 
CATS AS HOUSEPETS & WORKING CATS - MONGRELS AND MOGGIES
It has been stated that the majority of the
cats in Britain are the household pets, otherwise mongrels.
The result of free matings for centuries, they conform to
no special standards. The fur may be long, short or neither
one nor the other. The coats are of many colours and may be
blotched, striped or patched or of one colour only.
Ginger tabbies are quite common and must not be confused with
the red pedigree cats (Short haired red tabby) which are of a much deeper and richer
shade.
Black short-hairs are to be found in plenty, but generally
they have white hairs somewhere in their fur. The eye colourings
are frequently green or yellow and the noses long. Alert and
intelligent, beautiful to their owners, they are much adored
pets.
Included in the mongrels are the many ‘working’
cats to be found in factories, farms, docks, warehouses, office
blocks and on ships, as even with the various pest control
and rodent trapping officials, the cat’s usefulness
in destroying rats and mice cannot be overlooked. Many of
these cats are ‘on the strength’ and have a weekly
allowance for the cost of their food, as it is appreciated
that they cannot live on vermin alone. There are also thousands
of strays in this country. Living in ruins or derelict houses
or roaming the countryside, many of these do a useful job
in keeping down the vermin.
Many are unwanted cats which have
been turned out of their homes by thoughtless owners because
they have been found to be females or for whatever other reasons,
and the animal societies play their part in endeavouring to
keep the numbers down either by finding homes after neutering,
or by painlessly destroying them.
|