Today my mum was upset because our cat Billy has caused some problems in the neighbourhood. Billy keeps running away and stealing food.
I told my mum not to be worried as cats are wild and impossible to properly train. This reminds me of a blog post I wrote 2 years ago when I was 11 years old.
In my original post, I explained the different behaviours of cats and dogs. I wrote:
No Pets Allowed
From the blog of Ben Williams’ World: No pets allowed, first published on 1st August 2012.
Below is my full post:
Today mum and I went walking in a hawker centre in Clementi in Singapore. I saw a sign saying “No pets allowed”. I told mum, “That’s not right.”
When she asked why, I explained that in Britain the signs in shops normally say “No dogs”. They don’t say anything about cats. However this sign said no PETS, which is not right, because pets include cats.
Why? Because legally when you own a pet, it is your responsibility. However, with cats, no matter what kind of paperwork you sign for it, cats are born WILD. They are different from dogs, which are DOMESTIC.
For example, if your dog injured somebody, you would be charged or arrested, in some very serious cases. If your cat injured somebody, it won’t be your fault because cats are not trained.
You know how cats go wandering and sometimes go missing for days? Well, dogs are domestic and anything that involves the dogs will be the owner’s responsibility.
If their cat was to be involved in anything, nobody would look for the owner. Cats are still owned by whoever bought or owned them, but the cats are free to do whatever they want. Dogs are different.
Dogs are trained to obey their owner’s commands and the owners are responsible for their dogs. So, when a shop says “No dogs,” the owner is responsible for making sure that the dogs are tied to a post or something if the owner is going to the shop.
Nobody can blame a cat if it runs into a shop and causes havoc. So, the sign is saying that cats are not allowed to enter, even though the owners can’t do anything if it does.
Does this post make you feel any different about cat and dog behaviour?
Related posts about Billy:
Also explains why if you hit a dog while driving you have to report it to the police, but not if you hit a cat.
Can’t do ‘hit and run’ with a dog, but ok with other animals. It is not quite fair, is it?
There are other animals that are reportable – horses, mules, donkeys, cows, pigs. Generally animals that are used to work, or make a living.
Interesting. I couldn’t find such information on GOV.UK. Where’s your source from?
So you feed your cats, pay for vaccinations, vets……and you don’t actually own them, even when they get run over, you don’t even get to know it. That’s sad.
My wealth of useless information. I think it may be in the Highway Code.
They say you do not own a cat. A cat may choose to live with you for a while. The cat owns you. Cats will go where the food is.
If a cat is a nuisance to you, buy a water pistol and use it. One shot will be enough.
Billy travels to 2 miles away to find his territory. I think he finds lots of food there and doesn’t think he needs to come back to us for warmth and love. He came back for 2 days, and now he’s gone again.
His carefree lifestyle (including daytime theft) might have upset other resident cats. Some people who don’t welcome him may consider our cat Billy a nuisance. What should you do when you are powerless in such a delicate situation?