The well-publicised Homes for Ukraine programme is, in general, highly successful. Apparently, more than 50,000 refugees have arrived in the UK after fleeing the war in Ukraine under the Ukraine visa schemes. However, on the radio today I heard about a pet problem which interests me. There have been other problems such as Ukrainians returning home to the war in preference to staying with their host family such has been the friction.
Grant Shapps, the UK’s Transport Minister is one of those good people who has taken in a Ukrainian refugee and mother who has a dog. He has also rehomed a grandmother and children, as I understand it. Quite a big enterprise to do all that.
However, the problem is this: Mr Shapps has a couple of cats. Their lives have been dramatically upset by the introduction of a dog into their home. It will be greatly unsettling for them to have to deal with an incoming dog. And it is readily apparent in Mr Shapps interview on LBC radio. He said that his cats had disappeared and now spend a large part of the day and night outside of their home.
I don’t think they’ve physically departed the home forever but they have felt obliged to remove themselves from their home which is very unfortunate. It’s also unfair.
To many people it would be a minor matter and I think Mr Shapps feels that way but I’m not sure. It seems that the family cat or cats have to accept what is given to them. Of course, they have no say in the matter. They have to put up and shut up even though they are regarded as family members.
It’s funny, in a way, that millions of people regard their domestic cat companion as a ‘family member’ but when push comes to shove, they are no longer a family member but “just a cat”.
I have thought about homing a Ukrainian family because I live in a house which is too big for a single person. But I have a cat who I love desperately. If I did rehome a Ukrainian family, I would have to stipulate that they did not have a dog or any other pet which would sound picky and unreasonable. In fact, I would doubt that I would have a choice.
The point that I am making in a roundabout way is that cat owners should factor in their cat companion when making decisions like this. Mr Shapps has not. For me, that’s a failure although I am delighted that one more Ukrainian family has found a safe haven from this terrible conflict brought about by Putin’s megalomania. I wish this family well and I hope that one day they can return home, if they wish to. Most do because in many cases the father and husband has remained in Ukraine to fight the Russians. It must be incredibly stressful for the wife and mother and the children to think that their father and husband is in great jeopardy in defending their country.
Below are some articles on the Ukraine war.
