Feral Cats Are Not Stray Cats

Dear Joan: In reference to your column about a woman who was injured by a cat, feral cats get enough of a bad rap without being blamed for behavior of nonferal cats.

A feral cat will not approach a human and will not let a human pet it. I fed a colony of feral cats in Mountain View for a few years. They would come running when the heard my car enter the parking lot, and would come close to me, but would never let me touch them.

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How To Identify Stray And Feral Cats, And How To Help Them Survive

As winter fast approaches, there is a greater need for generosity and kindness toward the stray animals that populate almost every neighborhood in the country.  This month we are helping to raise awareness of both stray and feral cats. The most important part is to share information on how to tell the difference between the two, and how you can help protect them over the coming months.

To read more on this story, click here: How To Identify Stray And Feral Cats, And How To Help Them Survive

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on Twitter @thepettreehouse

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 at: www.whispersoftheworld.com

Violence Against Pets Must Be Taken Seriously

In response to the editorial "Man's best friend" (Oct. 13), I am disappointed that The Baltimore Sun turned people's reactions to reported abuse into a competition as to which victims of violent crimes are more worthy of sympathy or outrage. Violence is violence, and none of it is good for our communities.


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Man's best friend [Commentary]

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Man's Best Friend [Commentary]

Montgomery County Judge Richard E. Jordan was so appalled by the actions of former Baltimore Police Officer Alec Taylor that he went outside sentencing guidelines to order the man committed to jail for a year — four times the maximum recommendation of three months.

Mr. Taylor's crime? Beating a dog to death.

The facts of the case are pretty horrific. The officer pummeled "Rocko," a tiny Jack Russell terrier, with a mop, choked him and left him lying on the floor all because the pup had soiled a rug. Mr. Taylor then sent a girlfriend a series of unemotional text messages about the beating, including this one: "Yeah I think he's pretty much dead. Imma throw him out now."

We certainly don't question the judge's outrage over the incident. But we do wonder why similar outrage is so often lacking when the victim is a person.

Witness the string of costly settlements Baltimore City has paid out to people who say they were beaten up by police — charges that drew so little interest from those in authority that for years no one bothered to track which officers faced such civil suits. And it took a public shaming, in the form of a video release, to get the city police department to suspend (with pay) Officer Victor Cosom recently, two months after he was recorded on duty raining punches on a man near a city bus stop.

To read more on this story, click here: Man's Best Friend [Commentary]