And everybody has to share it. Although always well intentioned, every single person we meet seems to have an unstoppable desire to share their thoughts about our plans and what we should expect in Israel, and it always seems to be presented as it if were fact. I have heard the entire spectrum of opinions about living in Eilat, joining the army, learning Hebrew, getting a work Visa, making Aliyah, not being Jewish in Israel…etc, etc, etc. As much as I appreciate all the people we have stayed with over the past few weeks, and have enjoyed (for the most part) meeting all the people whom we did not stay with…I am so ready to be in our own home, with our own opinions, and our own experiences. Three more nights on Kibbutz and then we move in to our apartment…and I will not hide my excitement.
As long as we’re sharing opinions……there are two things that bother me most about Israel (not counting the unasked for opinions)…the garbage, and the lack of care for animals. It seems that almost everywhere I have been there is trash, sometimes just scattered on the side walks or throughout a field, and other times piled into heaps on the side of the road or in an empty lot. Some areas are worse that others (of course most big cities have this problem anywhere you go) and some are certainly close to being good, but for the most part I find that the garbage is at least present almost everywhere we go. I’m not sure of the reasons behind this or the attitude that Israeli’s themselves take toward it.
The other issue…the animals, primarily cats and dogs. I think I may have mentioned that the cats in Tel Aviv (and most other cities I have visited) are considered vermin, they roam the garbage bins, leave their urinary aromas seeping into the side walks, and live their lives in constant fear and merely aim for survival. The dogs, although less numerous, are thin and mangy and often cross the roads at inopportune times, almost giving me a heart attack each time (I have yet to see one get hit and hope not to, but from my experiences so far I fear that may be close to impossible). Very few of the pets I have seen have been neutered or spayed, which infuriates me every time I see this…it’s already a problem and this is just making things worse. The feral cats and dogs are often not very friendly, which leads people to dislike them and continue to think of them as vermin. However, in my opinion it’s just the conditions they are forced to live in that make them that way. I wonder why they don't try to could catch cats and dogs to spay and neuter them...what else can be done? It’s a very different mentality here than I am used to at home where dogs and cats are part of the family (however, I have seen that as well…so it’s all a bit confusing).
If you are interested in the cat issue I just found this information about cats in Israel-I guess it answers some questions.
(http://www.chai-online.org/en/companion/overpopulation_feral.htm)
Does trapping, neutering, and releasing cats reduce their population?
All responsible humane organizations agree that cats do not belong on the street, and the goal of any trap/neuter/vaccinate/release (TNR) program must be to eventually eliminate cats from the streets through attrition. In situations where there are natural boundaries and few new cats will enter an area, altering and releasing 70% or more of the cats in an area has been shown to reduce the population. Altering only a small percent of the cats in an area will have no effect on the overpopulation, as those unaltered will breed to meet the amount of available food.
The only study of altered and released feral cats in Israel, performed by a student at Tel Aviv University's Center for Human-Animal Studies, examined three Tel Aviv feeding sites where cats were altered and released. The study found that in an "open system" where there are no borders to prevent cats from roaming, such as prevails in Israel, spaying, neutering, and feeding not only did not lower the population of cats in the three areas studied, it actually increased it. Food put out for the altered cats attracted new cats into the area. The study also found that claims that altered cats form a barrier, keeping out new cats, were false. More aggressive, unneutered cats chased away less aggressive, neutered ones, who were then without a territory or food source.
This study concluded that trap/neuter/release will not reduce the overpopulation under conditions prevalent in Israel, where the number of cats is enormous, where there are no boundaries keeping cats from drifting from one area to another, and where, according to this study, the ability to alter 70% at any one time is not possible. Despite the study's findings, its author nevertheless recommended altering and releasing cats where there are feeding stations and where there are people willing to undertake a labor-intensive process of constant, vigilant monitoring of the cats, including immediate trapping and altering of all new cats as they enter each area.
In locations where feeders take responsibility for altering cats new to the area, there still remains the problem of aggressive males. Even neutered, some male cats are extremely aggressive and will attack and drive off other cats in an area. Some kibbutzim in Israel have chosen to euthanize the most aggressive males, in order to make life manageable for the other cats.
All humane organizations agree that tame cats (those who can be handled and who can relate to humans) should never be put on the streets. Inhumane methods of controlling cat overpopulation, such as traps that injure or poisons that cause suffering, including alpha chlorolose and strychnine, should never be used.
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