Spare the cat, but kill its thirst

IT was a sad sight. A woman I know who professes to like cats had a brood of kittens destroyed because she could not afford to keep them all, and because they were strays with no pedigree she assumed no one would take them.

Strangely enough, when I walk round Cobh, Co Cork, I am greeted by the most colourful array of cats and dogs. Creatures of all shapes and sizes - stripy and blotchy ones, long and short ones, fat and thin ones, and rarely a thoroughbred among them. If you show children a kitten or a pup, they don’t seek the pedigree. It’s love at first sight.

No, the reason these lovely little creatures are destroyed has nothing to do with pedigree and breeding.