Читать книгу Ordinary Sins - Jim Heynen - Страница 15

WHO LOVED ANIMALS MORE THAN PEOPLE

They’re my little darlings, she said. People can defend themselves; animals can’t.

Tell that to a mountain lion, said a friend.

How many mountain lions have you met lately? she asked. I rest my case.

She didn’t let her case rest very long. The farther an animal lived from people, the more she protected it. Wild horses ranked high. Polar bears ranked even higher. Narwhals were practically sacred.

Closer to home, she set out bird feeders that squirrels couldn’t reach, squirrel feeders that cats couldn’t reach, and raccoon feeders that horses couldn’t reach. She defended all animals, but she didn’t like what she called the “devolution” of some. Like domestic cats.

Cats are an extension of the human psyche, she said. We made them middle class. So now they get cancer and arthritis. They get kidney stones.

Her voice rose as she went on: They’re procreating like mosquitoes! Over a hundred million in America! A hundred million! A bored middle-class cat kills a thousand wild little darlings in its lifetime. Cats are the most species-destructive animals on the planet, and yet we supplement their diet with what they don’t kill! You could feed five third-world nations with the money Americans spend on cat food! Not to mention the annual veterinary expenses! More billions!

Her friends waited until she finished. When she got her teeth into a topic she shook it until it lay limp and silent. They didn’t tell her how bewildered they were by her diatribe. She had three cats herself, ones she picked up from the pound. Her cats were like feral critters in captivity. She kept them indoors to protect the wild creatures outside, but her cats lurked menacingly around the couch and skulked off like guilty bullies when humans got close. Nobody would say her cats were middle class, but they’d kill if given half a chance.

Her friends still sought her company. In many ways, she was kind and generous. She left big tips for artists and actors posing as waiters and waitresses. She was a devout conservationist. On Thanksgiving, she served soup to the homeless. But whose side would she take if a pit bull attacked them on the street? There was something dangerous about her that her friends couldn’t resist. It was as if she were their wild little darling and they her protectors.