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"Herding Cats" video
Sep. 10th, 2010 02:18 pmI just watched the video that's been going around, where they release 100 cats in an IKEA overnight, and filmed them. I find this piece very problematic for several reasons.
One, many of the cats look freaked. They are obviously used to a smaller space, with no other cats or only familiar ones. I saw cats hissing and starting to fight. I wonder what happened when the cameras weren't filming. Did any cats get hurt?
Two, where are the litterboxes? the water? the food? Okay, in the course of a few hours, they don't have to be fed; that may have been how they were lured back into carriers. But they should have had access to clean water, and if they didn't have litterboxes, who cleaned up the mess? Plus, for some cats, if they break litter-training once, they may not go back to using the litter-box consistently.
Third, and most important, did they warn customers who came in the next day that the cats had been there? What did they do about people who are allergic, both the next days, and in future? Someone with a serious cat allergy should not buy anything in the store that could have cat hair or dander.
And frankly, it wasn't all that cute.
One, many of the cats look freaked. They are obviously used to a smaller space, with no other cats or only familiar ones. I saw cats hissing and starting to fight. I wonder what happened when the cameras weren't filming. Did any cats get hurt?
Two, where are the litterboxes? the water? the food? Okay, in the course of a few hours, they don't have to be fed; that may have been how they were lured back into carriers. But they should have had access to clean water, and if they didn't have litterboxes, who cleaned up the mess? Plus, for some cats, if they break litter-training once, they may not go back to using the litter-box consistently.
Third, and most important, did they warn customers who came in the next day that the cats had been there? What did they do about people who are allergic, both the next days, and in future? Someone with a serious cat allergy should not buy anything in the store that could have cat hair or dander.
And frankly, it wasn't all that cute.
