The article, Battle in the Garden by Amy Sack, Daily News Staff Writer, depicts a struggle between a community garden and a pair of feral cats who, gardeners claim, are digging up plants and defecating. I felt myself sympathetic to both while reading this. I love cats, but hate it when they poop in my planters. But then I read a very practical response from a reader.
Her or his tone could have been nicer, but I agreed with the overall statement. (It seems like reader comments are much bolder and ruder than people actually behave face to face. A little anonymity can be dangerous.)
from Native NYC
"Oh please!! Bunch of arrogant busybodies making up rules to feel important! The cats are probably keeping away the RATS that would happily dine on vegetable garden leftovers. Just put out a litterbox for the cats and then leave them alone so they can do their job of repelling rodents! Why do think you see cats on farms?"
Comments (1)
What got lost in the article was the fact that the person keeping the cat in the garden has not been dealing with the gardeners in an open and helpful way. She was given the entire warm season to come up with a solution and/or relocate the cat and now pretends to be shocked that the gardeners have reached the end of their patience. There probably ARE mutually agreeable solutions but rather than discuss these and open up dialogue she's been silent at best and defensive to hostile at worst. Finally when we set a hard deadline she threatened to call the press on us and all of a sudden we are flooded with information about possible solutions. Wouldn't it have been nice to hear about this months and months and months ago?
This is less about the fate of Clarence and more about the right and wrong way to work within a community that shares communal space.
Posted by love cats hate politics | January 15, 2009 4:59 PM
Posted on January 15, 2009 16:59