Expo and adoption of cats in shops

We at Chats du Quercy are against the sale, exhibition and adoption of cats in shops. Already many countries ban the sale or adoption of cats and dogs in pet shops.

Cats are territorial animals. A cat establishes an area where it sleeps and eats – its home base – and where it hunts and interacts with other cats and animals – its home range.

The territory radiates from the home base. Cats are extremely sensory animals, their sense of hearing and smell is more elevated than that of a human.

Abandoned cats and stress

Abandoned cats experience a huge amount of stress simply because they are abandoned and have lost everything they know, their family, their territory, their home base and all the smells and noises they are used to.

A cat will arrive in a foster family or adoption centre, will hopefully be given assessment and vet treatment which means manipulation from strangers, people it is doesn’t know, in a strange environment with even stranger sounds and smells.

Cats normally work hard to avoid chance encounters with other cats which could lead to fighting and injury, in a foster home or refuge, they may be mixed with other cats that they don’t know and who may show fear and aggression towards it.

The cat is most likely unsure of what is happening and disturbed, which equates to colossal stress for the cat.

Adopting cats from shops

If the decision is made to take some cats from the adoption centre to a shop then you are placing them in a small cage in an alien environment.

There are likely to be many more people prodding and poking the cat, children shouting, intercoms in operation, more strange smells and noises that attack their sensitive ears, adding enormously to their stress and is totally against their well-being.

Cats hide illness

Cats are experts at hiding illnesses. As a potential adoptant, you will not be able to judge whether the cat is healthy, or just stressed in a shop situation.

You will be unable to handle it properly, nor see it in a more natural environment where its five basic needs are being catered for.

For the human adoptant the decision is often an impulsive one, one that has not been thought through, one that on reflection they may not have the time for, nor the finances.

It maybe that their children have pestered to have the cute cat in the cage, most often the charity helpers are not best placed to give the correct advice concerning the cats in their care, or they are simply too eager to make another adoption, whatever the cost to the cat and its future well-being.

Reflect and consider

PLEASE reflect before adopting a cat under these circumstances, PLEASE approach a reputable cat charity, visiting the cat at the adoption centre and obtaining the advice about the cat’s background, its needs and wants, and question if the cat is the best choice for your family and for its well-being.

If you work in a shop, PLEASE discourage charities or breeders to engage in adoptions days in the shop, PLEASE think more carefully about animal welfare.

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