An Ethical Analysis of TN(v)R vs. Mass Culling of Community Cats
This week, Samantha Suppiah joins the show once again, this time for an analytical discussion around the reality of why populations of cats, dogs, pigeons, and other animals remain neglected in mass amounts, stuck in a cycle of unrelenting reproduction and lack of access to healthcare. Their growing populations often result in governments deciding to conduct mass culling rather than support spay and neuter, from the Philippines to Morocco to Turkey to Greece to the US. We discuss the dark realities of how animal welfare laws in most countries - across both the Global North and the Global South - go unenforced, and in many cases are unenforceable by nature. This leads us to question dynamics such as development aggression, welfare-washing, lobbying and advocacy amidst political and social apathy. These elements help create a community of frustrated and traumatized animal rescuers and carers constantly struggling to do their social work for animals with little to no support, often ridiculed and ostracized from the rest of society. Rescuers in every culture and region across the world will be able to relate to this episode’s discussion.
Listen to Episode #8 Now:
BIO:
Samantha Suppiah is a vegan stray cat carer and animal welfare organizer living in the south Metro Manila area. She has particular expertise in stray-centric care, biosecure spay-and-neuter events, and neonate kitten care, providing training and support to local stray carers. Following a European career in sustainable design consulting, stray care is the core of her work today in decolonial urbanism as part of the POSSIBLE FUTURES Crew.