Environmental Nut Wants To Ban Cats As Pets

[Valerie]

Not all cats are that bad, PTI. I've had a lot of great cats in my lifetime. Jessie was probably the worst as far as what you're talking about. Plus she absolutely hated men (she got that from me lol). She mellowed in her old age and I did love her. The two we have now are a lot of fun. Tinkles more so than Bailey. Tinkles is a party animal, literally. He LOVES when people come to the house and he's right in the middle of all the action. Bailey is very skiddish and hides as soon as she smells a stranger. lol I love all animals, but I think I love cats more and if it wasn't for Bill telling me no all the time, I think I could definitely become a crazy cat lady. lol

[Mouldsie]

I came into owning a kitten this year. She was a stray on the brink of death before I found her on the side of the highway and took her to the SPCA. They were going to put her down (sick, underweight, anemic, etc) unless I agreed to foster her to health so of course I took her in with help from my g/f's tears. The thing became very attached to me. When I took her back to be put up for adoption I ended up adopting her myself the next day because my family and g/f were in love and I like her too. She acts more like a puppy than a cat and is literally my shadow around the house and always runs to greet me at the door when I come home. It's the oddest thing, cats usually are more independent. She likes to play fetch as well.

[mybills]

Cats are natural hunters. It's in their blood.
Mine are fixed and love to hunt. They kill more rodents than birds, which I'm pretty sure most cats do.
If they get away with this ban I hope they get infested with rats.

[mybills]

She acts more like a puppy than a cat.

I had a black cat named Jet that used to walk the kids to the bus stop, then meet them there to walk them home. He was always in the middle of the crowd when we had parties. He was a dog in a cat's body!

[Valerie]

Here's an interesting follow-up article regarding cats.

Indeed, an August 2012 University of Georgia study, produced in conjunction with National Geographic, projected that free-range house cats kill about 4 billion wildlife animals per year, 500 million of which are birds. During the study, researchers attached video cameras to 60 cats to monitor how the felines spend their time. They found that one-third of a cat's day is spent killing smaller creatures, Mother Nature Network reports.

In the new study, researchers surmised there are about 84 million cats owned in the U.S. They estimated that each cat kills between four and 18 birds per year and eight to 21 small mammals annually, LiveScience reports.

However, it's feral cats -- an estimated 30 million to 80 million of which live in the U.S. -- that pose the greatest threat. As LiveScience notes, each of these unowned cats kills 23 to 46 birds and 129 to 338 tiny creatures per year.


http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/0...6pLid%3D263563

[EricStratton]

So with those stats is owning a cat really worth it?

Here's an interesting follow-up article regarding cats.

Indeed, an August 2012 University of Georgia study, produced in conjunction with National Geographic, projected that free-range house cats kill about 4 billion wildlife animals per year, 500 million of which are birds. During the study, researchers attached video cameras to 60 cats to monitor how the felines spend their time. They found that one-third of a cat's day is spent killing smaller creatures, Mother Nature Network reports.

In the new study, researchers surmised there are about 84 million cats owned in the U.S. They estimated that each cat kills between four and 18 birds per year and eight to 21 small mammals annually, LiveScience reports.

However, it's feral cats -- an estimated 30 million to 80 million of which live in the U.S. -- that pose the greatest threat. As LiveScience notes, each of these unowned cats kills 23 to 46 birds and 129 to 338 tiny creatures per year.


http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/0...6pLid%3D263563

[Valerie]

The feral cats cause the most problems. And there are a lot of programs out there now where they trap, fix and release them to help control the population.

And, while I don't like that cats kill other wild life, they help keep bird and rodent populations from getting out of control. I think we've seen in other instances when you take away the natural enemy of an animal, that animals population increases significantly and then we're forced to find alternative means for controling the population, like hunting. I'd rather have nature take it's course than people come out with guns, poisons and/or traps to control the populations.

[EricStratton]

Domestic cats are not nature taking it's course, especially when they are introduced to an area that for many years had no cats like the situation in New Zealand.

[rbochan]

The feral cats cause the most problems. And there are a lot of programs out there now where they trap, fix and release them to help control the population....

A .22 shell is a lot cheaper.

[Ralonzo]

Just to prove that every problem humanity has was already addressed by Star Trek: The Original Series

people need to sterilize their pets, that's the problem

Ster-i-lize!

On a more serious note concerning this issue, is it OK to introduce a species into an ecosystem, as long as it's cute?

[Discotrish]

Cats were introduced into the North American ecosystem to control rodent pests in colonists' crops.

Patti

[LtFinFan66]

or....have indoor cats. DUH

Plus, if something that can fly gets closer enough to a non-flyer to get eaten, they deserve to go away