New lidded bins put stray cats on hot bricks
The new high-tech bins placed in the city are a great way to curb littering and maintaining cleanliness but they seem to have upset a few cat lovers in the city who think the covered bins will leave their feline friends starving.
Dr Emily Shotter, a cat lover and owner of Moet, a popular blind cat on social media, said, “While I definitely understand the need to keep rubbish contained, it is a sad reality that this will prevent stray and feral cats from being able to eat at all. As humans, we have invaded their habitat and have taken away ‘natural’ hunting, so the bins were all they had left. By covering them up, it means that many more will starve.”
Dr Emily added, “I only hope that people will see the plight of these poor animals and have the goodness of spirit to leave food and water out for them. It’s also important to remember that we also still face a critical situation
Dr Emily Shotter
with cat population control and that we also need to get them neutered or spayed. And that while feeding cats is humane and much needed.”
Antara Bose, an animal rights activist, said, “Throwing away food is not a good thing, but we’ve all been guilty. However, if you have some cats in the area who’d be happy to eat those leftovers, why not? Instead of trashing all the food in these closed bins, it is a good idea to put catfriendly food items in a small plastic container and leave it just
next to the bin for the cats to eat. They will automatically clean it up and you don’t have to be guilty of wasting.”
Antara also feels the handles to these closed dustbins are extremely dirty, “No one near my office actually takes the effort to open and throw the trash inside because it’s so unhygienic to touch. It doesn’t serve the purpose anyway.”
Many have called for sympathetic approach to the issue and have been posting pictures and comments criticising municipality’s move.
Another cat lover Aparna Rao who has been feeding hundreds of cats everyday, said, “The new bins have affected the cats in my area badly and they are all starving. It is very sad to see these animals in such a situation and I am sure most of them will die due to starvation.
“The new bins do not allow the cats to feed on leftovers. An option that can be considered is leaving food or leftovers outside the dustbins.”
I only hope that people will see the plight of these poor animals and have the goodness to leave food and water out for them