Prison cats paroled

A women's farm prison in Vermont is giving the cats that hang out there the boot. The superintendent of the prison says that having the cats there interferes with the goals of the prison, one of which is have prisoners "learn to control their tempers." Some of these prisoners have been feeding and even paying for the care of these cats. I have to agree with a Humane Society worker who was quoted in the article, saying that caring for cats "teaches empathy, teaches responsibility, teaches compassion." It seems to me that all of this would be important in meeting their stated goal of the inmates learning to control their tempers. Or is it possible that punishment is the real goal of this prison, not rehabilitation?

Big Cat Love

A couple of big cats made the news this week:

• Goliath (a.k.a. Hercules) is so big that he was caught stealing cat food out of a woman's garage when he got stuck in her cat door! Fortunately, the publicity generated by the story helped reunite him with his owner.
• Jupiter, an abused circus lion, was rescued by a Columbian woman who he adores completely if his hugs and kisses are any indication. My favorite shot of him is on this week's Animal Tracks slideshow on MSNBC.com.