There’s a cat I know. A sweet boy who’s been on my back porch more times than I can count this past month. Friendly, curious, gentle. The kind of animal that just wants a warm place, a kind voice, and maybe some food. I’ve helped him before—once even returned him to his owners. A man and his young daughter. They didn’t say thank you. Barely acknowledged the effort. And now, I see his picture floating around Facebook. Again. “Missing.”
But here’s the thing: he’s not “missing.”
He’s let out. Frequently. Intentionally. Wandering yards, crossing roads, navigating a gauntlet of threats every single day because—what? Because “he usually comes back at night”? That’s not love. That’s gambling with a life.
Let me tell you what’s going to happen, because I’ve seen it more times than I want to count. He’s going to end up roadkill. Or stolen. Or dumped. Or torn apart by a coyote. And when that happens, they’ll post again. Or maybe not. Maybe they’ll just shrug. Maybe they’ll already be at the shelter picking out the next “just a cat” to let roam because their kid wants to “own something.”
That word—own—is where everything begins to go wrong. An animal isn’t a toy. It’s not a placeholder for a lesson in responsibility. It’s a life. With emotion, fear, trust, joy, and pain. Yes, I know other animals matter too, and I’m not ignoring that greater discussion—but today, I’m talking about cats. Because I know cats. I’ve rescued them. Fostered them. Cried over them. Buried them. Fought for them.
And I’ve watched the cycle. Over and over.
People get a cat for their kids. Or because they’re cute. Or because a friend had kittens. Or because the shelter is “depressing.” Then they don’t spay or neuter. They let them out. They say “He’s street smart,” or “She needs her freedom.” And then the Facebook post goes up.
“Missing.”
“Last seen near 113th.”
“We’re heartbroken.”
“Please help us find her.”
But where was the heartbreak before you let her roam a neighbourhood filled with cars, predators, poisons, and people who don’t always have good intentions? Where was the heartbreak when you decided not to get her fixed? Where was it when you turned away from the simple truth—that one unneutered male cat can be responsible for hundreds of kittens in his lifetime. Kittens this country cannot care for.
Canada takes in tens of thousands of cats into shelters every year. Most of them won’t ever leave. They sit behind bars in overburdened systems—waiting, declining, fading. Hoping. It’s estimated that roughly 100,000 cats and dogs are euthanized in Canada annually because we simply don’t have the space, the homes, the humanity to do better by them. That’s not because of cats. That’s because of people.
So, no—I won’t stay quiet when I see it happening again.
I won’t pretend this is a one-off situation.
I won’t let someone call him “just a cat.”
And I sure as hell won’t sugarcoat the truth.
If your child finds the body of the same cat they briefly loved a month earlier—cold, broken, and lying on the side of the road—you don’t get to act like that’s just life. You get to own that choice. You get to wear the outcome. Because you knew. And you let it happen anyway.
People say I’m too intense about this. Too emotional. That it’s “just a phase cats go through.”
No—it’s a failure of human psychology. A refusal to adapt. An allergy to responsibility. A dangerous absence of empathy and foresight. We don’t have a cat problem. We have a people problem.
To those who breed while shelters overflow, who won’t spay or neuter, who let their animals out because “they like it,” and to those who don’t want to learn, don’t want to grow, don’t want to take action—I see you. I’ve met you. And I’ve buried the consequences of your choices.
If you love animals—really love them—show it with action.
• Adopt.
• Fix your pets.
• Keep them safe.
• Speak up when others won’t.
Because if we can’t even find compassion for something as gentle, trusting, and vulnerable as a domestic cat—what hope do we have for anything else?
Here we are again. The same story. The same cat.
The compassionate outnumbered by the apathetic.
But I’ll keep fighting. And if you’re still reading this… I hope you will too.
🐾 Sincerely,
— A man who loves cats more than most people deserve
