It's Those Darn Cats

[Sea Ray]

I about fell out of my chair when I came across the article. It's so ridiculous, I thought it had to be a spoof but I don't think it is.

This article bemoans the fact that cats in the USA kill billions of animals/birds every year. Well yeah, that's what cats do and it's a vital role they play in the world's food chain.

Cats are one of the top threats to US wildlife, killing billions of animals each year, a study suggests...

The authors estimate they are responsible for the deaths of between 1.4 and 3.7 billion birds and 6.9-20.7 billion mammals annually...

The authors concluded that more animals are dying at the claws of cats in the United States than in road accidents, collisions with buildings or poisonings...

Birds native to the US, such as the American Robin, were most at risk, and mice, shrews, voles, squirrels and rabbits were the mammals most likely to be killed.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-21236690

Now why is a British group even worried about cats in our country killing shrews, squirrels and robins? If not for cats we'd be over run with these other creatures.

Have we gotten to the point that this world can't handle death of any kind? Is it the goal of some that every living creature live on and on? Let me break it to them, things would not "work out" on planet earth if we started a campaign to save the robins, squirrels and shrews.

This final comment reminded me of my grandmother who didn't want her cat killing the birds and chipmunks:

Dr Marra said: "We hope that the large amount of wildlife mortality indicated by our research convinces some cat owners to keep their cats indoors and that it alerts policymakers, wildlife managers and scientists to the large magnitude of wildlife mortality caused by cat predation."

A spokeswoman for the UK's animal welfare charity the RSPCA said that a properly fitted collar and bell could reduce a cat's success when hunting by at least a third.

She did put a bell on Herman once for that very reason.

[forfreelin04]

As a owner of cats myself, I found this article Onion worthy.

[RedFanAlways1966]

Darn cats. Doing what their brain is programmed to do. I think we ought to outlaw mousetraps and rat poison too. Think how many of these rodents perish due to these killing machines. RAID, cockroach hotels, fly paper, fly swatters, etc. Killing billions of insects. Surely the world will be better wih more birds...

[cumberlandreds]

Originally Posted by forfreelin04

As a owner of cats myself, I found this article Onion worthy.

That's what I thought too.

I think some writer ran out of ideas for topics.

[RichRed]

Our cat likes to "kill" his Little Lion Kitty Treats. He thrashes and breaks their imaginary necks before chowing down on their carcasses. This kind of violence has to stop.

[medford]

I'm really not much of a cat person (even though my wife owns one), but I will admit that I'm perfectly fine with a few less squirels and robins roaming around Ohio.

[Sea Ray]

Originally Posted by forfreelin04

As a owner of cats myself, I found this article Onion worthy.

That was my thought as well.

I thought this was cute:

My cat loving little girl said "That's silly. Cats bring you these 'presents' (animals on your front step) to show that they love you. Teaching cats not to do that would be like teaching dogs not to bury bones."

[bucksfan2]

I am not a cat person at all. I had them growing up but they were just outdoors cats and my last one was mean.

But they did one heck of a job of keeping mice out of the house.

[The DARK]

It's quite facepalm-worthy that this makes the headlines under the banner of "science"...

[WMR]

Originally Posted by Sea Ray

That was my thought as well.

I thought this was cute:

My cat loving little girl said "That's silly. Cats bring you these 'presents' (animals on your front step) to show that they love you. Teaching cats not to do that would be like teaching dogs not to bury bones."

Best way to train a cat not to do that is with a 12 gauge shotgun.

My dad has lots of bird feeders for song birds and humming birds on our farm.

Cats get terminated.

[foxfire123]

I've got a friend who says that when you have a cat, you've invited a small predator into your house.

That being said, my cats came looking for *me* when a mouse got into the laundry room. "Kill it mom! Kill it EEEEEKKKK!" and breaking land speed records running out of the room when the stupid teeny little rodent ran right at one of them.... I lost the mouse under the dryer laughing at them. They may have gotten brave and gotten it later, as we never did see it again.

I can see being concerned if you live in an area with endangered or rare critters, but if they're killing off stuff as common as robins and squirrels, then they're doing a service to the area, not causing an issue.

[GAC]

Originally Posted by bucksfan2

I am not a cat person at all.

Me neither. I don't like cats, and cats don't like me. So we have a mutual understanding.

I had them growing up but they were just outdoors cats and my last one was mean.

But they did one heck of a job of keeping mice out of the house.

That's been my biggest problem with cats - the neighbor's outside cats. They'er constantly trying to get into my garage, and especially my trash cans. Don't care to have them constantly sitting on the hood of our new cars (that's when they aren't sitting in our chairs on the back porch). They treat the landscaping around our house like their personal litter box, and they leave their half eaten prey (bird, baby rabbit) laying around in our yard.

Dogs have to be licensed and controlled, but not cats? Dogs should sue for gross discrimination.

[Sea Ray]

Originally Posted by GAC

Dogs have to be licensed and controlled, but not cats? Dogs should sue for gross discrimination.

In most areas lease laws include cats but it's rarely enforced

[marcshoe]

I worked for a short time as a catherd. Frustrating job.

[marcshoe]

Looks like there's a bit of a backlash to this.

Cats are evil, you know, but I like them anyway.