When Helping Hurts* (by Jennings)

Our neighbor's cat, whom we call Fangs, is a hard-working, outdoor cat. We've seen him killing -- and disposing of -- rats in the yard, and we believe this is why we don't have rats in the house, like most of our friends here do.

I (Jennings) have a huge soft spot for cats, for any cat. I love them all. I love to watch them, to pet them, to play with them, to hear them purr. I am totally and completely smitten with them. (Which is weird to a lot of people here, who see cats for their practical value as hunters, or... as food. Cats are often associated with witchcraft as well, and people who are friendly to cats, who carry cats around, etc., may be viewed with suspicion.)

Anyway, so we are friendly with Fangs, we let him in the house, and we regularly put food out for him to eat. Not a lot of food, just some milk, maybe a little avocado or bread, or cheese rind. I figured we were helping make his tough life a little more comfortable.

The problem is... the food sitting outside started to draw crows. And recently, two other neighborhood cats - one of them a very large tomcat - have also been coming, eating the food, and leaving their "mark". Fangs ends up in fights almost every day, and sometimes multiple times in the day and night. He is obviously upset and now has fight marks. So we stopped putting out food for him.

So much for my great idea of helping.

I don't want to draw some grand, overarching conclusion here. But it does remind me how easily well-intentioned efforts can go wrong, and can hurt the very ones they are meant to help. And it reminds me how little I understand things.

*This is the title of an excellent book (and website) on how the best intentions of people (like you and me) who want to help others can, in fact, in up doing more harm than good. I've been reading and struggling with its implications, and I highly recommend it.

Interestingly, my friend Kim just posted a story about their decision not to step in and "save the day" for someone, and how the church and family stepped up and got it done.  She's been reading the same book.  We all struggle with this issue here.