Jerusalem reminds me of a children’s story that I remembered
so fondly, I bought it for my own children and have a copy just in case I’m
someday blessed with grandchildren to read to.
Millions of Cats is a story of a very lonely, elderly couple. The wife decides that if they had a cat to
love things would be wonderful so her dear husband sets out to find the
perfect, beautiful, feline companion. After
a while, he comes to a place where he discovers, “Cats here, cats there, cats
and kittens everywhere. Hundreds of
cats, thousands of cats, millions and billions and trillions of cats.” Kind of like Jerusalem.
Some are friendly, some not so much, some skinny, some not so much, and
no, it is not because of crazy cat ladies gone wild feeding them, although I do
admit to feeding several here on campus, and I know a tender hearted school
guard who feeds upwards of 50.  |
| Coffee Shop buddy |
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| Winnie, my 'window' buddy |
The most reliable story behind the cat population is one that
is not new. Cats were not so prevalent
in Israel until sometime in the 30’s when some bright someone got the “novel”
idea to bring them in to combat the rat problem. You would think that we would learn somewhere
along the way that introducing animals and plants to places where they do not
occur naturally is not the smartest idea.
Think of people moving to the desert regions to escape allergy problems
bringing their favorite trees, flowers, and pollen along, rabbits in Australia
and Russian Olives in central Illinois, to name a few examples.
No one seems to know how many cats are roaming the streets in
these parts, some estimate about two million.
Wow. I love cats, but I’m
sentimental about them and think even barn cats need love, right? And care? And
happily I’m not alone. There are several
groups in Israel who do what they can to spay, neuter, and inoculate the cat
population including, as of last year, the government. Meow Mitzvah Mission of Israel is one group
that works to provide long-term, ethical solutions for reducing and controlling
the street cat overpopulation. Once the
cats have received their “breeding intervention” the vet clips the tip of the
left ear, the international symbol that the cat has been cared for.
As the years pass the theory is that natural attrition
will cause the wild population to decrease, and then perhaps become manageable
or nonexistent.
That’s what happened in
the story, but not quite in the same way.
When the little old man went home he was followed by ALL of the many,
many cats. His wife, a wise woman realized
they couldn’t care for all of them and so suggests the cats decide by asking
“Which one of you is the prettiest?”
This naturally causes a cat fight of Epic proportions, frightening the
couple who run back into the safety of their house. When all is quiet they emerge to find only
one skinny little unattractive cat who turns out, with a little food and love,
to be exactly the cat they’d wanted.
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| Tel Aviv Graffiti cats |
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| Tel Aviv carved cat |
I like cats
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