Cat Favelas and Bunny Projects

Along the canal behind my house there are randomly placed cardboard boxes behind bushes and trees. At first, I thought it was just garbage, but then one fresh morning after at night rain, I was overwhelmed by a strong, damp smell of cat food, and I realized the boxes were makeshift shelters for the abandoned cat population of our neighborhood: "a cat favela!". As this dawned on me, the cats came out of their hiding spots and leered at me as if I had woken them up from a nap and now they were mad. Abandoned cats don't look particularly different than their more pampered neighbors, but you get this feeling that they're tougher. It's something in the way they walk, their slow swagger. Maybe I'm imagining it, but if you saw a good dozen of them all coming toward you, you might think of running away. Of maybe not, maybe you'd be the one to bring a cardboard box and some kibble. My mom once told me about how her dad got rid of unwanted kittens; I'll leave it to your imagination, but I guess people don't have that kind of strength anymore and simply leave them to cross to the canal.

Cardboard box cat house

A bit more upscale cat house

Cat mansion with a deck, toy and shed

Abandoned cat

This reminds me of the "rabbit projects" at Jericho Beach in Vancouver. The bunnies too have a swagger in their hops. Having lost their primitive survival instincts generations ago, they multiplied and formed a gang. They act tough,as tough as a fluffy bunny with floppy ears can.

Jericho beach bunny

Wild animals in large numbers like flocks of birds or schools of fish evoke feelings of freedom and beauty, but pets? I get an overall body itch just thinking about it. I don't know maybe it's just me. Doing a little digging around about cat colonies, I read about the Canadian Parliamentary Cats. Even heard of them? Look at their digs! They were built to resemble the homes of settlers along the St-Lawrence river. In 2003, there were 30 cats that were cared for by volunteers at the cost of $6000 a year. They were spayed or neutered and slowly less and less kittens were born. By 2013, the sanctuary was shut down.

Alright, sorry to abruptly stop writing about this, my cat lover friends, but that's it for cats for me. I never thought I would be writing so much about cats considering I'm allergic to them and I consider myself now a capivara woman!

Parliamentary Cat Sanctuary