Question:
Thank you for your fine column. Your love, kindness and compassion for all animals warms my heart. Some of your words have really stuck with me -- I loved your advice to M.V. from Washington, D.C., to "let cats be cats." They cope as best they can in an environment in which they are alone and will never know their own kind! Also, that woman with the exotic bird -- you told her to seriously consider getting another of those birds so he can know his own kind. I think about how lonely these animals must be. I have two cats so that they might know their own kind. I live in a condo. They can't go outside and climb up a tree and do their natural-born hunting (I feel so bad about this), so I just let them be cats -- they keep me awake in the early hours as they are "hunting" through the condo. They are two brothers from the humane society and I love them so. I hope people with just one cat, dog or bird will consider getting another for companionship -- they won't be so lonely.
D.H., Fort Myers, FL Apr 03, 2005
Answer:
Thank you for your good words. One of the most widespread and barely recognized animal cruelties is the isolated "pet," including all those sociable mice, rabbits, guinea pigs and other small creatures from fish to birds who, out of human ignorance, are doomed to a life of solitary confinement.I have documented these and other issues in a review article entitled "Companion Animal Concerns" which you can print from my web site at TwoBitDog.com/DrFox.
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