Gawker 
Enter your username and password.
New York, 6:49 PM
Mon Nov 9
56 posts in the last 24 hours
Tip Your Editors:
tips@gawker.com
Tipline: 646-214-8138
Editor-in-Chief:
Gabriel Snyder | Email
West Coast Editor:
Richard Rushfield | Email
Contributing Editors:
Valleywag:
Ryan Tate | Email
Media:
Hamilton Nolan | Email
Politics:
Alex Pareene | Email
Investigations:
John Cook | Email
Entertainment:
Brian Moylan | Email
Weekends:
Foster Kamer | Email
Video Editor:
Richard Blakeley | Email
Original material is licensed under a Creative Commons License permitting non-commercial sharing with attribution.
11/05/09
11/04/09
11/04/09
11/05/09
11/05/09
11/05/09
11/04/09
11/04/09
11/04/09
11/04/09
11/04/09
11/04/09
11/04/09
11/04/09
11/04/09
11/04/09
What kind of vet would do this? Did I miss something about the cat's health and well-being, other than the threat of the PETA interns? #peta
11/04/09
I couldn't stand the people telling me to put my cat inside, so I killed it. WHA? #peta
11/04/09
11/04/09
It is the height of selfishness to have your pet put to sleep because you are afraid someone might take it away from you. If the cat had its druthers, I think it would have chosen to, you know, live.
And also...it is NOT GOOD for cats to be outdoor cats. Outdoor cats live a third as long on average as indoor cats because outdoors they are exposed to all different ways to die along with a host of diseases from other cats. I come from a family of veterinarians and have seen and heard horror stories about what happens to cats and dogs allowed to roam free.
If a cat is spayed/neutered and raised indoors, it should have no problem being a perfectly happy indoor cat. It seems the problem in this instance was the cat was allowed to roam outdoors in the first place and then freaked out when that was changed.
I think PETA is screwy in many ways, but in this case I think they had a point. Keep your cats indoors unless you want them, chances are, to meet an early death. Most reputable shelters will not allow people to adopt a cat unless they pledge to keep it indoors, and there is a good reason for that.
Okay, rant over... #peta
11/04/09
11/04/09
11/04/09
I've now had for eleven years two cats who are happy to be inside and have never shown the least interest in going outside (as opposed to the other one, who was always trying to escape ever before I started letting her out). This is a huge relief to me, but I still don't feel I did the wrong thing with my first cat, whom I still love and miss. #peta
11/04/09
11/04/09
They were keeping cat food on their porch, he was obsessively stalking the door, and it was only a matter of time before they "saved" him, and I would never know what was happening to him or where he was. They don't have a great track record with the animals they rescue. #peta
11/05/09
I've always read that cats live longer and are healthier when they live indoors.
A 12-year-old "outdoor" cat might have difficulty adjusting, however.
Is there a tort of "civil harassment"? #peta
11/05/09
That being said, I'm extremely sorry for your loss. I have two cats and feel for you. The idiocy of PETA trumps your mistake in my mind, for sure. #peta
11/04/09
The funny thing is that my cat loves to sun herself on our deck but has always been too timid to venture further. Well, the one time she did she got stuck inside a prickly bush, which I think scarred her for life. #peta
11/04/09
Ms. Netzer should have simply bought a dart gun and put a few PETA assholes to sleep. There is no more loathsome organization allegedly dedicated to a good cause. #peta
11/04/09
11/04/09
I did grow up with an indoor/outdoor cat, but we also lived on 10 acres. And as much as I love animals and want all the animals, Fuck PETA.
11/04/09
11/04/09
11/04/09
11/04/09
11/04/09
11/04/09
11/04/09
However, I have seen cats with their legs chopped off from getting caught in a fanbelt; with abscesses on their head that went to their brain from being in a cat fight with the neighborhood tom; with gashes into their skull from the thrasher; with painful acute kidney failure from drinking anti-freeze; with their bodies torn limb to limb because they were attacked by a dog; and the list goes on and on. Cats do not inherently need to be outdoor cats to live happy lives. There are some exceptions, but to say they as a species "need" the outdoors is simply incorrect. And I guarantee you most vets would agree with me on this.
11/04/09
11/04/09
11/04/09
Only I would have told them in the most polite way possible to go f*** themselves. #peta
11/04/09
11/04/09
11/04/09
11/04/09
11/04/09
11/04/09
In the age of Craigslist it's not usually difficult to find a new home for a pet. I've rescued and placed animals a few times. You have to screen people to make sure they're not nuts, but it's not all that hard. #peta
11/04/09
these PETA folks have a good message, but they have to recognize that their methods need adjustment and are a tad too much occasionally. #peta
11/04/09
What might happen would be that your cat could be adopted into a good home. #peta
11/04/09
People want kittens and puppies not cats and dogs.
It happens, two of my cats where older once I got them (I adopted them from a friend) but Im the exception to the rule. #peta
11/04/09
11/04/09
It's true that the demand for puppies and kittens is higher, but I worked in an animal shelter and we did 50-70 adoptions a day and most of them were adult animals because younger animals are more scarce. Kittens also have a season, so they're not available most of the year. #peta
11/04/09
I threw up and cried in my car the first time I went there....mainly because it wasn't the first I had seen that was so bad. #peta
11/04/09
11/04/09
Sorry, still makes me stabby. #peta
11/04/09