Pauline Cochran submitted this letter to the Clarion-Ledger but the newspaper chose not to publish it.Its been making the rounds on Facebook and WLBT is working on a story about it for tonight's broadcast. Here is the letter:
"When the Mississippi Agriculture Museum was created under the tenure of Jim Buck Ross, for whom, obviously, the museum was named, various farm animals were placed on the museum grounds to simulate a typical farm in Mississippi. Mr. Ross asked for cats to be placed on the grounds because a typical farm would have cats. Apparently the present Commissioner of Agriculture, Cindy Hyde-Smith, does not know of this thought and precedent or simply does not care. My husband, Jack, and I have fed the cats at the Ag Museum every day the museum has been open for approximately two decades. And not just fed them but also taken responsibility for their health problems as observed by us and as reported to us by museum employees. The cats who had been coming over the last few years to feed near the garage shop area of the museum were the most beautiful, the most trusting, and the most cohesive of all the groups which had ever been there. Because it had been some years since the cats had been taken for neutering and spaying, we had made arrangements for this with our veterinarian. However, before we could embark on this project, Ms. Hyde-Smith decreed that all the cats, except for five, would be removed from the Museum grounds. The employees were under the impression that the cats were being taken to the Animal Rescue League, but apparently only one or two were taken there for spaying and neutering. The remainder obviously were taken somewhere for extermination. Not only did Ms. Hyde-Smith not consider the many spacious acres of the Mississippi Agriculture Museum grounds sufficient to accommodate 20 cats, but no one there thought to give us a heads-up about what was about to transpire, in spite of our solicitous care of the cats and their predecessors over all the years.
The Museum visitors always enjoyed seeing the cats come to feed, and they would linger there for some time, particularly family groups. The Museum will not be as rich an experience for the visitors now that the cats are gone."
Pretty disturbing letter so I spoke to both Commissioner Cindy Hyde-Smith and Deborah Boswell of the Mississippi Animal Rescue League. Apparently these cats are feral in nature and can not be tamed. The Commissioner said one of them bit an employee this year and Ms. Boswell said a child was bitten by a kitten when he cornered it at the museum. Commissioner Hyde-Smith said the one part of the museum was smelled real bad as all the cats used a graveled area to relieve themselves.
15 cats were caught and turned over to MARL. The MARL vaccinated and spayed four cats that were not feral in nature and returned them to the museum. The others were put down as they were wild, could not be tamed, and could not be adopted. Ms. Boswell said they offered to let Ms. Cochran take the other cats home but she refused. She said none of them were spayed or neutered and the failure to have do so over the years contributed to the problem. Ms. Boswell sent a letter to the Commissioner that is posted below.
Note: Ms. Cochran sent these two emails after I posted:
I did NOT decline any offer to pick up any from MARL. Ms. Boswell first told me that I couldn't have any of them, that they were the property of the state. She then said that if any more were brought in, she would call me, and I told her I would like for her to do so and thanked her. However, I've never heard from her.
Additionally, we had, along with some animal groups, had them spayed and neutered in the past, and had made arrangements to have this done again. That project would have already begun if my husband's leg and knee problems had not gotten worse at that particular time so we had not gotten started on it when all of this happened. But I certainly would have hated to have had them sprayed and neutered and then have them taken away to be killed.
Tuesday, May 8, 2012
What happened to the cats?
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44 comments:
Apparently these cats are feral in nature and can not be tamed.
Complete bullshit.
Really? It can be difficult if not impossible to tame an adult feral cat. Felines are only half domesticated on their good days.
(N.b. - owner of 3 cats is speaking.)
Have two **tamed** ferals lounging on my back patio right now. They'll come in tonight and enjoy a meal until morning. One of them will walk right alongside of you anywhere on the yard in order to get you to pet him.
It could be you aren't successful because you don't have the touch nor patience to get the job done.
Frankly to any of you who have the time to be concerned about the wild cats at the Mississippi Agriculture Museum good for you, but most people just don't care. Our plates are just full with worries about jobs, children, education, medical care, gas prices, taxes, crime, etc. Wild cats? That's your battle.
Woe is you May 8, 2012 5:56 PM, woe is you.
+1 @5:56.
I would still like why the Armory is being allowed to crumble...
The wild cat my wife domesticated died last year after 18 years at our house.
I doubt there was any single cat in all of Heatherwood who caught more mice and rats during that time.
Ms. Hyde-Smith has just eliminated her most natural and humane line of defense against the vermin that will come up from Eubanks Creek.
What is she going to do? Set out poison?
Seems to be a lot big battles to fight than the right to a population of feral cats at the ag museum.
We have a 15-year-old so-called feral, taken from the Miss. Ag. Mus., and she likes nothing better than hanging onto us, just below our chin, loving us and purring so loudly you can hear her in the next room. We have never had a more loving cat.
In response to the comment that wild cats aren't worth being concerned about, I would like to quote from Hosea 2:18: "In that day I will make a covenant for them with the beasts of the field and the birds of the air and the creatures that move along the ground.... so that all may lie down in safety." And from Job 12:10: "In his (the Lord's) hand is the life of every creature and the breath of all mankind."
9:30 Oh please. Do you seriously think citing Bible verses is going to make people care about some wild cats at the Agriculture Museum? It's not. If you want to worry yourself silly about the wild cats, go for it, but don't expect everyone to care like you do. They don't and aren't. The above poster was exactly right. Most people just have more important things to concern themselves with than wild cats.
Curt Crowley in 3...2....1...
If you want to worry yourself silly about the wild cats, go for it, but don't expect everyone to care like you do. They don't and aren't.
Get over yourself. You don't speak for everyone.
If the cats were presenting a safety hazard at the Museum I can completely understand why action had to be taken. If they were feral I'm guessing they had not been vaccinated which poses dangers to both other cats and people. What if they had seriously injured a child at the museum? We would have this same blog post, except it would read "Feral cat attacks toddler at Ag Museum" or whatever, and Cindy Hyde-Smith would be taken apart for not being responsible for the wild roaming cats that were threatening the public. I can sympathize with the persons who had been feeding the cats but ultimately they weren't responsible for the safety of the Ag museum grounds. There's plenty of feral cats out there to go around for everybody.
I think the Asain buffets took care of most of the cats in the downtown area, atleast the slow ones.
Judging by this thread, Jackson is well supplied with "cat whisperers" who can tame any cat, any time.
I'm surprised these humanitarians didn't go down to the Ag Museum, where one cry of "here kitty kitty" would've brought the entire horde purring to their feet.
I have a feral cat rescued from the grounds of Miss. State Hospital - was very fearful for many years, but now is an extremely, loving, affectionate cat of 13 years old. God bless all those who care for these and all animals - it's the lack of caring and compassion that is depressing to me.
"Cow Hyde-Smith" sure is following in Lester's footsteps - I remember Lester's spokesman, Patrick Sullivan making a comment on WLBT that Lester (as in the Beef Plant) didn't like the smell of pea shellers at the Farmer's Market. Now "Cow Hyde-Smith" is saying she doesn't like the smell of cats at the Ag Museum. By the way, "Cow Hyde-Smith voted for the Beef Plant also - but the voters elected her Ag Commissioner anyway!
Does anyone even know why we need a Ag Commissioner anyway?
5:02 No, they don't speak for everyone, but if you really think most people are concerned about what happens to some wild cats at the ag museum you are living in ya ya land, too.
And yet the Lester smacker @ May 9, 2012 9:37 AM is still here reading and responding. LMAO.
LORDY LORDY I Love this website! Best entertainment around!!!
I have NEVER trusted people who don't care about animals. Most people who do not like dogs, cats, etc...are not loving and giving individuals. They are very self-absorbed.....just my observations. Also, have any of you who have so many other things to "worry about", such as Ms. "Frankly to any of you who have the time to be concerned about the wild cats at the Mississippi Agriculture Museum good for you, but most people just don't care. Our plates are just full with worries about jobs, children, education, medical care, gas prices, taxes, crime, etc. Wild cats? That's your battle", as a Christian, I don't WORRY about the items you listed. I put my trust in God to direct my life and spend my time helping other people and animals - not being so self absorbed about MY life. Maybe you should try it. Who knows, you might end up not being such an angry person. Killing animals for no true reason is wrong and people know that whether they want to admit it or not. As for Ms. Hyde-Smith - you will NEVER get my vote again and I agree, why do we need a Commissioner of Agriculture? Waste of money - let her go!!
Maybe God told Cindy to have the cats euthanized. Have you asked her?
1 Sam. 15:3: "Now go and attack Amalek, and utterly destroy all that they have; do not spare them, but kill both man and woman, child and infant, ox and sheep, camel and donkey."
Then there's Raymond Chandler in Playback:
Is God happy with the poisoned cat dying alone in convulsions behind the billboard? Is God happy that life is cruel and that only the fittest survive? The fittest for what? Oh no, far from it. If God were omnipotent and omniscient in any literal sense, he wouldn’t have bothered to make the universe at all. There is no success where there is no possibility of failure, no art without the resistance of the medium. Is it blasphemy to suggest that God has his bad days when nothing goes right, and that God’s days are very, very long?
(A character speaking, not Marlowe's narration.)
11:21 You are so right. This is best entertainment around. By the way if any of you are worrying about your job and family and not worrying about wild cats on government property you are angry and self-absorbed so 12:46 says.
To the ones who don't believe people could possibly be concerned about feral cats, yes, some of us are concerned. They are living breathing, feeling, trusting beings. Adult feral cats can be tamed. It takes some time but it does happen. This is one reason I NEVER take any animal to MARL. All they care about is putting it down. They aren't interested in finding suitable homes. I know they are overrun with animals, but they just don't try hard enough. For years I have asked them to send some of their dogs up north, as CARA does. They aren't interested. It's a shame those cats were put down without being offered to the ones who were caring for them.
Mississippi is a throw away state-----trash,animals, unborn babies. Doesn't matter. Just move on because there are more "important"things. As for Cindy Hyde-Smith, I didn't vote for her and she is living up to my expectations.
Anyone so freaked out and worried about their job and family is wasting a heap of time repeatedly bringing their worries up here on a thread about cats.
Have trapped half dozen
ferals over past year.
Take them to Big Fix
clinic in Pearl.
Get them fixed and then
release them where
I trapped them.
People can make
a difference.
These cats need to retain a lawyer. One call, that's meow.
If you are concerned about feral cats, you need to take responsibility for them yourself. That means you need to get them off the street.
Otherwise they are just unwanted pests and ought to be treated like them. It's no different than if you were feeding and defending a bunch of rats.
All untagged unaccounted dogs should be euthanized. No questions asked nor efforts extended.
Forget about the cats...this is about incompetence in government and officials lying and using their power to act on personal likes and dislikes rather than thoughtful consideration.
Feral cats are great mousers and my family's farms relied upon them. You'd think someone at an ag museum would know something about how farms functioned.
Yes, feral cats can be domesticated. How in the hell does the hypenated woman think cats became domesticated in the first place?
The stories of humans getting close enough to a feral cat to get bitten are more than a little suspect. I want to meet the child who was fast and quick enough to corner a feral kitten. Sign that kid up for the sport of his or her choice at your alma mater today!
I doubt Ms Hyphenated can produce a victim.
I suspect cat bite/ scratches is Ms Hypenated's personal fear from some childhood instance of annoying a domesticated cat.
A couple of " Do not pet the cats" signs would do.
Saw a child get bit by a turkey at the AG M. Hope she had the turkey put down right away.
FTW, 4:05.
From the moment the museum was created and the first pair of cats was "adopted", those cats became the responsibility of the AG Museum. That means, from that point forward, the Commissioner of Agriculture, through the management of the AG Museum should have been routinely vaccinating the animals, neutering/spaying them as need to control the population. But, apparently, that responsibility was shirked and had to assumed by volunteers. Now, after years of neglect, the Commissioner takes it upon herself to dispose of the excess cats in the most inhumane way possible and has the audacity to act all high any mighty when the volunteer care takers object. I can tell you, without a doubt, everyone of those cats would have been adopted for spay/neutering/vaccination by SOMEBODY in the Jackson area, most of them could have been returned to live out their lives at the museum and the other relocated to some other farm if, indeed, they could not be "tamed" (which means, I'm assuming, that it will allow a small child to chase it into a corner then purr loudly while being squeezed in the middle as too small hands try to pick it up).
Peaople get way to crazy over animals. This is a public place for everyone to enjoy. I have cats and like them very much but not everyone is fond of animals. I shop at Lowes from time to time and have seen people bring their dogs into the store. Not service animals but their pets. Not everyone likes cats,dogs or whatever and some people are very scared of them. The museum is a public space and not everyoone likes or knows how to treat them. Also leave your pet at home when shopping and if you cant see a therapist.
Also leave your pet at home when shopping and if you cant see a therapist.
Let's us know which therapist you are seeing so we can avoid going to one who isn't helping you get better.
Anonymous...if you really don't like animals, maybe you should reconsider whether the Ag Museum is really a place you can enjoy visiting.
In public places animals need to be keep in such a way that protects them from people and vise versa. Running wild will only create problems. I too agree if you cannot leave you pet at home while you shop buy from amazon and have it shipped to your house.
*** YAWN ***
To kill those cats who resided peacefully at the Agriculture Museum was beyond contempt. Only evil people can kill helpless and harmless animals, contriving an unfounded excuse.
It is clear that evil begins to triumph over good.
I have tamed many so-called feral cats, who really only want a safe place and who give total love and pleasure to those who rescue them. I had seven rescued cats who lived 18 years inside my home, after having been totally unfamiliar with humans and after trying to survive without food, water or medical care.
I recall that years ago, at what was then Whitfield Mental Hospital, the Director had cats on the property shot dead despite the fact that patients there loved the cats, fed them, and were traumatized by this cruelty toward harmless cats. Ignorant persons who perpetrate such cruelty are legion now and should be stopped, such as those who caused this vile murder of the AG Museum cats.
Insofar as MARL is concerned, I am not surprised that they were quick to euthanize the cats, since they have killed many healthy and adoptable animals for YEARS, which is why I support CARA, the no-kill shelter.
Persons with spiritual value suffer and grieve when heartless people, who have no compassion, order the killing of helpless animals. In my view God does not want his beloved creatures killed, and angels weep. But, you who disagree, by all means make some mindless response supporting the torture, abuse and killing of helpless animals. I'm accustomed to reading comments in my rescue work from people who inexplicably support abuse of animals, and in reading and working on heinous abuse cases on the Internet. I have no doubt that people will reap what they sow.
"Only evil people can kill helpless and harmless animals, contriving an unfounded excuse."
Don't ever google "deer season" - you will be horrified.
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