Fight the Power

I'm in a quandary over spending $21.

That is how much it will cost to microchip and register my cat under the Albuquerque HEART ordinance.

I definitely agree with the spirit of the ordinance. There are too many unwanted animals who are being euthanized daily in our fair city. Jubjub was literally rescued off the mean streets of Sunray when he was a wee kitten (the vet said he was probably a month old). I made certain to have Jub neutered as soon as he was old enough because I didn't want to be responsible for any of these unwanted animals should he get out. I've always made certain he's current on his immunizations and rabies shots, should he get out.

So why do I take issue over spending $21 to follow the ordinance?

Because I honestly don't think it's necessary to do for my cat. If I had a dog who was indoors and outdoors, I'd definitely do it. If I ever allowed my cat outdoors, I'd do it. But I own a 10-year-old, very pampered indoor cat (following another city ordinance that doesn't allow unrestrained cats outdoors). In the nine years I've lived in ABQ, Jub has actually set foot outdoors once. When we first moved into our house, the screen door on the downstairs slider wasn't properly latched and Jub escaped long enough to jump up on the wall separating our yard from our neighbor's. The neighbor was outside, yelled at the cat to scram, and Jub promptly ran upstairs and hid under the bed. That experience was so traumatic for him that he won't even go near an open door now. It took him over a month to sit beside the glass storm door in the living room after it was installed.

Jubjub is scared of bugs, dislikes non-climate-controlled environments, and suffers from hay fever. He doesn't recognize birds flying by outside the window, just gets excited as the shadows play on the shades. He honestly can't find his way out of a paper bag. His method of attacking anything is to sit on it and bat it with his paws. His biggest nemesis is an emery board. His favorite treat is lettuce. We have a friend who's never seen our cat in the multiple times she's been to our house the past two years. Jubjub is definitely not a nuisance to anyone but Paul and me. Because of where we live, he'd be coyote bait in no time at all if he ever did escape. What are they going to do--scan the local coyotes to tell which one ate him?

Paul finds how irritated I am by this whole thing terribly amusing. If left to him, I don't think he'd get the cat microchipped and registered either. He wouldn't be as vocally upset about the whole thing--he just wouldn't do it.

I'm probably tempting the gods by even writing this post. We're leaving for a 10-day vacation in a week and it worries me that something could happen to the cat during that time. Two neighbor children are going to be watering the plants and caring for Jub while we're gone--although we've explained that they might not see him at all during that time since he's normally found under our bed, sulking over the injustices of life. Like his name.

Here's hoping he stays safe and moody until our return.

(And as an aside, just as the red light cameras are run by an out-of-state company, the company responsible for collecting pet information is also not in NM but is in TX. Don't know why those two things bother me as well but they do.)