BMJ apologises to cats everywhere
BMJ 1997; 315 doi: https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.315.7113.954a (Published 11 October 1997) Cite this as: BMJ 1997;315:954
We have received over 50 letters complaining about Liam Farrell's piece and one letter supporting his dislike of cats. This is almost as many letters as we received when we got Mozart's birthday wrong and advocated an elaborate treatment for weaver fish stings when they can actually be treated with any warm fluid, including urine. The BMJ is not anticat (we have even debated getting an office cat), and we apologise to cats everywhere and to readers who were distressed by Liam's piece. He is a writer who might be called a “magical realist,” and we hoped that readers would not take his writing literally. When the nursery rhyme describes cows jumping over the moon and dishes running away with spoons, neither cows nor dishes are intended to follow the advice. Similarly we implore readers not to squash cats.—Editor See p 957
Editor—Liam Farrell writes graphically about his brutal killing of a fox which he had crippled by deliberately driving over it.1 He seems to feel regret but no remorse for this act. Indeed, he invites our admiration: for his willingness to discharge the responsibilities he carries by virtue of his closeness to nature (pause for purple prose) and for his understanding of the wider issues raised by his behaviour (pause for second rate philosophising about euthanasia).
We wondered if we had missed the point. Was hitting the animal really accidental? If so, why the deceit? Black humour? An obscure attempt at irony? We decided not. The article isn't remotely funny, and Farrell is too self regarding to be ironical. If the story is true we must conclude that its author is wilfully cruel to animals and insensitive to the feelings of people who might be affected by his actions. These are unappealing characteristics, and distressing to find in a doctor.
The Views and Reviews section is meant to be provocative, but we found this article deeply offensive. It is not right that space should be given to people to parade their vices in this self indulgent and confrontational manner. Our view is that it would do the BMJ no harm to seek a replacement contributor forthwith.
References
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