Why do I always get involved in this kind of argument?

**Barbara** · 12-02-2005, 11:45 AM

As a matter of fact he is not following his own words. If he punishes a cat he is not treating it as a cat but as a human. A human who has killed another human feels guilty and will never forget it. So if he is punished he knows why and (maybe) learns that he should show a different behavior.

A cat who killed a flower jar never will know that it did something that is not socially acceptable. It is just cat behavior without any knowledge what the jar costs and that water is bad for the carpet and that means punishment - especially later, when you come home- will not have any effect at all. Cat simply has forgotten all about it and does not understand why he's punished. And of course he won't learn and can't learn from it. So it's just senseless cruelty to him.

We all know that if we want to discourage a cat from a certain behavior it only works on the spot (as you know very well from Luna

).

So if he'd really understand the differences between cats and humans he wouldn't talk that stupid stuff.

**catmandu** · 12-02-2005, 01:20 PM

I have heard Radio Commentaters on CFRB Toronto 1010 AM,say that they cant see any reason for Cats,that they are useless.
The worst Offender is a clown named Bill Carroll,who onced said that if his Dog passed on,that he would mourn by letting a tear trickle down his cheek.
Thats why I no longer listen to his nonsense.And hes the News Director.Hes for animal experimentation,as animals are there for our use.
Theres no place,and when you write you get a form letter.
If anyone contradicts,or argues,they get hung up on.
A waste of life,on that station.

**G535** · 12-02-2005, 05:49 PM

I follow that old saying about not getting involved in any kind of discussion with drunks or fools, it really is just a waste of time. I also prefer animals to most people.

**barncat** · 12-02-2005, 06:28 PM

I agree. The guy was an idiot.

.... But I always took the saying 'a man's a man and a cat's a cat' to mean cats and humans come with different ways of viewing the world and both species have to learn ways to live together.

Having spent most of my life with cats...I like their way of viewing things much better than the human. Remember (I think it was Twain and I may be paraphrasing rather than directly quoting) the saying "If men were crossed with cats, it would improve the man but degenerate the cat."

**momcat** · 12-02-2005, 07:42 PM

My son once said something that I believe is very true, "You can tell how a person treats other people by the way they treat animals". Animals are dumb? I don't think so. When my son first started riding horses, his instructor told the troop that a horse has the intelligence of an average two year old. I ask you, have you ever known a dumb two year old? Let's consider our own wonderful pets... who owns who? They sure know how to get what they want from us. Is there a PT kitty that doesn't have his or her owner wrapped firmly around its little paw? We share our world with all animals and in many respects they're more humane than most people I know. We can learn a lot from them about getting along with others!

**Laura's Babies** · 12-02-2005, 11:40 PM

Yes momcat, you can tell how a person treats other people by how they treat their pets. The fella that tried to get me to argue was a backstabbing, BULLY!

I do judge people by how they treat animals. I've never known a animal to be wrong yet about a persons character.

**smokey the elder** · 12-03-2005, 08:17 AM

I'm pretty sure Gandhi had a comment about how one treats animals and people. And there is loads of evidence showing that people who disrespect animals are only a few steps away from dissing people.

I like the idea about not getting into it with drunks and idiots. I am very fortunate in that there are a disproportionate amount of cat lovers where I work!