You know the really interesting thing I find is that when we read a story about “youths” fighting in the mall or “youths” playing the knock out game or other similar idiocy, they are frequently referred to here as “ferals” with a comment along the lines of feral youth needing to be put down. We all know what the intent of that kind of comment. Rarely does anyone fret about it. Now, when an actual feral animal, or reasonably thought to be feral because it had no tag or collar, is killed people are going nuts.
There was no reason for this vet to think that was a feral cat.
Cats rarely have collars. A person can look at a feral cat and a pet cat and tell the difference, especially when they approach to kill them, and especially when they are a local vet at her own home.
I never call people feral-that implies that person was made to live outside society and has/had no choice in the matter. Humans always have choices by the time they are in their mid-teens, and they know how to reason and make value judgments.
Animals can be feral-being animals, they have no choices other than the ones made for them by humans, and they don’t make value judgements. A rogue human knows that his/her choice to be predatory and destructive could lead to their injury or demise-an animal knows no such thing-it is just doing what it has to in order to survive.
Yes, I do have more sympathy for the animal-it does not understand why it is being brutalized or killed...