Am I going too far? I'm thinking of giving a neighborhood cat, hit by a car, a decent burial

Jainarayan

There was a beautiful, and from what I could tell, very sweet black cat that belonged to people in my area. This cat was declawed and let to run loose. It would occasionally come sit on my deck, then disappear, come and go. The other day I saw it by the curb, dead. The weather has been freezing, so it is well-preserved.

I'm particularly saddened by this because I was told by another neighbor that the people who owned the cat were irresponsible with animals. It is by a curb on the street its owners live on, so it seems they don't even care. Looking back (which I know is pointless), I wish I had taken the cat in. I don't know how my cat would react, but I'm sure in time they'd work it out.

I want to wrap it in a towel, place it in a cushioned box, and as soon as the ground softens enough, bury it in my back yard. At least someone cares for this cat. It was senseless that this cat died this way, and is being left in the street its owners live on.

Zenshin

Short answer - no, your not over reacting, just showing a respect for life.

Jainarayan

Thanks @Lonely_Traveller, sometimes I can't see the forest for the trees with my feelings. I'd make a terrible Vulcan.

Jeffrey

They have cool tree burials where you put the animal or person in the soil and a tree grows from their remains. Wouldn't it be sweet to have a tree in honor of this cat friend/being?

vinlyn

I agree. It's a thoughtful act on your part.

Jainarayan

That's a nice thing @Jeffrey. My back yard has a few large trees, and some huge rhododendrons. I guess part of my thinking is that, while I didn't have the cat live with us while it was alive, at least now it will have a home that cares about it.

pyramidsong

Not at all. What you're doing is respectful and kind.

Jainarayan

Thanks everyone.

Theswingisyellow

Having a kind heart is no vice

Lii

Please bury the cat and say a prayer that maybe he will be born as a human.

Nele

Speaks well of you to care about the little being. Let this serve as a reminder to us that we can choose to take action when we see an animal being mistreated. A declawed cat outside? Poor ignorant people; or maybe just uncaring.

robot

I don't think you have given enough consideration to the cats owner's feelings in all this.
Can you be sure that that what you were told about them is true?
Don't you think that you should at least talk to them?
Do they have children? Are they missing their cat?
Perhaps they would like to bury the cat in their own back yard.
What does declawing the cat have to do with how it died? Sometimes people have them declawed to save birds.

Jainarayan

As it turns out, someone already removed the cat. I think it was the people where the cat was. There is a broken child's seat at the curb for the twp to pick up, and the cat gone. I hope the people buried it and didn't just throw it in the trash.

@Robot, I do have little concern for the original owners except to pity them and pray for them, because one does not let a declawed cat outdoors to roam the neighborhood. That is an almost certain death sentence. A declawed cat is an indoor cat. It cannot defend itself or climb. It's a simple fact that some people should not own animals. Like that woman who locked her dog in a hot truck at the bank.

I believe the person who told me about how irresponsible these people are. She makes it her business to know the neighborhood's affairs. They had a rabbit they kept in an outdoor metal hutch. The rabbit's lip somehow got caught on the wire. So they simply yanked and tore the rabbit's lip. If they wanted to bury the cat in their own back yard they could have crossed the street and taken the cat 3 days ago. It was just a few doors down, no way they could miss seeing it. They have no small children, in fact I have not seen their son in a long time. He's at least college age by now.

betaboy

I second Robot's advice (is that odd? lol).

In an attempt to be good, we may end up focusing on the 'flaws' of other people, even exaggerating them sometimes. We'd do well to avoid that, talk to the people concerned, and know what's actually going on.

Jainarayan

Nele said:

A declawed cat outside? Poor ignorant people; or maybe just uncaring.

Both.

Jainarayan

Lii said:

Please bury the cat and say a prayer that maybe he will be born as a human.

I did my little puja tonight in its memory. This really got to me because I kind of feel like I knew the cat. I definitely should have tried to take him/her in.

Jainarayan

betaboy said:

I second Robot's advice (is that odd? lol).

In an attempt to be good, we may end up focusing on the 'flaws' of other people, even exaggerating them sometimes. We'd do well to avoid that, talk to the people concerned, and know what's actually going on.

Well, the whole thing is academic now because what's done is done.

But in the interest of honesty, on several occasions I've talked to people about what they were doing with and to their animals. The reactions I got ranged from "mind your own business" to being patronized and ignored or waved off. Talking does no good; calling the SPCA does.

Jeffrey

My cat has never had a problem and is declawed. Outdoors. I expect it is a touchy discussion much like vegetarianism. It's previous owner declawed it and we found it in the wild while looking for a different cat. Long story.

Jainarayan

I did find him. I was on my way to the gym, and in the daylight I saw I was a few houses off. I took a towel, a spare t shirt and a canvas bag I had and put him in it, in the truck bed. I went back home, found a box and put him in it, but the ground is still too hard to dig. For now he is under a huge rhododendron tree with a board on top of the box. When the ground softens I will bury him. At least he's safe now, and hopefully being reborn into a happy life.

how

When I die, folks can put me in a wood chipper for all I care.

If merit exists and is transferable, then my friends can gather anywhere they like for the wake without needing to show reverence to a body on it's way back to the soil.
If the reverence that I've seen paid towards the bodies and memories of the dead, matched the reverence paid to them when they were alive, then I wouldn't think of it all as just sentimental concerns for what is racing to meet us all.

I guess I was the only one thinking that if the OP really had his facts straight, then I would have be tempted to loft the body of their neglected cat up on top of their roof, for the owners to deal with. Any cats that I've had, positively reveled in trying to train their slave owners to attend to their every need so I'm thinking that the cat would actually have my back on this one.

But sigh...I talk a tough road when I don't have tears in my eyes..

Jainarayan

I have other reasons for believing the owners were uncaring. For as much as it was said to me I may not have all the facts, I might say that in return to those who would say it to me. I know my neighborhood and the people who live there. You don't live somewhere for 11 years and not learn anything.

Moreover, like anything else, the belief in impermanence and bodies only being shells can be taken too far, at the expense of dependent origin. Maybe there is a reason I've encountered this event. Maybe it has something to do with who and what I am and what may be in store for me, including how I may come to view other people and events.