Meow House Theatre

This is rather sad and ironic.

From the AP feed at boston.com:

ITHACA, N.Y. — Renowned Cornell University cat veterinarian James Richards, who was injured when he crashed his motorcycle trying to avoid a cat in the road, died two days later, the university said. He was 58. Dr. Richards, the director of Cornell’s College of Veterinary Medicine’s Feline Health Center, was thrown from his motorcycle during the accident Sunday, according to police. He died Tuesday.

Full article here. There is also a New York Times obituary here.

Dr. Richards wrote several books on feline care, including the ASPCA Complete Guide to Cats, which I consider probably the best overall health-and-care guide for cat owners. What an unfortunate twist of fate that he died, and that he did so in the way he did. He apparently swerved and crashed his motorcycle so that he would avoid hitting a cat that had run into the road. The cat died anyway.

This is why I don’t let my cats roam. They could be killed and they could cause someone else to be killed. And it’s much more expensive for their vet care, because cats who go outside get parasites, they get into fights, they get crazies who throw things at them, they get locked accidentally in people’s garages, they get other cats pregnant or become pregnant if god forbid their people are stupid enough to not have them spayed/neutered. I wonder if the person to whom that cat belonged knows what happened.

Sad.