COCULLO: What to do about Port Edward's feral cats? It's a moral question.

Port Edward was faced with a moral dilemma at Tuesday’s council meeting when a resident requested financial support to help spay, neuter, and nurse three cats in a colony of 20.

And what did they choose? A choice Ayn Rand would endorse.

If climate change has taught us anything it’s that we cannot afford to put our self-interest above everything else we share the Earth with.

Yes, climate change is being brought into this debate because at the heart of the feral cat problem is a moral problem, the same one that got us into this mess in the first place.

What do we want to teach our communities and our children? That we can consume as much as we want and dump our leftovers into the ocean for the fish deal with? That we can let sick and hungry cats roam the streets to multiply until it is an eyesore. Then we can dispose of them?

Sorry, but we can’t just kill our problems away.

Humans like to boast about how we are the most intelligent creatures on the planet. Well if we want to act like we are the parents of the Earth then we need to behave like responsible ones. Not ones that get drunk off its resources and leave nature and animals, which we are supposed to be taking care of, to deal with the collateral damage.

It’s not a question about taxpayer dollars – and by the way, if you are one of the people who say it is the SPCA’s problem, not a taxpayer problem, who do you think helps fund the SPCA?

The money is there, we just choose to prioritize it on other frivolous things.

We are at a point where we need to rethink our relationship with the world and that includes rethinking what we do with our feral cat problem.

WEB POLL: Do you agree or disagree with the council of Port Edward’s decision to deny financial assistance for the feral cats?

Jenna Cocullo | Journalist

Jenna Cocullo