Saturday, August 31, 2013

Texas Tech Should "Do Right Thing" by Community Cats

Texas Tech's treatment of feral cats must be examined in light of the university's values and commitments.  Take the completed QEP "Do the Right Thing."  

As members of the Texas Tech community, faculty, students, staff, administration, and all stakeholders accept responsibility for abiding by and promoting the ethical principles of the university described below. Although legal behavior and ethical behavior overlap in many areas, they are quite distinct from each other. While we follow legal requirements, an ethical institution goes beyond them to achieve the following values.

Animal cruelty is illegal behavior and also unethical.  TTU knows this from their history of cat abuse.

When we make promises, we must keep those promises. 
TTU administration failed to deliver on its promise to collaborate with area animal service organizations on trapping and removing cats.

We strive to do what is honest and ethical even if no one is watching us or compelling us to “do the right thing.”

TTU refused to work with those organizations on concerns expressed in the way facilities management barricaded cats under buildings without food or water.  Tech took offense to the watchers and compellers.

A sense of institutional and public responsibility requires careful reflection on one’s ethical obligations and the duty to respect commitments and expectations by acknowledging the context and considering the consequences, both intended and unintended, of any course of action.

TTU's careful reflection had facilities management installing physical shields so the public could not visualize cats barricaded without food or water.

TTU's leaders did the wrong thing at nearly every turn.  They've taken an aggressive, intimidating approach from the get go, remained isolated in execution and responded viscerally to any public concern expressed.  The question is when will Texas Tech do the right thing by its community cats? 

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