With the number of cats that have died on the road outside the house, my instinct is to bring them all inside forever, lock the cat doors and forget about the great outdoors. But what cat would be happy with that kind of life? To never run through the forest in the night or feel the breeze in their fur on a sunny day, or poop wherever the hell they want without humans making a fuss about it, or chase down their own dinner.
The decision to give our animals freedom is always a hard one. There is a real risk of death for all of them. A chicken that is not kept in a cage is infinitely more likely to be got by a neighbour's dog, a hawk or a fox. But the flip side is essentially living in a box. We can make the box as comfortable as possible, but it will always eventually become a prison.
So, we all have freedom, much like the people of Czechia. British people, in particular, can be appalled at the scant regard for health and safety they may observe in Prague, however this is not neglect, this is a hard won choice. Czech people choose not to sue each other as a general rule, and your personal safety is your personal responsibility. They will not close a building because there's a bit of a drop on one side. People need to look where they are going. They will not ban every wild swimming spot across the country in case someone drowns. Someone will drown. That is the price of freedom. Sometimes people will die, but in general every other person will have a better quality of life because of that fact.
In the UK in recent years we have followed the American model - where you can get a big payout if you can prove that your accident was because there was a minor crack in the pavement. Or maybe you got a whiplash injury? Or an accident at work? All of this contributes to an environment where children are not allowed to climb trees in public parks, and wading ponds have been filled in to save us from ourselves, and from suing. And so in the UK and America children no longer have the freedom to roam, the way I used to - a free-range childhood. Instead there is increasing childhood obesity and social isolation. They do not need to learn for themselves how to cross the road safely or assess a tree for climbing soundness. How will teaching our children to be completely risk-adverse play out for the UK as a society?
The only thing that can mend the heartbreak of a dead cat is a kitten. Add to this the knowledge that kittens are better in pairs and there will be some inevitable increase in feline numbers over time.
As I am not a breeder and do not want the responsibility of selling animals, this week we have taken our three youngest to be fixed by the vet. The boy will be a year old this month and the two girls are now six months. Once they are healed, it's time to give them the freedom they deserve, a risk I know I must take for all our sakes.
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Bohemian Antiks Continue
Non-FictionTen years on from the original book, catch up with that British couple who moved to a big old house in the countryside of South Bohemia. We are not expats, we are British immigrants, trying our best to make sense of the society that is kind enough t...
