'NO GOOD DEED GOES UNPUNISHED' - OSCAR WILDE

I FED A HELPLESS CRYING KITTEN - TO A MANGEY HUNGRY STREET DOG

Good Intentions Gone Horribly Wrong - A True Story

Image Pexels - Krysten Merriman


I have a fondness for most of God’s creatures, as many or most do. I even like snakes and other reptiles, used to catch and release them (non-venomous) in my youth.

But I am not a cat person. I have nothing against cats, mind you. I would never harm one, I just pay them little attention, and they return that favor to me. I’m on the dog side of the cat-dog lover divide.

But I never expected what was about to happen…

Just a Few Weeks Ago

It was late, maybe 10 pm. I was returning to the small local hotel I was staying at, walking down a narrow street. This section of the street had walls on either side, maybe 5 feet (1.5 m) tall. This walled section ran for about 125 m.

The narrowness of the street (single vehicle) and the walls created a corridor, and one had to stand to the side if a car passed by.

And then I saw it. A small kitten, alone, sitting in the middle of the road. It mewed as I approached. Maybe it was a month old, I’m not sure. The lighting was dim here, street-lights few and far between. I realized the kitten would be a flat ant-feast soon if it stayed there.

Image - Carnage Lane, featuring 'The Wall of No Return' - by @mmo-mmo

I hate situations like this! - I think I suffer from some weird variation of codependency, or have some notion that my decision to do or to not do, is of earth-shattering significance. It must be some form of egotism or guilt, that I am required to act to save the day! - Sad? Of course.

Jesus, Buddha and Nietzsche Visited Without Invitation

I stood by the kitten, frozen in indecision, an internal moral shit-storm brewing in my head. What would Jesus do? I don’t know, haven’t been to church in 20 years… but he would probably feed a fish to this little cat…

As I was visiting a Buddhist country, I asked myself a more relevant question. What would Buddha do? Well, Buddha says that ‘life is suffering’, and that ‘shit happens’, and we must detach ourselves from the troubles of the world…

So Jesus suggested I help, Buddha suggested I walk away. Not much wonder a friend once accused me of being a tortured soul. I think that was his polite way of telling me that I was a neurotic sack of shite.

I know people who have few or no such sentimental weaknesses. They can make decisions very logically, out of simple cut-throat self-interest. I envy them. I consider that decisive ‘I don’t give a fuck’ attitude to be almost a super-power. I’m cultivating more of that.

Unfortunately, my philosophy is not sophisticated enough to ask what someone like Nietzsche would have thought or done.

Anyway, it seems to me that Nietzsche, inadvertently or not, may have inspired the Post-Modernists, and that’s a crew I have no love for.

I couldn’t take the kitten to my room. So, I placed it as far to the side of the road as possible, and went to see if I could find its mother. I checked in both directions, nothing. No mother cat, no other kittens.

By the time I returned, the kitten was back in the middle of the road. A car accelerated towards us. I quickly grabbed the cat and stood to the side as it passed, getting a good dusting in the process.

But now I had another problem, squeezing both my brain and my bladder. I have to get back to my room before I piss myself!

What Lurks in the Shadows

I checked over the wall on one side. It was an empty lot, part grass, part gravel. A few small houses along the far side. In the semi-dark I looked around. It seemed quiet, and safe. No cars, except a couple parked near the houses. What the shadows hid, I had no idea.

I picked up the kitten, and reaching as far down as I could over the wall, I dropped it gently onto what seemed like a pile of leaves. It landed safely, looking around at its new surroundings. Knowing the nature of the locals, I hoped one of the nearby families would adopt it.

I turned around and set off towards my hotel. After taking fewer than 10 steps, I heard an angry barking from beyond the wall, getting closer. The kitten now mewed frantically. A feeling of foreboding clenched my gut.

I raced back to the wall, too late. I looked over in horror.

Image Pixabay - Geralt

The dog had reached the kitten. A few seconds of vicious snarling, then the sound of a dying kitten, crushed between jaws, shaken like a rag doll. It sounded like a squeeze-toy being stepped on. Blood and fur.

My jaws clenched, my sphincter clenched, and my bladder seemed to contract, causing considerable pain. The dog looked at me, snarling, as if I might jump the wall to fight it for this dead prize. Then it trotted off.

I felt like crap. If only I had minded my own damn business!

And So it Goes

I reached the hotel, and when the night staff greeted me, I could barely manage a weak smile. I avoided eye contact, sure that he would look through me, and see what I had just done.

It didn’t help that the next day, strolling near my hotel, I came upon a mother cat with a litter of young kittens. The kittens matched the sized of the deceased recipient of my kindness. No, it didn’t help at all…fuck!

After some travel, I returned to the same area a few weeks later, and stayed at the same hotel.

One early morning, I set off to get some coffee. And there, in the same walled road area, lay a dead kitten, crushed by wheels. It must have happened during the night, as I had not seen it the previous day.

Some traditions teach that ‘everything is written’, that our destinies are pre-determined, and no matter how much we squirm and struggle, no matter what decision we make or path we take, our fate remains the same. That, acceptance is more beneficial than resistance.

For example, the Theosophists have their Akashic Records. Traces of fate, destiny and subjection to the will of a god or gods can be found in many ancient religious traditions.

Image - Angel of Fate Pixabay - DeeDee51

In the great classic film Lawrence of Arabia, Lawrence risks his life in the desert to save his Arab friend. Only to have to, just days later, personally execute this same friend to prevent tribal warfare. His friend seemed fated to die, one way or another.

I felt this way about the kitten from the weeks before. If I had left it in the road, it would have likely been killed. Yet, my effort to help got it killed by a dog, maybe sooner than a car would have crushed it.

I looked back at the dead cat on the road, winced slightly, and kept walking. After the last time, I couldn't afford to care.

And frankly, it was none of my damn business!