042 Street Cats: My Lovely Neighbors

[하루]

                                         042 Street Cats: My lovely Neighbors     20120227

  It was at 12 midnight. I poured a cup of cat feed into a small plastic bowl, and left it with a cup of water under a car parked the alley of my front door. A yellow and white cat was already waiting for it under the car. My eyes met its eyes for a moment. “Enjoy your food…” I said in undertones with a smile.

  My first encounter with a cat was through the song ‘A Black Cat, Nero’. The children’s song from Italy was remaded in Japanese, and it was translated into Korean in 1970 again. The song sung by Park Heyreong, 6-year-old girl, gained huge popularity, so the record became million sellers. I was also six like her, and lost myself in it. The black cat in the song was described as a cute and brick friend to her.

  When I was a teenage, I met another black cat, Pluto, in Poe’s short story. The main character of this story, an unsociable man, seemed to have a mental problem. The more he drinks, the severer violence he uses against his wife and Pluto. Hurt and finally killed by his loved owner, the cat led him into destruction. I was totally shocked by the man’s cruelty and the cat’s horrible image.

  My third meeting with cats was at my stay in Canada in 2004. My two sons and I stayed in a Canadian house for a month until we found our apartment. There were three cats in the house: a mother cat and her two youngs. My sons were fascinated with them. Especially, the mother cat was so friendly that she came to play with us first. The cats liked the kitchen where there was plenty of food to eat. The landlady advised me not to allow the cats into it. Whenever I prepared our meals, the cats tried to come in, and my boys giggled spraying water on them. My sons and the cats were playing and rolling around together. The smell of dried anchovy I brought from Korea made the cats got an opportunity enter my room. I was surprised several times to find in my room without my notice. Though it was just for a month, we could have a good memory of cats.

  Coming back to Korea, my two sons pestered me to keep a cat. However, I was still afraid of seeing a cat. To soothe their mind, I borrowed some books about cats. In the books, I found out about street cats in detail. There were many people who love cats, especially street cats. They took pictures of street cats and posted them online. They showed not only happy daily lives but also pitiful situations. The average life expectancy of cats is 15 years. However, it is hard for street cats to live over 3 years, because of dirty food and abuse by man having cat phobics. I live in a village having many old houses, and I often run into quite many street cats. After reading the books, I felt friendly with them for the first time.

  Last winter, we had subfreezing weather for weeks. Everything froze including food waste which could be the food for them. I finally bought a bag of cat food, and left a bowl of it in the alley of my front door every night. A few weeks ago, my sons and I dropped by a café named ‘Cats Reading Books’ located near Jungang University. The café owner was well known for caring street cats. Before entering to the café, he gave us a simple rule: don’t touch the cats, because they had bad memories by people. Nine cats were in there. We just watched them over coffee and cocoa talking each other. Among them, a cat was exceptionally friendly. It came up to me, and rubbed itself against my legs. After we fed them some pieces of chicken the owner served us, we felt they were closer to us. 

  To begin with, I meant to give cats the food only during the winter. However, now I can’t stop it considering the cats waiting for it. I may have to buy cat food again. Fortunately, it is said that our village office has street cats get neutralization-operation to control their population. The neutralization pass through three steps: Trap-Neutralization-Return (TNR). The most important thing of this process is that the cats must be returned back to their original boundaries. Otherwise, they are more likely to die from hunger or to be killed not to adapt to the unfamiliar and hostile surroundings.

  I remember a picture titled ‘A Tree of Life’ by Yann Arthus-Bertrand. He took it above Tsavo National Park in Kenya. Numerous tracks made by animals on the grassland are all headed for an acacia tree. Animals come to the tree to eat leaves and to take a rest in the shade of it. All people to care for street cats are ‘A Tree of Life’ to them, I think. Please remember that street cats are also our neighbors. Before keeping pet animals including cats, we must decide to feed them until their last days. They will hurt, if they are deserted by their loved ones as people do.

  Lastly, I introduce some good books about street cats. ‘I Indulge in Street Cats’ by Ko Keongwon and ‘Happy Cat’ by Paper Umbrella. Korean Cat Protection Association (http://catcare.or.kr) is also useful to get information to help street cats. ^^

 

[manequine]

섬세한 감성의 소유자임에 틀림 없다니까..

[musuri]

따뜻한 사람인걸 짐승은 더 잘 느낄거에요^^

[버니]

다들 감성적이세요.... ㅎㅎ

[하루]

글쎄말이야... 근데 감동을 잘하는 사람들이 행복하다구 하더라구...
감성적이라서 = 감동을 잘한다 = 그래서 자주 행복하다... 어때? ㅋㅋ