Publicizing companion animal adoption...

The Winnipeg Humane Society has a video posted on YouTube publicizing adoption for cats that is both amusing and somewhat disturbing:



The amusing part is self-evident, the unsettling part is that the video reinforces the societal attitude toward companion animals as being property, just the same as furniture (the human speaker in the video is a furniture store owner) or any other object.

The common acceptance of the commodification of sentient beings is contributory to and supportive of the current ongoing worldwide disaster regarding non-human animals.

While the purpose and intent of the video (adoption of homeless companion animals) is welcomed and desired...the framing of the message is supportive of the very mindset that created the problem in the first place. Viz.: Non-human animals are property and as such are objects that humans can do with what they want.

Frustrating and disheartening...and...admittedly...the damn video is interesting eye and ear candy and rather amusing. When I first saw it I was amused (but bothered), it took me a bit of thinking to fully grasp the messages that were being conveyed.

Propaganda does not have to be overt, and often the most effective propaganda is subtle and not clearly discernable. This video is an excellent example of a background message (non-human animals are property/objects and can be dealt with as such) permeating a foreground message...adopt a homeless cat.

These sorts of cognitive two-step dances are difficult to identify in our environment and if they aren't identified, then they aren't challenged or debated or examined or changed...they simply are accepted as "the way the world is".

Adopting homeless cats (or other companion animals) is a positive and desirable thing...good for the Winnipeg Humane Society for trying to find homes for these cats.

Believing that non-human animals are "property" is a disrespectful, undesirable attitude that supports enslavement, exploitation, abuse and unnecessary death...shame on the Winnipeg Humane Society for reinforcing this destructive notion.

Cat companions

Two cats live in my house, one was a shelter cat, both are sterile.  I am posting this because it is important to emphasize that those of us who have feline companions should keep them indoors--- always.  There are multiple reasons for doing so, some of these were not so true in the past.

The types and severity of diseases outdoor cats are exposed to have increased in number and intensity over the past 30 to 50 years, feline HIV and feline heartworm were unheard of when I was a child.  These changes are highlighted by the fact that the average lifespan of an outdoor cat is estimated to be 5 years and that of an indoor cat to be 12 years.  A significant difference.

In addition, outdoor cats will follow their nature and hunt, resulting in the unnecessary deaths of a myriad of living beings that make their homes outdoors.  Extending lives and saving lives is pretty much a good thing, eh?