The first thought of the person who made the video immediately below was how she could exploit the distress of this cat trapped in a fenced trampoline. It did not cross her mind, it seems to me, to dive in as quickly as possible to release the cat. She even giggles while she is videoing the cat chasing left to right, head-butting with some force the netting to try and escape.
Eventually the cat does escape by climbing up the netting. The cat is clearly distressed. The normal reaction, from normal people, in more normal times would be to dive into release the cat as soon as possible. Back in the old days we did not carry around smart phones which incorporated high-quality video cameras. We didn’t even carry around telephones.
Back in those days we would simply release the cat. The job would have been done and well done. In this instance, it is clear to me that the person who made the video saw an opportunity to exploit a distressed cat because she felt that she could get some hits on YouTube. And from hits you can make some money in advertising.
It is an example of voyeurism. As an example of how to exploit distress for voyeuristic, commercial gain. It’s unpleasant. It is not amusing. The videomaker lacks common sense and decency in my view. It lacks humanity and sensibility. It’s time to get rid of this stupid desire to constantly film everything and try and make money out of it or gain some fame from it.
As an aside, cats normally like trampolines. They are great play areas but clearly stray cats exploring them can get trapped. In the video below on Twitter, it is not clear to some if the cats are panicked by being trapped or playing. They are panicked in my opinion because they have discovered that they are trapped. The guy in the video, Mr Hall, tries to reassure them so he is clear that they are distressed. The family discovered the strays in the fenced trampoline.
When the whole towns cats get into your trampoline. 😂
(🎥 via @baileyhall2424 ) pic.twitter.com/0W4PlgMCVf— ANIMALS R US (@Animal_R_Us) 7 July 2019
“After coming home from a baseball game, my parents noticed some of the neighborhood cats playing on our trampoline. The cats roam around the neighborhood every day and we are not sure if they are pets but they seemed to be having a fun time. My dad can be seen trying to calm the cats down before he released them.” – Mr Hall’s son, Bailey.
He thought they were playing. I disagree. The dangers of fenced trampolines to stray cats needs to be addressed. I don’t know how widespread it is. It should be investigated.
