Attitude Towards Cats by Pakistanis in the UK

The title to this article encourages me to generalize but that is unwise because it seems to me that there is a wide range of attitudes towards cats amongst the Pakistani community in Great Britain which is dependent upon the age of the person and how integrated that person is into mainstream British society.

Pakistanis and cats uk

Two useful tags. Click either to see the articles: Toxic to cats | Dangers to cats

In general, younger people are probably more integrated into British society while the older generation are more likely to adhere to traditional Muslim values which affect a person’s attitude towards the cat.

A major factor in assessing the attitude towards cats by Pakistanis in the UK is the concept of multiculturalism.  In the UK, multiculturalism was accepted as the way forward as opposed to integration.  Multiculturalism promotes the cultural diversity of communities and it encourages different ideologies and policies within the cultural differences of the various ethnic minorities in the UK. Today, multiculturalism is discredited to a certain extent because it promotes a divided wider society which in turn can lead to the problems that we have with disaffected young Pakistani males becoming jihadists traveling to the Islamic State to wage war.

Multiculturalism encourages Pakistani’s who follow the Islamic faith to treat cats in much the same way that they would treat them in Pakistan.

So what is the attitude of Pakistanis in Pakistan with respect to the domestic and feral cat? The attitude is similar to many other countries which extend from the Eastern Mediterranean to the Far East, through Asia, which is that the concept the domestic cat ownership and possessing a cat is far less popular than the concept of community cats in which cats live outside in the community where they are fed sometimes by kind people. Community cats are semi-domesticated.

Accordingly, I would expect that in a traditional Pakistani home within an area where there are many Pakistani’s that there are not that many cat owners in the conventional sense. In fact, Ahsan living in Pakistan tells me that about 3% of his neighbors look after a house cat. That figure rises to 5% for dogs. There appear to be less community cats than I had believed. Ahsan also says that many people in Pakistan (up to 90%) don’t like cats. He says they hate cats.

However, I would expect that a young Pakistani couple who are more integrated into the British way of life to be far more likely to adopt and care for a domestic cat in the usual way.

Apparently, Muslims in general, in interpreting the Koran, do not agree with the concept of contraception or preventing the conception of newborn babies which extends I’m told to their attitude towards the sterilization of the domestic cat. It would appear, then, that a traditional Muslim attitude towards the community cat is to live and let live which means that the cats get on with our lives without intervention in terms of sterilization.  This must therefore mean more community cats but there appears to be an attitude of acceptance of community cats even when they proliferate.

The Islamic faith should encourage Pakistanis to be kind towards cats because of the well-known story of the Prophet Muhammad’s attitude towards his own cats.

No doubt the influence of the Prophet Muhammad upon the modern Muslim Pakistani varies from person to person. Judging by the stories of Ahsan ul Haq in Pakistan it would seem that the Prophet’s attitude towards cats is not replicated by a significant segment of society in Pakistan and therefore I would expect that attitude to be carried over to Pakistani immigrants into the UK in some sectors of the society.

In 2007 (I expect it to be the same today) 96% of Pakistanis were Muslims. Therefore I’d expect 90% if Pakistanis in the UK to be Muslims too but as is the case for followers of Christianity, being a Muslim does not necessarily mean a person adheres closely to the teachings and culture of the religion. As mentioned it depends on the person. I expect younger people to me more secular.

Even when a Pakistani is a strict Muslim I’d doubt that they always treat cats the way the Prophet Mohammed did. I wish it were otherwise.

My conclusion is that the attitude towards cats by Pakistanis in the UK is one that encourages less ownership of cats and less of a desire to personally care for a domestic cat or be responsible for an individual cat. I sense that, fundamentally, there is less empathy towards the cat, domestic, stray or feral than in the secular or Christian section of UK society.

This is not a criticism, just a plain neutral observation based on the information I have.

It should be noted though that there is growing market in purebred cats in Pakistan. There are sellers of so called purebred cats and they are nearly always Persians particularly white Persians. This is quite a contrast to the plight of the street cats in the country. I wonder how many Pakistani families in the UK care for a purebred, pedigree cat? Not many is the answer.

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6 thoughts on “Attitude Towards Cats by Pakistanis in the UK”

  1. I found it interesting when I stood in Boundary Mill for 2 hours with a tin collecting for the CPL.

    I would say that 95% of the people who donated were White British/Irish. Approximately 3% were Asian and 2% Black.

    I think this speaks volumes however having said this I am in no way racist I live in a close knit multi cultural society what I have stated is fact.

    I will never understand why someone would hate a creature enough to deliberately run it over I think that’s just sick.

    If you don’t like an animal then fine but just leave them the hell alone and live and let live.

    Reply
    • I would say that 95% of the people who donated were White British/Irish. Approximately 3% were Asian and 2% Black.

      That is interesting Leah. That conforms with my idea of a cross-section of society and their relationship with cats. Thanks for that info.

      The question is why do Asians and black people like cats less than native British?

      For me the answer is that the Asia, Africa and the Caribbean is in general less developed, and in less well developed countries the dog is still more popular because they are seen as being more useful. That is probably the answer.

      Reply
      • I think I’m in agreement Michael I have to admit I’m becoming a little fearful that our reputation of being a country of animal lovers may not be the case in years to come. I really think animal cruelty cases will rapidly increase because of the increase in first generation immigrants. After all sadly with places like Romania for example they torture dogs on the street. Some countries have scant, if any at all animal welfare laws.
        The UK is already seeing an increase in illegal dog fighting and the perpetrators aren’t being punished to the full extent of the law.
        I find it all very concerning 🙁

        Reply
  2. Very true and very well written.

    Truth is what I love and what I like.

    Fact is FACT.

    But my friend Michael! the basic problem is that every Pakistani, let say 99.99% are not the Orthodox Moslem. Let me clear it out that even JIHADISTS are not true MOSLEMS. Yes! Let me clear it out!!!

    Western people say only a word.
    MOSLEM because they attend mosque????
    Just it???

    Many can even not understand ARABIC. I attend CHURCH! Am I a christian????

    No! not at all! I am MOSLEM but I am not Secular … no ….no way.

    I am a moslem. Because I am scholar of Qur’aan and Ahaadees. Tareekh wa Assaar. Tafseer wa Fiqh’h. 🙂

    These people living there in UK or all around the world, I mean Pakistanis, They have only the main knowledge about , perhaps Salaath, Fasting, Hajj, Perhaps Zakat (I doubt), Look at their faces, They even not obey the basic orders of prophet SAW, because they don’t know and they don’t care. Yes! literally saying that west is wrong that Pakistan is a Moslem country, No not at all. This is a multi Religion, Multi culture, Multi Concets and Multi creeds country.

    Basic! Mohemmud said;
    Always speak the truth
    Never lie
    keep your promise

    Who follows???

    Cats and kittens are the perhaps ZERO LEVEL priority to any Pakistani family or person but that does not mean that Cat lovers are not here in Pakistan. Yes they are but not FERAL CATS LOVERS. Ahaaaa NAAAANaaaaa! only domesticated house pet cats.

    So, I don’t know about Britain but Its true that ANIMAL LOVE is only found in SAINTS of Pakistani Culture. Yes I am also a follower of CHISHTI creed and therefore I love every creature of Allah and wish to have mercy on every one not only Moslems but also non Moslems.

    Thank you for the article Michael <3

    Reply
    • every Pakistani, let say 99.99% are not the Orthodox Moslem. Let me clear it out that even JIHADISTS are not true MOSLEMS. Yes! Let me clear it out!!!

      That is interesting to me. Ahsan you have so much information to tell us in the West about the Islam faith. We don’t know how devote Muslims in general are and how concerned they are to follow the genuine teachings of the Quran. We have the impression that Muslims are always devote and follow the Koran but no.

      Your comment is very interesting to me. The statistics say that over 90% of Pakistanis in Pakistan are Moslem but they aren’t practicing Moslems it seems to me. It is the same her with Christians.

      Reply
  3. We don’t have many Pakistanis here, so I can’t really input.
    However, we have many Mexicans (it used to be Cubans, but no more) who absolutely hate cats. I don’t know where this hatred stems from; but, I have witnessed them veering off a road just to hit and kill a cat.

    Reply

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