Life on the Tarmac

We don’t just wake up one day and choose to live on the streets. It’s our resident humans who make that decision for us. Opening tins of food or settling the vet’s bill may suddenly have become too much of a burden for them. Or perhaps they simply forget about us when they’re packing up the removal van.

Many of my fellow cats are resilient, though, and adapt to life on the tarmac, forming colonies around local parks and businesses. But if, like me, you prefer plush cushions to cold asphalt, life on the sofa is much more appealing. Unfortunately, there is a distinct shortage of free couches relative to the number of cats aspiring to occupy them.

House Arrest

In Spain, shelter workers pick up thousands of us from the streets every year. They microchip us immediately and give us injections to keep illness at bay. They even perform rather undignified little surgeries to ensure we don’t end up with endless litters of kittens. Thereafter, we are left to wait patiently in shelters, hoping to find a new home with a loving family.

Recently, our two-legged friends in their Madrid headquarters passed a major piece of legislation called “Ley 7/2023” to keep us safe. It seems that, at last, they have realized that we have feelings and rights too. And that we deserve a safe place to rest.

Unfortunately, this new legal protection comes with a catch. Effectively, we cats will be under house arrest, expected to become model, indoor-only citizens. Imagine that our evening strolls are suddenly considered a critical threat to local biodiversity...Me-ooow...