“I cannot say that my life improved; on the contrary, it worsened. I had to scavenge trash cans for food and run away from other unfriendly stray cats. One day, I began to feel itchy and uncomfortable, and I could not help scratching my skin. The other day, I saw a cat lying on the ground and feeding her four newborn kittens. What will become of them in this cruel world where we must compete with our fellows for a piece of food and a place to sleep? I was afraid to find myself in this cat’s shoes someday.” – I would like to add a little more of the cat’s trials and experiences after this paragraph (about a page worth). “Feline overpopulation is a pressing environmental issue, there are about 58 million community cats in the US. Of them, 3.2 million are handled by animal shelters annually, and many are euthanized. I propose a more humane way of managing feline overpopulation — the Trap-Neuter-Return program, under which we will start a voucher plan to get stray cats spayed or neutered and provide them with a new home. As our UK colleagues’ experience shows, community members can provide great assistance by reporting unowned cats for neutering. Therefore, I call everyone who cares about these gentle creatures to participate in our program and make this world safer for them and ourselves. Mary continued her speech while Ocean, being soothed by the sound of her voice, fell asleep peacefully, knowing that her future was in safe hands.” – I would like to add more of the cats’ experiences after this paragraph to close out this story. Maybe Ocean encounters more strays in her roaming? Maybe Ocean witnesses other scenes of kindness or cruelty?
