Path: utzoo!attcan!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!cs.utexas.edu!usc!apple!rutgers!texbell!wuarchive!dinorah!mary
From: mary@dinorah.wustl.edu (Mary E. Leibach)
Newsgroups: rec.birds
Subject: Re: Apology request denied
Message-ID: <1049@dinorah.wustl.edu>
Date: 6 Dec 89 18:24:44 GMT
References: <930@wrgate.WR.TEK.COM>
Organization: Washington University (St. Louis)
Lines: 79
In-reply-to: denise@dadla.WR.TEK.COM's message of 5 Dec 89 18:49:23 GMT

denise@dadla.WR.TEK.COM (Denise Caire) writes:

>No.  The discussion was how to keep the cat away from the bird feeder.

Sorry, but you are wrong.  I was replying to YOUR question of how to
keep your cat in your yard.  I, as I have said many times before, was
not refering to the "shoot cats" discussion.

>One of you demented bird people suggested shooting it 

Name calling.  Though, mind you, I do not agree that shooting any
animal, except in self defense or for food when one is lost in the
wilderness and starving, is a good thing.  Certainly the cat does not
deserve death, particularly when there are humane methods, already
discussed, to deal with the situation.  

>and I took the
>bait.  I tried to take the discussion one step farther by asking how
>to keep the cat in my yard while out.  I was actually trying to get
>at the facts of nature which you folks don't quite get. 

And I refered you to rec.pets, where they know the answers.  I also
made the mistake of trying to suggest a way that I had seen work, and
look at the way I was treated.  By you.

>Why?  You clearly implied that is what would happen to my cat and you 
>sure didn't sound very sorry about it.  

I said that it was a danger every cat faced that roamed the streets.
I have seen it happen.  The purpose of my original posting was to try
to post from the cat's point of view, and to try and present some
reasons why letting the cat roam free is not in the cat's best
interest.  Of course I don't want something like that to happen to any
animal.  Would I have bothered to post if I didn't care?

>As stated in another respnse, I
>will find out what are the major causes of death among cats.  I suspect
>there is a wide range of causes including old age.

Good.  And any cause of death in cats or birds that can be prevented
should be prevented.  Whether it's a bunch of sick kids torturing a
cat, a cat (that doesn't know any better) killing birds, oil spills,
pollution, traffic, etc., if it can be prevented, it should be.

>Also, I agree that my joke was cruel and uncalled for.  

A good start.  From this posting, and others, it may be that you
misunderstood me.  If there is any way I can make myself clearer, let
me know.

>But I am also
>tired of being called names by people who don't know me, just that I
>like cats.  Believe it or not, I am a good person, a single parent, a
>new-home owner, a full-time employee, a canner, a gardener, a happy
>balanced individual.  You all make me out to be a terrible person.

You may well be a saint, for all we know.  But the only way that
people on the net can know about other people on the net is from
postings.  Some of your postings may not exactly give a person the
most accurate picture of who you are.  I know one shouldn't judge a
book by its cover, but covers are all that there is on the net.


>What did that little diddy at the end mean?  (Sorry, I seemed to have
>accidentily wiped it out.)

It was a quote from the science fiction show Blake's 7.  Not a very
flattering one, I must admit.  I was mad at the time.

>Denise "I love cats" Caire

As do I.

	-Mary

Avon:  Regret is a part of life.  But make it a small part.
Cally: Like you do?
Avon:  Demonstrably!
				-Blake's 7: Sarcophagous