disgusting, despicable behavior (not mine)

First off, let me apologize for my post yesterday. I was being a nattering nabob of negativity, as my dad would say, and though I cannot change the fact that I occasionally have such feelings, I don't really need to subject others to them. I have not deleted the post yet, though. I haven't decided if I will. A part of me wants to delete it to make it easier to pretend that my life is all sunshine and rainbows (Did I forget to tell you about the butterfly who landed on my head last week?). But another part of me wants to keep it up as a reminder of what will happen when I let my passing insecurities get the better of me. We'll see which part of me is the stronger part.

Now let me get to the topic of this post. I have an acquaintance who I am about ready to beat over the head with a sledgehammer (figuratively speaking, of course). He has a litter of kittens living under his deck. If you're on my e-mail list, you may have received an e-mail from me yesterday about adopting said kittens. If anyone out there in the void would like to adopt a kitten, I implore you to do so, because if you don't, these kittens are likely to die under this guy's deck. All because of his deplorable laziness, ignorance, indifference and apathy. That's a lot of nouns.

If I was in the position that the guy is in, I would do everything in my power to make sure that these cats are taken care of. Here are the things he's done: 1) he called Animal Control and some shelters in the area and nobody will come to pick them up - he'd have to deliver them himself, so 2) he attempted ONCE to gather them up into a carrier, but failed, so he gave up. His solution? Tell his neighbors to stop feeding them, and close his blinds so he doesn't have to look at them anymore. In essence, he feels that if he doesn't see it, the problem doesn't exist. I came up with many other suggestions, like canvassing the neighborhood to see if anyone wanted to adopt a kitten, or posting a picture on a website saying "free to a good home" or something along those lines. Apparently all of those ideas are too much work. TOO MUCH WORK MY ASS. I asked him point blank if he'd rather have these cats die under his deck than to take a few minutes out of his day to try and find homes for them. He told me, "I wouldn't let that bother me." Are you freaking kidding me? He just admitted to not having a conscience.

Admittedly, I am a sentimental person. I like dogs and cats because they're cute. I feel bad when I see dead animals on the side of the road. The couple of times that I've hit things with my car I've actually had to pull over because I was crying. When we put my dog to sleep, I literally cried all day to the point of exhaustion, and a good portion of the following week. Animals in need make me sad. I understand that these cats may not die just because he isn't finding homes for them. Perhaps their mother will be able to take care of them and teach them to find food themselves. I also understand that strays and their litters often fall by the wayside if they aren't fortunate enough to be noticed by a caring human. So my point is that if this situation had befallen me, if I was the person who had the opportunity to do something good for a litter of kittens so they would not have to endure the harshness of the outside world, I WOULD DO EVERYTHING I COULD. I am not above knocking on peoples' doors. I am not above putting up signs in my neighborhood that say "Free kittens to anyone who can catch them!" I am not above sending out mass e-mails to my friends asking if they wouldn't like a little furry friend in their home. And it infuriates me that there are people out there who feel they are.