Why Cats Need Nine Lives

There is a most remarkable story in yesterday's New York Times that is so reminiscent of the current anti-horse slaughter debate in the United States that it is actually eerie. See what you think.

Apparently it is still legal in Switzerland, a country where more than 60% of the people have a dog or cat, to kill cats for their fur. This applies to feral cats as well as domestic ones that, according to the article, "stray more than 200 yards from their homes." It is unclear exactly how many cats are being killed each year, domestic or otherwise. Government reports vary from "about a dozen" to "about 2,000" while the members of the cats advocacy group, SOS Chats, says it is closer to "tens of thousands."

And the numbers continue to vary when it comes to estimates of the value of the pelts, ranging anywhere from $5 to $1700 but here's where it gets really weird. Nobody believed this practice was actually happening until three undercover TV News crews caught "tanners who had officially denied trading in cat fur actively doing so and, in at least one case, explaining that cat meat was also available."

All of a sudden, Brigitte Bardot and 122,000 other Swiss citizens signed a petition urging the government to ban the practice. Luc Barthassat, a legislator, has become one of the movement's champions, introducing a bill that would ban the import, export and domestic commercial trade in cat fur. "It is very personal for many people because cats are more than animals to us," he said.

Stay with me here, because, according to Tomi Tomek, director of SOS Chats, this battle has been going on for TEN YEARS because NOBODY BELIEVED IT WAS HAPPENING. "For a long time, nobody believed us because we had no proof," she said. "We would call up the tanners and tell them who we were and ask them, and they would never admit they did this. Then we started pretending we wanted to order some cat fur, and they sold it to us. Now we are not seen as liars anymore."

Politicians admit that the issue will be resolved by this summer because of the negative publicity it is generating for the country. "Switzerland is becoming the place where the most cats are being killed for the import and commerce to sell the cat fur," said Christophe Darbellay, President of one of Switzerland's largest political parties. "We don't like to be seen this way."

So what does it take to convince elected officials that America is becoming the place where horses are being sold for slaughter "for the export and commerce to sell the horse meat" and we don't like to be seen that way either.