is not the issue but I go by what Kat Kerr teaches about Heaven. Even if what she says is fiction, it makes me feel better.

And as far as being good stewards of creation, that is certainly an important discussion, and it sounds to me like you have done more for these cats than anyone else would, and if it wasn't for what you've already done, they probably would be picked up and put down.

Thanks for your encouragement that I am doing the best I can with what we are given to work with.

Yes the whole issue is about being a good steward of creation. We are told that: "For we know that all creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time." Romans 8:22. So I think looking at the Feral cat population is a discussion on how God wants to do a work to restore creation to His purpose and intention.

Not all birth control involved abortion. But abortion is a type of birth control.

 

[Grandpa2390]

Why? What in Scripture do you cite to support this?

And as far as being good stewards of creation, that is certainly an important discussion, and it sounds to me like you have done more for these cats than anyone else would, and if it wasn't for what you've already done, they probably would be picked up and put down.

agreed.

@joshua 1 9 Being a good steward of creation might also involve birth control and extermination of feral cats. I am not for the torture of them. So I would prefer them to be captured and spade/neutered or euthanized. But if we are to be good stewards this is required.

Why?
Because we are not talking about hunting and killing off the panda bears or the koalas, or whatever. feral Cats are an invasive species. They are out of control and are destroying ecosystems. This is at the fault of humans. To be good stewards, we need to get them under control.

The humane thing to do would be to allow them to live but prevent them from having off-spring. then their populations can decrease on their own. But allowing them to continue having kittens endangers other creatures and endangers the cats themselves as they do not live peacefully in the wild (cars and disease) and many people shoot them for being pests.

 

[Christie insb]

I believe these cats are going to be in heaven because of my involvement with them. That is not really the issue. The majority view right now is that it is the TNR program is the right way to manage the Feral cat population. The alternative is considered to be euthanasia.

Birth control actually goes beyond abortion. Although abortion is a form of birth control. The fact remains that I made a decision for this cat to never know what it would like to be a mother and have kittens. Most people believe that was the right decision to make. I am not so sure. We are to rule over every living creature and I just wonder if we are doing that in a way that pleases God. We are told in Rev 11:18 that: "destroying those who destroy the earth." So we have to be sure that we manage this earth the way God wants us to manage His Creation.

Genesis 1:28 "God blessed them and said to them, "Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky and over every living creature that moves on the ground."

God also told humans to be stewards of the earth. We are not being good stewards if we let a species we introduced to this continent kill off native species. They do not have predators to keep their population under control. But I have already gone on and on about this. If your experiences are not in line with Scripture (Jacob bred his sheep to meet his needs, not the needs of the sheep; animals are constantly sacrificed or eaten throughout the Bible) or your Christian community's interpretation of Scripture, then you need to carefully consider if it is really God directing you. Alternatively you could join a forum associated with People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals.