If a butterfly flaps its wings in Brazil, can it set off a tornado in Texas?” – A question the Butterfly Effect, a tenet of Chaos Theory, poses.
To take off from this statement, I ask “If a member of a gargantuan luxury hotel chain orders the snatching of the cats of BGC, will its effect be felt across the nation? Across the globe, even?”
The answer is a resounding YES. You see, Chaos Theory is the science of the unexpected. It holds that we should actually expect the unexpected; that surprises should no longer catch us off guard, as these outcomes are, indeed, predictable. That CATastrophes can be understood – if we come to terms with the fact that everything is interconnected. There’s no pussyfooting around this reality.
The comparison is a stretch however, because while a butterfly flapping its wings is an occurrence beyond our control, the luxury hotel in question should have had their actions under control – but they didn’t, which makes the folly even more glaring.
Of course, the management of the Shangri-La at the Fort, Manila also should have expected that their actions would incense the community of cat lovers (and animal lovers, in general) across the metro and beyond its borders. But, perhaps their pride, under the leadership (misguidance might be a better word, given the outcome) of GM John Rice, got in the way of better judgment.
For the benefit of those who may not have heard the story, here’s a bit of a backgrounder of the situation that had me – and thousands upon thousands of others like me – going extra manic in Manila in the month of February.
Beloved Catizens

Upscale Bonifacio Global City, in the heart of Taguig, has made its mark on our collective urban consciousness for a variety of reasons: its vibrant graffiti art, neat and clean surroundings, well-curated selection of lifestyle haunts, and – more notably on the list – its animal-friendly atmosphere. A highlight of the latter were the cats of BGC, a colony of friendly feline furballs who were part of the Trap-Neuter-Vaccinate-Return (or Release) program of CARA Philippines. The cats had slinked and sauntered, moseyed and meowed their way into the hearts of the community, where they were loved by many. Much like the cat colony in Disneyland in California, the cats of BGC had become quite the attraction.
In February, on the eve of Valentine’s Day, although some reports say that the misdeeds started towards the end of January, the Shangri-La at the Fort contracted PestBusters Philippines to “relocate” the 38 cats. Relocate was the word they used to mean “dispose of,” really. You see, the hotel deemed the cats a nuisance to their aesthetic and prestigious establishment – so they sought to take matters into their own hands. Little did the hotel’s management realize that they had begun flapping their wings and that this flapping was to herald a maelstrom of their own making.
A series of ‘uninformed’ events
Rice claims that he was “unaware” of what the pest control company would do to the cats – that he was not in the know that there was no “real relocation” here in the third world. Well, now, pardon his first-world sensibility, but is his ignorance excusable? You be the judge. But, common sense should have given him a clue that a pest control company would likely not be in the business of relocation. Further, how does one get to be GM of such a large hotel if one cannot even manage to contact a reputable supplier for his hotel’s needs? Or, at the very least, to find out exactly what kind of service you were contracting for your establishment? Additionally, why did Rice not course the matter through the proper channels? The cats were in the care of two organizations, CARA and the Cats of BGC. Not to mention, the mall administration itself very much aware of the cat colony’s presence and could have helped address the situation properly.
Of course, there is the ignorance, as well, of just how effective the Trap-Neuter Vaccinate-Return program is for the community. This process not only keeps the cat population healthy and manageable, it also keeps the rat population at bay, effectively staving off rat-borne diseases. Plus, the presence of a spayed cat colony is a deterrent to feral cats. Countries with progressive mindsets, when it comes to animal rights, are well-aware of all these facts, and a simple Google search would have helped Rice make a better judgment call.
Backlash
The sudden disappearance of the community’s beloved cats sparked an outrage, online and off, that caused the hotel’s ratings to plummet almost overnight – with its star rankings on Facebook dropping to 1.8 out of 5, and angry, negative reviews totaling 8,000 in a span of hours. As of this writing, those opposed to the hotel and its actions have logged 11,000 negative reviews and ratings, causing the establishment’s overall ranking to freefall to 1.1 stars of 5. Further, positive reviews have been retracted by many disillusioned patrons, leaving the hotel with barely 150 counts of 5-star ratings, from the initial 2,000. The hotel administration’s heartless, mindless actions dug for themselves a pretty deep grave – after all, in the business of hospitality, your reputation always precedes you.
Instead of owning up to their actions and seeking reparation from the get-go, however, those involved spun numerous lies and made lame attempts to cover up the truth. And the not-so-carefully crafted stories keep coming, as of my penning this. Suspiciously enough, as well, the social media account of thousands of detractors and people (myself included) who left negative reviews on the hotel’s Facebook page were hacked and blocked shortly thereafter. Coincidence? Once more, you be the judge. Definitely fodder for Netflix’ next installation of Black Mirror, without doubt.
Efforts to find the missing cats proved futile. Neither the hotel nor the pest control company could provide the location of the supposed “relocation,” which has many people fearing the worse – that it was, in fact, extermination and/or abandonment. Rice has apologized, but his words have fallen on ears still ringing from previous fabrications made by the hotel’s social media spin doctors and PR hounds.
Bottom line, both entities – the hotel and the pest removers – are potentially in violation of Philippine law, under Section 8 of Republic Act No. 8485, which shall now become Section 9, which governs actions involving cruelty to animals. And that’s not just me being catty about things.
The takeaway
“Where are the cats of BGC?” is a question that resounded, as events continued to unfold. It’s a question that has begun to ebb, though. “Justice for the Cats of BGC” is the war cry that has taken its place.
I miss my feline friends, as do countless others. I used to spend hours, on end, happily in the presence of those cats – you see, they had, as cats do, the uncanny ability to cheer me up when I was down or soothe my soul in times of trouble. The hotel took that away from me. Ironically enough, the hotel’s name is a nod to a fictional utopia and land of peace, yet their actions have left me, and many more people, with a deep sense of loss and grief.
We can learn from all this, as our beloved cats might have wanted us to. There are many lessons to takeaway, but perhaps the most important one is that we do not live in a vacuum. Our actions, no matter how seemingly inconsequential, have an impact on others around us, and even on others much further away from us. Let’s implant this in our hearts and etch this onto our consciousness before we start with the wing flapping.
 
By ANGIE DUARTE