Today we all grieve with our Gallic neighbours
on the horrific tragedy that has befallen the decent citizenry of Paris. The
question on everybody’s lips will be “how can we stop it from happening again?
The reality is, we can’t! Barrack Obama doesn’t have the answer and neither
does David Cameron, Francois Hollande, Angela Merkel or any of the rest of
them. In reality sections of their populations are sitting ducks and already
the British PM has advised the British public that “the UK must be prepared for
British casualties”. He didn’t specify if his comments referred to Paris or
some future event.
Here in Sli na Móna we had an invasion of
another kind in recent months and convinced by the Prodigal the Residents
Association decided to tackle the issue. It is not intended to compare our
problem with the mayhem caused by terrorists but is an illustration of how a
problem might be tackled. We had for over a year been invaded by feral cats.
These crazy felines were everywhere and brought all the attendant problems that
one would expect. After twelve months advice to the local populace of the
dangers of these pussies and advising residents as to how to deal with the
problem I issued an article in the estate newsletter in September just past.
Feral Cats.
“On more than
one occasion in the past the Residents Association has highlighted the problem
of wild cats in the estate. We pointed out the dirt, disruption and other
difficulties associated with these animals. We asked that residents should stop
feeding them. Now the problem has increased to the extent that it seems as if
some people are breeding them. At this stage we have to take action. We have
consulted with the Gardaí, the Local Authority and a local vet. It is now the
situation that these cats will have to be caught and brought to the local vet
to be euthanized.
Two cat
cages are being purchased and will be put in position in two weeks’ time. Those
residents that own cats as pets will have to ensure that their pets are
confined to their owners’ properties. It gives us no pleasure to have to resort
to this measure but it has been unanimously agreed at the AGM and subsequent
committee meetings. The afore-mentioned cages will be located on private
property only”.
The letter was delivered to every house in the
estate and was widely welcomed despite the fact that some residents were using
the cats as a waste disposal system.
The rest of September resembled the antics of
the Pied Piper of Hamelin except we substituted the rats with cats. We had
estimated that the number of wild cats to be six to eight. With two cages we
bought in Wexford we went cat hunting. White pudding was moderately successful
as was black, sausage including chorizo was less tempting as was mince and lamb
but when we started on the chicken as bait the whole scenario changed utterly.
Cats find chicken irresistible and the cat capture greatly increased.
As of today no less than 15 pussycats have been
snared and dealt with in the prescribed fashion. Two of these were seriously
deranged and were put down by the Inny Veterinary Clinic. All of the rest were
spayed or neutered as is recommended and almost all were rehabilitated in good
homes. A small number were released by the vet’s office and one actually
managed to find his way home and had to be recaptured. At this time we are left
with two adult cats and may leave these to keep an eye on the Pied Piper’s
historical victims. The moral is simple; if you have a problem, do the
homework, devise a plan and then put that plan into action.
On November 3rd I made the following
entry in this diary of sorts;
“So what
caused a plane to split in two halves five miles up in the sky? Bless my soul it could only be politics.
One thing is certain, the real culprits will get off scot-free”.
100% correct! No, I have no insight into the
machinations of international politics, the workings of terrorists, the double
dealing of diplomacy or can I see into the future, but when you eliminate the
usual suspects there could be only one answer left. Aerial sabotage! That catastrophe,
coupled with the carnage of the so-called Islamic State in Paris has brought
international diplomacy to arrangements that could hardly be envisaged if we
use history as a yardstick.
When we consider the ‘Allies’ and the ‘Axis’
powers during the Second World War vis-à-vis their respective positions on the
global fight against terrorism at present the change is nothing short of a
metamorphosis. To witness the US, the Soviet Union, Great Britain and France
singing off the same hymn-sheet almost beggars belief. But there it is.
Like parishioners in Forgney or Carrickedmond
who will fight like tinkers among themselves during times of bored normality,
the ranks can very quickly close with absolute determination during times of
confrontation with the common enemy. The old adage is true! “Necessity is the
mother of invention”.
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