Ferals

 

The two feral cats I adopted
Taffy and Tuffy rest in a safe spot several months after being adopted. The semi-feral duo were found on the streets of Sahali, getting by eating bugs and whatever else they could scrounge.

 

I always root for the underdog. Whether it’s a sports team that has scraped its way into the finals against the odds or the unheard-of singer who can’t afford a glitzy outfit or singing lessons, my heart goes to those who look like they’re going to lose.

I’ll walk into an animal shelter and be drawn to the mangy-looking mutt cowering in the corner or the anti-social cat hissing in the back of the cage.

Two street dogs from Turkey find a feeding station. New legislation is aimed at preventing them from being harmed.
Two street dogs from Turkey find a feeding station. New legislation is aimed at preventing them from being harmed.

Animal rights groups recently applauded Turkey for its recent amendment to its Animal Welfare Act that makes it a crime punishable by jail to deliberately harm an animal.

The amendment, proposed by the Istanbul Bar Association’s Animal Rights Commission, also jacked up the rates of fines for animal abuse, which is how Turkey has penalized offenders in the past.

Feral cat warily studies traps.
Murphy has already been trapped and neutered. He knows better than to go in again, but the smell of food does make him think.

“There goes Felix.”

The orange tabby sniffs around two cat traps and begins nibbling at the pieces of food scattered around the entrances that are supposed to tempt other ferals to enter the wire cages.

From her SUV parked a dozen metres or so down the driveway of the house where she’s set the traps, Kamloops and District Humane Society executive director Barb Zibrik watches. And waits. And watches and waits.