I overheard the neighbors complaining about the raccoons, skunks, and feral cats that can be found wandering around our neighborhood. These animals are not rabid, nor diseased. They are homeless and hungry. 

The feral cats were once somebody’s pets;  cute little things with fuzzie hair and big eyes. Unfortunately for these little creatures they grew out of their cuteness and became some kind of a problem for somebody. Many people are completely irresponsible when it comes to animals. 

They take a kitten because it’s so adorable and then not thinking any further then that they take it home. Of course, there is more to a kitten than its cuteness and eventually it becomes a cat and its not so cute. Then it starts to take up some time and becomes a bit of a problem. So, it gets dumped in my neighborhood and most of my neighbors blame the cat. How pathetic is that? 

I am not popular with all of my neighbors because I feel that animals have the same right to life as anyone else. Even though, we don’t like to admit it, human beings do not rule supreme, nor should we. As for the raccoons, and the skunks, well, they once had a place of their own directly across the street from my neighborhood. 

At one time there had been a couple of acres of wooded land there, home for a variety of wild things; the skunks and the racoons being just two of them. I have no way of knowing where all the wild life went,  but many of the skunks and racoons moved across the street and into the neighborhood when the acreage where they had lived became a small strip mall. 

It is difficult for me to be civil to people who think that animals have no rights. And it is impossiable for me to understand how people can kill a cat, racoon, or skunk because it’s hungry and eating their garbage. We don’t think twice about destroying biotic communities to build apartments, strip malls, or anything else that speaks of profit. 

But we don’t want animals moving into our community, once we destroy theirs. There are times when I feel a bit alone in my feelings about animals. But there are times when I feel alone in my feelings about the environment as well. I believe that a tree has a life to live just as we do.  

I believe that all living organisms need each other to survive long term. And I believe that a person who is willing to kill animals as a solution for what we have done  is out of touch with what is right. I decided a long time ago that what is right is more important to me than what people think. 

I have more respect for the feral cats then I do for the people who dumped them here. And I have more respect for the skunks and racoons  who are trying to survive than I do for those people who don’t give a damn. Strip malls, don’t speak to me.