I don’t understand why you’re being downoted. Didn’t even say cats don’t belong outdoors, just that they don’t belong outdoors unsupervised which a completely true take. For the record, I absolutely love cats which is why mine don’t go outside unsupervised. Two of mine have no interest in leaving the comfort of home (one does enjoy the balcony, on a harness for safety of course) and my third enjoys going out on his harness with me when the weather is nice (he has zero tolerance for snow though).
All three are extremely affectionate, loving, and sociable and by all measures happy and content.
Basically most people think it’s mean to keep them inside and refuse personal responsibility for what that cat gets up to when it kills local wildlife and ends up in the cat walk between my house half eaten with intestines strewn about by coyotes.
Edit: but we’re international so I should consider locations where cats aren’t an invasive species.
They are where I live, it’s illegal to let them out. Not enforced however.
I’m glad that most don’t seem to think that way where I live, but yeah some do, despite all rescues, shelters, and vets being united on the message that cats shouldn’t be let out to free roam.
I have adopted a feral cat. I’ve also worked with them in the past (adoption preparedness at a no-kill shelter). Bringing them indoors, getting them used to being on a lead and harness outdoors (or otherwise supervised and contained), is one of the kindest thing you can do for them. For the ones living in colonies outdoors and incapable of being re-domesticated (the ones you wouldn’t try to adopt in the first place), there’s a reason TNR - trap, neuter, return - is a thing.
Cats started associating with us all those thousands of years ago precisely because, generally speaking, they enjoy the comparatively “easy life” of living with ammenities and low stress. Perhaps we should have never encouraged their domestication in the first place; I’d leave that discussion for another day. But we’re here now and we have a responsibility.
If the feral cat cannot be socialized and kept in a safe environment where it cannot harm local wildlife populations then it should be euthanized. No amount of useless downvotes will change that fact, or my unwavering position on environmental protection and my pure disdain for people that think it’s okay for cat’s to roam free outside.
I originally agreed with your first comment here (which you’ve changed) and I still do agree with the basic premise: that cats should not be allowed outdoors unsupervised.
But tbh, now you’re just coming across as a bit of a dick who hates cats, which I don’t abide at all.
I don’t live in a nature preserve. The local wildlife being affected are the rats that go through my neighbor’s unsealed trash. Cat loves being indoors during the day but will not tolerate it it at all at night. Not trying to sway your mind but maybe just pushing your buttons cause you seem like a bit of a fascist.
The vast majority of the problem for wildlife is feral cat populations rather than people letting pets outdoors. Just make sure they are sterilized and vaccinated and it’s minimal impact.
Much of this impact may be attributed to feral, unowned cats, but domestic cats contribute substantially to predation on wildlife in urban areas. Predation rates per area by domestic cats in residential areas are 28–52 times higher than predation rates by feral cats in natural environments (Legge et al., 2020). Urban areas support diverse wildlife including threatened species, with 46% of nationally threatened Australian animals (almost 200 species) occurring in urban areas (Ives et al., 2016; Soanes & Lentini, 2019). Pet cats have been documented as having caused local eradication of native species populations (Bamford & Calver, 2015; Legge, Woinarski, et al., 2020), and even a single domestic cat can have major impacts on population decline and reproductive failure in a bird colony (Greenwell, Calver, & Loneragan, 2019).
I couldn’t find a comparison between the two (though the first sentence of what you quoted seems to acknowledge it), but I did find this article which makes an argument that the meaningful ecological impact of cats is context dependent:
There is general agreement that free-roaming cats can pose a significant risk to wildlife populations; however, the credible evidence is quite clear that this risk is limited to very specific contexts (e.g., small islands) and even then is likely only one part of a larger story. Sweeping claims that lack necessary context (e.g., conflating island and mainland environments) confuse the issue and impede productive conversation about how best to manage free-roaming cat populations.
Published research and mainstream media accounts often focus on areas where free-roaming cats come into conflict with protected native wildlife species [46–49]. Although this attention is understandable, it’s important to recognize that such situations attract attention precisely because they are exceptional.
This seems consistent with what you linked, which also emphasizes islands and protected species. Maybe it makes sense to restrict outdoor cats specifically on islands.
Cat’s don’t belong outside unsupervised.
*Downvoting this comment means you don’t care about the environment, or the cat.
https://theconversation.com/research-reveals-why-pet-owners-keep-their-cats-indoors-and-its-not-to-protect-wildlife-166263
Putting the cat before the wildlife: Exploring cat owners’ beliefs about cat containment as predictors of owner behavior
We need to worry about Bella and Charlie: the impacts of pet cats on Australian wildlife
Zoonotic Diseases Associated with Free-Roaming Cats
I don’t understand why you’re being downoted. Didn’t even say cats don’t belong outdoors, just that they don’t belong outdoors unsupervised which a completely true take. For the record, I absolutely love cats which is why mine don’t go outside unsupervised. Two of mine have no interest in leaving the comfort of home (one does enjoy the balcony, on a harness for safety of course) and my third enjoys going out on his harness with me when the weather is nice (he has zero tolerance for snow though).
All three are extremely affectionate, loving, and sociable and by all measures happy and content.
Basically most people think it’s mean to keep them inside and refuse personal responsibility for what that cat gets up to when it kills local wildlife and ends up in the cat walk between my house half eaten with intestines strewn about by coyotes.
Edit: but we’re international so I should consider locations where cats aren’t an invasive species.
They are where I live, it’s illegal to let them out. Not enforced however.
I’m glad that most don’t seem to think that way where I live, but yeah some do, despite all rescues, shelters, and vets being united on the message that cats shouldn’t be let out to free roam.
Tell me you’ve never adopted a feral cat without telling me you’ve never adopted a feral cat.
I have adopted a feral cat. I’ve also worked with them in the past (adoption preparedness at a no-kill shelter). Bringing them indoors, getting them used to being on a lead and harness outdoors (or otherwise supervised and contained), is one of the kindest thing you can do for them. For the ones living in colonies outdoors and incapable of being re-domesticated (the ones you wouldn’t try to adopt in the first place), there’s a reason TNR - trap, neuter, return - is a thing.
Cats started associating with us all those thousands of years ago precisely because, generally speaking, they enjoy the comparatively “easy life” of living with ammenities and low stress. Perhaps we should have never encouraged their domestication in the first place; I’d leave that discussion for another day. But we’re here now and we have a responsibility.
If the feral cat cannot be socialized and kept in a safe environment where it cannot harm local wildlife populations then it should be euthanized. No amount of useless downvotes will change that fact, or my unwavering position on environmental protection and my pure disdain for people that think it’s okay for cat’s to roam free outside.
I originally agreed with your first comment here (which you’ve changed) and I still do agree with the basic premise: that cats should not be allowed outdoors unsupervised.
But tbh, now you’re just coming across as a bit of a dick who hates cats, which I don’t abide at all.
I don’t live in a nature preserve. The local wildlife being affected are the rats that go through my neighbor’s unsealed trash. Cat loves being indoors during the day but will not tolerate it it at all at night. Not trying to sway your mind but maybe just pushing your buttons cause you seem like a bit of a fascist.
The vast majority of the problem for wildlife is feral cat populations rather than people letting pets outdoors. Just make sure they are sterilized and vaccinated and it’s minimal impact.
Sources?
I have one for you:
https://doi.org/10.1111/csp2.502 - Exploring cat owners’ beliefs about cat containment as predictors of owner behavior
I couldn’t find a comparison between the two (though the first sentence of what you quoted seems to acknowledge it), but I did find this article which makes an argument that the meaningful ecological impact of cats is context dependent:
This seems consistent with what you linked, which also emphasizes islands and protected species. Maybe it makes sense to restrict outdoor cats specifically on islands.
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