Animal rights for pets seems like an oxy moron. Animal slaves (pets) don't have any real rights like autonomy or privacy.

I see quite a few video posts of (not stray or feral) cats having kittens. There is their cat having 3 to 7, or more kittens. They fuss over the cat and go on about what they have bought and done to make it all easier for her. Mostly as if the cat can't do anything without people. Babying an animal, grown and mature enough to get pregnant and have babies of its own. They weigh and check the health of each kitten after its born. Fondling them, petting them, holding them every which way for the camera. Aww, what great cat parents (grandparents?) so caring...

No, it's not!

Allowing your cat, or other pet, to have kittens so you can play with little balls of fluff is just selfish and irresponsible. Letting/ making your pet have a litter of kittens when it did not need to and (if you could have asked) probably didn't really want to is something pet hoarders do. There is nothing caring about adding to the overpopulation of unwanted pets.

Even if you manage to find real, "forever" homes for all of those kittens, at least for now. That means just as many existing kittens already born in foster homes, shelters, on the street to other cats, could have had those homes instead. We are not lacking in kittens, feral or otherwise. We do not need kittens born to a good home looking for another home where they can become adult and mature animals. They don't stay cute little kittens for long.

Do not assume everyone watching your cat birth videos thinks they are cute. Even a commercial cat breeder should make sure all kittens born are wanted by someone able to guarantee their purchase. I expect some, in demand breeds, have a waiting list. Your pet cat, however lovely, friendly and clever, is not in demand, not guaranteed a good home.

Get your pet spayed or neutered before they have kittens, puppies, etc.

My Grandfather's Cat. Based in Halifax, Nova Scotia.

A registered Canadian charity that helps seniors and terminally ill people feed and arrange new homes for their pets.

A lovely idea but some of the older cats might be sick or not fit into a new home so easily. That would make the job a lot harder. Still, it gives them an option better than putting them to sleep or whatever people do with an old cat when the owner is gone.

I was watching the episodes of Snow Leopards of Leafy London, about the National Cat Trust, with Dr. Terry Moore in the UK. Although its great to see someone taking in cats who have no where else to go. In the end, they are living in captivity for however long they live. Not able to have space, hunt, and live a feral life. He also breeds them. It wasn't clear if he also lets the domestic cats breed too. The Trust takes in domestic homeless cats as well as the big cats. I hope the Trust works on some version of the neuter and release idea.

The series was made awhile ago and I wondered what became of the cats, especially the snow leopards which were featured, and the Trust. I found the website, not really updated since 2013 it seems to me. I didn't see any updates about the snow leopard release project with India which was talked about often in the films. There is some project based in Argentina.

Also, interesting, was to find that his wife was part of things, one of the trustees for the organization. But, she was never mentioned in the films. If she were there, she wasn't given credit for her work.

I found reviews on the TripAdvisor site, which made the Trust seem overwhelmed. Not enough volunteers to look after the place. Also, no visitors due to restrictions. That may be changed now, but it was only for sponsors/ members of the Trust. Not a bad thing, no doubt they need the funds. Feeding big cats would be expensive.

I posted this as a comment on Facebook:

I don't think any of these kept cats can go back to the wild. Even if a habitat could be found for them. These cats have had an indolent lifestyle. They will have hunting instincts but no practice. So they will not have the skills or the muscles built up to take care of themselves without someone feeding them dead carcasses. So they will look for humans to feed them, leaving the wild areas and likely end up being shot by people who are afraid of big cats approaching them. It's really sad to see these cats being bred in captivity to live their lives in small spaces, never having space to roam and be wild.

I love cats of all sizes. But, I think it is very misled to breed them in cat farms like this. Without a sure place to release them into the wild and a lifestyle which keeps them fit and skilled (and not relying on humans to feed them) there isn't real hope for these cats to live anywhere but in concrete with a little patch of grass. Cats need to wander and roam and hunt. Even domestic cats will have a territory (unless they are kept indoors all their lives).

It would be very hard, if not impossible, to have these kept cats able to adapt and live in their natural home now. They've adapted to our environment, our culture, pollution, schedule, etc. Like being a tourist in another country, they would not know the local culture, the language and the ways of the other big cats who were born to the wild life in that area. They would not know what to eat when seasons change and prey migrate or change their habits. They won't know or have natural defenses from other animals, insects, and diseases.

Their ancestors could be from that area but it would be culture shock for them to be dropped into a new place and left to learn how to survive. Having eaten dead meat all their lives, is it possible they would only look along roadways and other places they could smell roadkill and dead animals. Are their bodies able to live that way, deal with the parasites and such which they would pick up from dead meat versus the freshly killed animals they would eat naturally.

I wish the Cat Trust well but I think the project is really Terry Moore and volunteers making friends and pets out of these cats. Cats can be great pets, but not every cat should be kept as a pet.

Trying to give them a better life is a great ambition, but breeding them is selfish not selfless. There is no natural selection when females are forced to be bred/ pregnant every few months or every year with whatever male is closed in with them.

Not every female will want to be having batches of kittens constantly. I've seen domestic cats abandon new born kittens because they did not want them. I'm sure that must happen with big cats too.

Kept big cats do not live a natural, healthy, active life. Are they physically strong enough to have kittens? Being pampered and inactive means these big cats may not have the strength and stamina for pregnancy and birth. They are not exposed to conditions which toughen wild big cats, including bacteria, which they build immunity to. They just don't make pet happy documentaries about any of these things.

I don't think this will end well. Other places like this have failed, had to close. The cats are left homeless when shelters can't be found for all of them. When there are reports about big cats wandering and hunting in rural and suburban areas, its likely true. How many of them are cats which grew up in zoos/farms which had to close and let the cats out of their cages rather than euthanizing them. It is not a kindness to breed cats, or any animal, just to hoard them in captivity.

Once upon a time I added some pet links to my column and some pet links to this newsletter. Other than that I'm not in favour of pets.

I do like animals, I've supported cats. Never say you have kept or owned cats. We all know that's just a myth. But, I've supported cats, fed them, built them shelters they usually ignored, that sort of stuff. My cats lived outside all year round. Most of them were feral so it suited us both just fine. If I had bags of money to get rid of I would start a program to catch and neuter/ spay feral cats. I think the Humane Society means well but they just miss the point. Being choosy about good homes is never going to help wind down the unwanted pet population. Better to go with the Chinese method and eat them than to store them in tiny cages and then kill them when space gets too tight. At least eat them, it's the natural process. Costs less too.

Anyway, now that I've offended, disgusted and sickened everyone, in one way or another, let's get on with the discussion of pets.

I don't think people should keep pets. The odd family dog is ok, if you have the space. Having the space is vital. Dogs needs space, they need places to drool, bark and do all those other annoying dog things. Bet you never would guess I'm not quite a dog person, eh?

But, keeping several dogs and topping that off with cats, fish, birds, reptiles and rodents is taking things way too far. You are not a zoo! I've never really seen this set up work well for the people or the animals. It's just not healthy for people and animals to share the same home. The pioneers did it cause they had to. The livestock helped keep the cabin warm and in turn the livestock had a better chance of surviving to feed the family come Spring. But, we moved on from there, right? I seriously think anyone with more than one pet should be looking for space to build a barn. If only for the smell situation!

Then, we come to those exotic pets. Let's just say NO! and leave it at that.

Animals should have their space to be wild, free and in constant danger of being eaten by each other. It's how things work in nature. People should leave it alone, it worked much better before we started keeping pets. Ugh! Pet keeping is one of my little pet peeves.