WASHINGTON, D.C. – An organization calling itself the “Million Cat Marchers” is planning a march through Washington next week to protest the nation’s lack of animal rights.
The seemingly large group of domestic shorthairs, siamese, ragdolls, and other cats has not quite reached a million cats, but they hope to get their message across regardless. Holding signs such as “Our Meows Matter,” “Pets are People Too,” and “Throw Us a Can Opener,” the cats plan to spread the word that the rights of cats have been long-neglected in the United States.
Although the activists have not been grouped for long, they believe that they have made great progress in recent years, as a number of no-kill animal shelters have popped up throughout the nation and many states and localities are enacting laws that protect a cat’s right to bear claws. Among those are other significant wins for the MCM, such as stiffer penalties for animal abuse and harrassment, greater adoption campaigns for homeless cats, and responsible education about spay/neuter programs as well as euthanasia, and numerous developments in the way of alternatives to declawing.
Changes the cats are hoping for include:
- The right to freedom of speech
- The right to vote. – Right now, only humans have the right to vote, but the MCM believes that this should be extended to include cats and possibly dogs.
- The right for cats to marry one another – Cats are naturally monogamous creatures but are not given the opportunity to wed or the protections of a lifelong partnership.
- The right to live life even while in prison – The Death Penalty is all too often used on cats and they feel that this should be eliminated.
- The right to raise the kittens that they bear or adopt, until adulthood – Kittens are usually taken from their mothers at 10-16 weeks of age, but sometimes as young as 6-8 weeks. If human children were taken from their mothers after weaning, children would usually never see their mothers again after 6 months to 2 years of age.
- The right to become gainfully employed in the same types of jobs that humans or dogs would have – Discrimination currently runs rampant in the United States, and cats are among the last choice when recruiting for job positions.
- The right to have a speedy trial prior to imprisonment – At this time, cats are generally given no trial before sentencing.
The group also states that they are not fond of the appointment of Judge Samuel A. Alito to the Supreme Court due to his stance towards equal rights to other classes of Americans. They do not feel that his feelings would be any more favorable towards felines and thus his nomination should be opposed. Further, they are not pleased with the current “Spy program” fiasco, but they are aware that cats are frequently spied upon and they believe that all felines deserve a right to privacy.