Monthly Archives: October 2014


Every letter deserves a reply

There is a letter making its way around rescue groups, ostensibly written by an anonymous “shelter manager” in South Carolina in the US.  It’s one of those internet things that pop-up on Facebook and forums so that everyone can indulge in a bit of recreational outrage. Presumably the author was venting his/her frustration and anger […]

Flash

Reema

Doing the sums on pet over-population

The essence of mathematics is not to make simple things complicated, but to make complicated things simple. S. Gudder 63% of 7.5 million households in Australia have a cat or dog.* That is 4,725,000 households have one or more pets, one of the highest rates of pet ownership in the world. Let’s assume that each […]


Monkey

Scrap value

The iron fist of the real, inside the velvet glove of airy mathematics.~Gregory Benford, Timescape  The reality for many, if not most, rescue groups, is that we are beggars at the gates of the shelters and pounds, dependent on their good will to save lives. We plead with them to give us animals, turning a […]


Who are the irresponsible public?

If you are at all interested in the welfare of companion animals and read blogs or rescue sites, you’ll quickly realise that one of the most common, if not the most common, theme is the “irresponsible public”. Over and over again passionate advocates of companion animal welfare rail against the “irresponsible” public; tell stories of […]

Puppy and friend