Postscript More about Cats, Dogs, Careless Folks.....

 "No matter the situation a fish will never swim backwards." "A goat is never happy when a sheep is been slaughtered." Ubuntu African Proverbs

Prices continue to rise, various items are difficult to obtain, some are sold again for a short time and disappear once more: sugar (big problem in an sugar loving country), milk, mineral water (rumor has it that it is due to lack of money for plastic bottles), rice, sunflower oil, creals, flour, bred and chicken partly, croquettes for pets, Unigenta eye drops, several imported medications, etc. More cats and dogs lose their houses, poor darlings not knowing why they are suddenly homeless. A woman on the radio demanded that folks should stop feeding animals and donate to poor people instead. A whole industry developed around pets' requirements, various items, like transport boxes, toilets, collars, leads, muzzles,etc. and also food, i. e. croquettes, tinned food, medication for animals, there are pet shops and veterinarians - does she want all to become unemployed, bankrupt? Besides, in my experience not all poor people appreciate your help, some think you should not give them the little finger, but your whole arm, so to speak. We have a family with "limited income" here, who demand money for food, medicine, gas, school books (after the young son stopped attending school). We gave them money on various occasions, clothes, shoes for the boy, two collars, lead, muzzle and food for their dog (donations from Europe for dogs). We think they sold the items for the dog (mend to prevent him to be mistaken for a stray), shameless folks, and he may even no longer be alive. For a while they had another dog, thinking they may possibly be able to sell puppies one day. Then they kicked out the bitch and lied that she wasn't their dog. It doesn't seem to bother them much if she gets shoot as a "stray". The other dog nobody has seen for a while, they say because he's sick. In the past we employed not so well off local men with decoration works around the house, several used the opportunity to steal from us. We then decided it's better to carry out ourselves as much works as possible and that money is better spend on supporting animals. I judge guys corresponding to how they treat animals. 

More about Cats, Dogs, and Careless Folks and Others

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 "A wise man said:" Don't take revenge. The rotten fruits will fall by themselves. " Jabah Funniebo (African proverb) " If you sit long enough by the river banks, you will see your enemies floating by." Chinese proverb.     

  It is the time of year once more when many cats have their babies, and too many cat owners feel the strange urge to pull these from the loving paws of the feral mothers. Why ? A lot of cruel treatment of animals has to do with money, lack of education and convenience. The unwanted cat babies are thrown among the garbage or secretly dropped in front of houses of folks who more or less care for animals. While cat owners who either can't or don't want to get their cats spayed and neutered ("family planning") say they can't support a cat family, they expect others to be able to take an unlimited number of ferals, on account of such acting (I call it irresponsible) they believe they deserve a good conscience..... Lately I had 14 kittens in total placed in front of my house, 3 times I happened to see a cute innocent little one nearly having a fatal accident. I feel stressed and under pressure. Save their lives, take them indoors? How much food can I pay for, for how many can I finance their dental and other treatments, what about getting them spayed and neutered one day (approx. 120 Dinar for the female and perhaps 60 - 70 Dinar for the male), how many more "family members" will my cats tolerate? How many more toilets, how much longer can I cope? My cats don't do their big and small "business" on the street. I am no longer young and healthy, don't belong to that women group of " considerate proportions", with other words, what I can carry on my shoulders is limited. Vaccination for e. g. 40 cats is out of question. I am not an association. We urgently need animal protection laws, killing so called strays is no solution. It's been going on for so long and what has been achieved? Kids, youngsters, adults should be educated to learn to appreciate and protect nature and animals, after all Allah's creation I encountered several guys, young and old, with a disturbed attitude, e. g. frightened of absolutely gentle strays, without reason throwing stones, using sticks, etc. All bad I ever experienced came from humans, not animals. Disturbed kids feel the urge to damage, destroy, don't I know it! I was forced to exchange attractive plants (pulled out, broken off) in front of my house, by cactus plants. This doesn't prevent some from throwing kittens among them. The other day I found a lovely little one with a thorn in her forehead. Concerning the tree I planted a few days ago, well, children/ youngsters started to break off twigs, mark the tree trunk slightly with their pocket knife, will they allow it to grow? I shall try to protect it, the one I planted some years ago in Kairouan develped well (see photo). Now it is 4m tall. The Quran tilling in front of my house has been damaged by a stone. I heard the loud crash but didn't discover anything at first as I didn't know what to look for. Today I saw more kittens near my house. Very sad, not a quiet area here and plenty of traffic. I discovered Fleur, a sweet regular visitor to my Cats' Table, with her lovely baby between my cactus plants. I took them indoors, a small corridor. Mummy cat is happy with the service and her baby seems to be well. Two young girls knocked at the door. They requested the return of a tri-coloured kitten they brought to us 4 weeks ago. We told them that this kitten isn't in our house. After they left I remembered a lovely tiny cat baby, not very fit. We took her to a vet who thought she will probably be okay after a short while. At first it looked like it, but one morning we sadly found her dead. Quite a few little ones don't live long, if seperated from their mother, even if provided with the expensive baby milk. I believe they also miss their brothers and sisters, they like to cuddle together. In my house they find other kittens, from various families, and they play together or look for an adult cat, male or female and try to suck for milk. At present we have a problem with some little ones suffering from diarrhea, could be due to worms. This means may be a quarter (1/2 kg kitten weight) of the special tablet once a week for 2 weeks and then once a month for some months. Only problem with so many, making sure all receive the medication and none double. All not easy in particular since I am not very well myself, it can only get better - I hope. What really depresses me it that since a few days for 4 weeks in the whole of Tunisia stray dogs are being shoot. It is supposed to be cheaper than vaccination. Dogs don't deserve such a fate, capital punishment for barking or because some folks don't like dogs/ believe they are dangerous? Abused dogs may be aggressive, not all of them though, they put up with a lot of suffering, amazing. Dogs don't lie, cheat, steal, start a war. They are very loyal, experts in saving people's lives. Neglected, disturbed kids can lie quite convincingly at an early age, already when they just stopped wearing nappies. I repeatedly experienced this and had to stress that my eyes don't lie. Friends of mine in Europe are deeply shocked how strays are treated here. This shooting is a method that doesn't seem to belong to this century. How can one then for a better society preach the need for solitary and empathy? If free vaccination, neutering and spaying, of stray dogs is too expensive for Tunisia, why not ask for help from Europe? A team of dedicated international veterinarians would surely be happy to come and work without requesting payment. 

Postscript Environment Protection

Below wedding celebration

 

 On the right how this product used to be sold. 

Without comments

 "Laughing is a medicine, but when you laugh for no reason, you need a medicine."    "The market is noisy simply because nobody wants to be  cheated." African Proverbs                                                                                  Extrem noise is a health risk that doesn't seem to be regarded as such in Tunisia. If you suffer from migraine attacks you know that it can be absolutely hell. But it also can make you deaf, increase your blood pressure, lead to a stroke or heart attack. Why then do folks love it so much around here? Kids are known to enjoy lots of it..... I wish there were restrictions on the height of noise level for loud speakers used in houses and streets surrounded by inhabited houses (open air celebrations directly in front of occupied houses). Folks here love loud speakers suitable for events like woodstock, or at least football stadiums. I wake up with my heart beating like mad, should I need an ambulance I can't phone, not possible to hear what I am saying. The music and live drums will stop at approx. 3 a. m., followed by loud tidying up, removal of chairs, etc. We are usually also invited to such events, nice thought, but too strengtherous for us unfortunately. Poor people dream of a big wedding, understandable, so maybe hope they can finance it with the money collected for the big function, difficult when you don't have rich generous friends and relatives but intend to celebrate for several days, i. e. 8 days (happened here). What is really good in Tunisia, plastic usually no longer gets just dumped and left anywhere for long since quite a few, yo ung and old folks, collect and sell plastic, means a bit of income, often really needed. High percentage alcohol is very expensive thank heaven for that since the consumption makes some guys aggressive. Contrary to Europe most parties are held without alcohol. - We decided to plant another tree, I would love to surround our house with trees, but can't afford this. Experts say the temperature in hot cities could be lowered by 10 degrees if trees were planted and of course it improves the air quality. We keep having cars parked directly under our window and this means exhaust gas and fine dust pollution, I cough a lot, we expect an improvement through the tree and hope the kids will allow it to grow. Reducing the amount of unnecessary wrapping would be another way to protect the environment. Sadly many companies like to sell their processed food in very often by 2/3 rd too big packages. This in particular applies to cereals. But it's not just food, also other items like e. g. medicine. Take Rhumatyl which used to be sold in a small plastic box, big enough to hold 60 capsules, now (see photo) it comes in an totally unnecessary cardboard box, big enough to hold 2 of the enclosed 1 plastic box. Why? To convince the buyer that he/she gets good value for money? Surely this can only work once. Climate change effect us all, time to act. Tourist who used to come to enjoy sunshine may now instead enjoy a holiday in their own country as there are plenty of hot days due to climate change. 

Environnement Protection

" A fish that never entered a cooking pot will not know that water can still betray it." Ubuntu African Proverbs  - "Be aware of false knowledge, it is more dangerous than ignorance." George Bernhard Shaw.                              Tunisians love their cars and motorcycles, the sound of the running engine is like music in their ears. The black cloud stands for power and freedom, young men proudly ride their motorcycles with pretty girls sitting in the back. The hot weather makes it difficult to wear protection clothes, some "real men" you can even see topless, hopefully their skin is thick enough in case of an accident.  As I mentioned before, in the neighborhood a boy approx. 10-12 years old, frequently rides a motorcycle just for fun, he now also lets his play comrades do the same. Meanwhile getting bored with only driving at high speed, he started to perform artistic acts with one wheel in the air. The other day he nearly hit a parked vehicle. I am under the impression that the awareness of the need to rethink and start here also environmental protection hasn't reached many yet, not even the generation that would eventually be effected most by pollution. While parking for a few minutes or longer, perhaps to do a bit of shopping, having a good chat, or waiting for a passenger, it is normal local standard to have the engine run idle. Unfortunately often underneath our window or close by. In addition most taxis stop for unknown reasons in front of our house, then after finally the purse has been found, money exchanged between driver and passenger, folks of all ages, sometimes whole families, march off in all directions..... I wonder whether these people are frightened the taxi driver may be tempted to break into their house, if he sees where exactly they are living. (Do they silently recommend to choose my house instead?) Why do I worry? Well, my husband and I feel the result, the concentration of exhaust gas and fine dust pollution makes our eyes burn, cough and gives us a sore throat. According to scientists exhaust gas emissions of vehicles, running engines, heating, building activities (we have plenty of these), Sahara dust, all lead to fine dust pollution. The effects of air pollution shouldn't be taken lightly, it reduces the life expectances, causes the death of 7 Million people around the world every year. Further, fine dust pollution can lead to cancer, heart attack, stroke, allergy, effects the lungs, vessels, may be a cause for Alzheimer and Demenz. Where the concentration of fine dust pollution is high, more persons die of Corona. By the way, lots of noise pollutes the air as well and is quite harmful

Animals teach their kids as well by the look of it.

to health. When I ask to switch off the idle engine, some think I am stupid but nevertheless most folks do so or decide to drive off. Kids in the neighborhood meanwhile know we are sensitive to high levels of noise, not that they are exactly silent now...... I guess noone else ever told them to stop yelling at ear-splitting level and some folks are already fairly deaf.