a special hell

[2eclipse]

l (coworker): oh yes, we have a cat. she is such a sweetie. her name is swannie. and you know we just moved back into our house. we moved out so that we could fix it up and we just moved back. we left her there while we were gone. there's a barn there and we keep a cat door there for her. she's a good hunter and keeps all the mice away. sometimes she scares the neighbors though. she had frostbite on her ears so she's just got little nubs of ears left. and we have a dog. he just loves her. he picks her up by the neck and shakes her. and you'd think she'd smack him, but she just takes it. they have kind of a weird relationship. only she has kittens every year and one time when she was pregnant she got up on the tractor and got away from him. we have coyotes and such in the area so the kitties don't normally last long.
me: you know it's really bad for her to have kittens every year. it takes a lot of nutrients out of the mama's body and can really wear her out.
l: well we like to keep a kitty or two.
me: yes, but you want to keep HER, don't you? having kittens every year will kill her. ask your vet if you don't believe me. it will do the same to us. i know a guy who's grandmother had 14 kids and she wound up in a wheelchair and eventually died because the nutrition had been leeched out of her body. the babies always come first.
l: well our vet, he's not really a cat person.
me: well maybe you ought to get a vet who is a cat person

i just feel sick hearing this kind of thing and i hear it ALL THE DAMN TIME!!!

is there a special hell for people who don't care for their pets? please God let people FEEL the abuse and/or neglect they inflict on their animals and learn from it before they can come into your glory.

Comments

[ashoe.livejournal.com]

To me, this person doesn't have a pet cat. They have a resident mouser that they occasionally do things for. Swannie is a part of their landscape, not their family.

I agree. Those people suck.

[2eclipse.livejournal.com]

the worst part is how counterproductive it would be to tell this lady exactly what i think of how she treats her animals.
instead i find myself making calm suggestions instead of ripping her a new one like i'd like to - because if i did she'd just shut me out and not even think about getting her cat fixed.

and she thinks of herself as xian!!! arggh. people like this make me want to beat them with a bible. stewardship! it's in the scripture! stop applying your faith selectively!

[mamaursula.livejournal.com]

I agree with ashoe, her cats are not pets, they are working animals who have a place on the farm. I have had cats in the past and I would not allow the things that she has allowed happen to her cat, but my cats were house cats and had no expectations put on them beyond being spoiled.

As for your comment about stewardship. No where in the Bible does it say that we should have our cats fixed so they don't have a litter every year. I do think that allowing the poor thing to have frostbite is pretty negligent, but I don't really see how looking at things as a farmer would, that doesn't make one not a Christian, it just makes them accepting that there are things that they can't stop, like a female cat going into heat and coyotes doing what comes natural.

I am not saying I agree with what she did, I just think that being angry because she's a Christian is really not your place.

[2eclipse.livejournal.com]

i believe you misunderstand me. i am a xian myself. it is not that she is a xian that pisses me off. it's that i think she's a crummy one.
and the way she talks about her cat is as a beloved pet. i didn't copy so much of that part into the post, because i wasn't shocked by it.

you are correct that scripture doesn't say anything specifically about fixing animals. but it does talk about caring for them well. and while it is perfectly natural for animals to have babies, endless repetitive litters will kill them according to my vet. i don't think it is responsible and i don't think it is loving her cat well (who she claims to love) or good stewardship - which IS scriptural.

[2eclipse.livejournal.com]

i should add to this that i know i am not a perfect xian either. i'm not supposed to judge others. but it is hard to put my feelings aside when a helpless child or animal is suffering.

[mamaursula.livejournal.com]

I know, I just wanted to remind you that you are wasting your energy being angry. Put it in the hands of the one who can deal with it and ask Him to help those who are helpless. Pray globally, act locally. I have had to come to that place to keep myself sane.

[2eclipse.livejournal.com]

i do. but sometimes venting is the only thing that helps. you have the advantage of distance. i see this woman every day. and in time this anger will fade and i certainly am not going to spend heaps of time on it. but the revelation that people i KNOW feel this way really pissed me off.