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LETTER: Double standard applied to animal hoarding

Letter writer finds it’s ironic that one with 100 cats is deemed mentally unstable but 2,500 cows OK
20035436_web1_kooyman-cattle-file

In reference to your recent reporting regarding the individuals who housed over 100 cats (“Hoarding cats often a mental health issue,” Progress, Dec. 20, 2019), the consequent problems associated with so many animals in a confined space would obviously be detrimental to the health and welfare of said animals. The disposal of the attendant waste, i.e. fecal matter and urine, being problematic.

Concern for the well-being of these animals brought about their seizure. The individuals who accumulated the cats have been labelled as mentally deficient, because they kept so many animals.

Ironically, just a short distance from my home, there is a building where 2,500 cows are confined. Throughout many charges of cruelty lodged against the owners, and subsequent court cases, not once has the fact that 2,500 cows produce enormous amounts of urine and feces, or the method of disposal, been disclosed. No seizure of animals confined in the most unnatural conditions. No labelling of mental instability for them.

I have to wonder at the selectivity of the law and public opinion. Is one mentally deficient only when there is no profit involved?

Syliva Mason Phillrook