I am reminded of Mikhail Bulgakov's Russian novel, The Heart of a Dog: a dog becomes humanoid and goes to work for the Cat Eradication Commissariat (or something like that -- I didn't actually read it).
Posted on 06/26/2012 12:11:10 PM PDT by fteuph
Hi. I'm Art Caplan, speaking to you from the Center for Bioethics at the University of Pennsylvania. Today I want to talk about a very serious healthcare problem: irresponsible behavior on the part of a lot of Americans that isn't getting much attention, and that means you if you own a cat.
Many types of health costs are associated with cat ownership. We have allergies and asthma, people who wind up going to the hospital because they have allergic reactions either to the cat or the medicine they take, and there are all types of skin problems. The list goes on and on.
It is pretty clear that these miserable mousers are a huge healthcare problem. I started thinking about this when I saw a recent poll that was published in Forbes magazine that said that most Americans believe that there ought to be a tax on people who are overweight. They make a lifestyle choice and wind up causing more healthcare costs for everybody else due to the diseases and ailments linked to obesity, so Americans think they should pay more. By the way, their employers are starting to think that as well, that they should start to levy penalties and fines on people who are overweight at the workplace.
All of which takes me back to the issue of cats. If we are going to put a penalty on lifestyle choices, then shouldn't we penalize all lifestyle choices? If cats are really causing healthcare problems in the way that I think they do, then I think we need to be fair and tax cat owners.
If you look at the situation, there are probably 60 million or more Americans who own a cat. A lot of you out there choose to own more than one. Many of you have a cat and you actually keep children in the house near this cat, so these are all horrible, terrible, inappropriate, and immoral decisions.
Why? Well, we don't know exactly how much cat ownership costs, but it probably runs into billions of dollars every year in terms of allergy medicines that people take, hospitalizations that I mentioned earlier, and treating skin diseases. You are also exposing others who don't want to own a cat to cats because you can never get the cat dander and the cat allergen out of the rug, the furniture, and the carpet. Even if you move the cat, so to speak, the presence of the cat is left behind. This is a very burdensome thing, not just for people who live with cats but the rest of us who try to visit you or who want to move into a place where you have been.
Therefore, it is pretty clear -- probably beyond any ethical dispute -- that cat ownership is an irresponsible choice. Let me add that none of this applies to dogs. I own a dog. I think they are wonderful. In fact, there probably should be a tax break for dog owners. But for cats, looking at the kinds of costs that are involved and the irresponsibility that cat owners exercise in choosing to have them, I think we need to start thinking more seriously about ways to extend penalties if we are going to make personal responsibility a part of healthcare.
Cat owners, think hard about what I said. And those of you who are in favor of personal responsibility as a way to cut down healthcare costs, you know who I am talking about.
This is Art Caplan at the Center for Bioethics at the University of Pennsylvania. I wish all of you a happy summer.
I've forgotten which Bob Swagger novel takes him back to Arkansas to deal with his father's death.
I am reminded of Mikhail Bulgakov's Russian novel, The Heart of a Dog: a dog becomes humanoid and goes to work for the Cat Eradication Commissariat (or something like that -- I didn't actually read it).
Black Light
We live on a ranch with over six hundred head of cattle and I’ve got close to 1,000 chickens. They’re not a hobby and they’re not pets. We depend on them for part of our income.
When some stray dog makes one of our breakers break a leg that costs us in vet bills or it can cost us in the loss of sometimes two or three thousand dollars. A round from the .308 costs us only eighty cents or so.
When a stray cat comes on the ranch and fights with one of our barn cats that costs us a vet bill and if the stray kills a laying hen that’s a loss of $5 per dozen eggs and the $3 to $5 we get from the butcher for the hen. Again, the .308 only costs eighty cents.
Maybe you can afford to be sentimental but we can’t. I know it sounds cold but someone’s stray animal is not worth as much to me as food on our table.
Sorry that sounds harsh but that’s the way it is and we’re just like pretty much everyone else around here.
.308 is way too much gun for a cat. A .22-250 is more than enough and shoots flatter in the bargain.
Besides, it'll turn the cat inside out which proves that there is more than one way to skin a cat.
Sounds like a good name for an all female rock band.
Am I the only one that reads this as “first they came for the...” sarcasm?
I love cats, but I’m allergic. I wasn’t always allergic to cats. I used to own cats, but as I grew older, I couldn’t be around them any longer. But if I wasn’t allergic, I know I would have at least one cat. My second cat had a couple of litters of kittens, and they were sooo cute!! If you can handle having a cat, then go for it!
Lose some cattle to stray dogs and lose a cat to feline leukemia from a stray cat and it makes you kind of pragmatic. Also, the .308 is awesome for making shots at 200 to 300 yards. I know it is overkill, but with the .308 you can make one shot and know the critter is dead instead of suffering like they can with a .22.
Let us not forget the neurological and psychological impact of toxoplasmosis.
http://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2012/03/how-your-cat-is-making-you-crazy/8873/
It’s hard to have a sense of humor under these circumstances. All of this could be avoided if people would just keep their critters at home. I’m not owned by (a) cat(s), but I like cats.
Actually, has anyone ever noticed that Wayne Pacelle (HSUS) advocates the extinction of dogs but promotes the establishment of feral cat colonies & trap-and-release (TNR)? I think that’s odd.
(My favorite feline humor is the one about giving a cat a bath)
What about global warming? Don’t cats cause that, too?
You are right.
I’d buy a ticket.
BTW- Where are you getting 7.62 at that price? Do you reload?
Believe me, there will be no suffering on a cat sized critter with a .22-250. It's a great centerfire varmint round. If you hit it, it's RDRT. Very flat trajectory, too.
Roger that. Everyone knows that dogs have owners. Cats have staff.
I DON’T THINK SO
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