Not cool for cats

John Tamihere is in the news again, this time for abandoning his two cats without food or water. The New Zealand Herald rather misses the point, though, when it says

As if upsetting women, Jews and his boss is not enough, John Tamihere is now on the wrong side of cat lovers.

We're not merely upset - we're revolted and violated. Animal cruelty is morally wrong, and is in an altogether different league from expressing "holocaust fatigue" or calling one's colleagues "smarmy", "front bums" or "tossers".

Non-human animals have rights—not human rights but, at the very least, the right not be subjected to wanton cruelty. Our laws reflect this. Tamihere avoided prosecution by signing the cats over to animal welfare organisation the SPCA and was issued with a warning instead.

Are you sick and tired of hearing about Tamihere's cats? Tamihere is. Bob Kerridge of the SPCA said it appeared Tamihere "did not want to talk about it and wanted the issue to go away as quickly as possible." Perhaps it will, after the election.

Until then, get told some more times by Rodney Hide, Aaron Bhatnagar and David Farrar.