Andy Richardson
3/25/11
Natural Born Killers
Domestic cats have cemented themselves into our society as the most popular pet in the world. Our history with domestic cats goes back over 10,000 years to the Middle East and since then they have been loyal companions to the elderly, family pets, efficient farmyard mousers, and even surrogate children for some. The problem comes when these seemingly sweet pets are allowed to roam outdoors. They then become efficient predators killing anything they can stalk down, which often ends up to be native birds, reptiles, amphibians, and small mammals. We should not blame these otherwise innocent creatures, after all they are just doing what naturally to them, but what we should do is control them to make sure that we are not unleashing what has become the most detrimental of invasive species.
According to recent estimates there are 117 – 157 million stray, feral, or outdoor pet cats in the United States. Conservative estimates say that these cats are responsible for the deaths of approximately 568 million birds/year. These studies just took into account only direct avian deaths. It does not count any of the amphibian, reptile, or small mammal deaths. It also does not count any of the deaths attributed to the diseases that feral cats are known to transmit to both wildlife and humans such as rabies, hookworm, toxoplasmosis, typhus, cat-scratch disease, and plague.
Right about now you might be thinking that this seems like a simple issue to fix. If loose cats are such a problem cities and towns could just implement licensing and leash laws similar to what is in effect for dogs. We could employ technicians to trap and euthanize stray cats. We could make cat owners keep their cats in outdoor enclosures. In reality though this issue is rooted back to our 10,000 years of attachment to cats. Wildlife biologists have suggested the implementation these very same control methods around the globe and have been met head-on by cat advocate groups. These groups, such as the Alley Cat Allies and Best Friends Animal Society, believe that feral cats have as much right to exist in the wild as our native species. They have invested millions of dollars to fund and lobby for a control method called Trap Neuter Release (TNR). TNR seems like a sound management practice in theory. Cats are live trapped, neutered, and then released back into the wild to out their lives, but have no chance of adding to the population. Feeding stations are then set up so that cats have no reason to kill any native species because they are being properly fed. As I said this management practice seems sound in theory, but when biologists actually study feral cats in TNR programs they have found just the opposite outcomes. The feral cats are trap-shy so the number of cats neutered isn’t enough to make an impact on the population. Also feeding feral cats has been found to concentrate their populations, which increases disease transmission between cats and wild animals coming to the feeding stations. Feeding also has not been shown to decrease predation because hunting is instinctual and has actually caused extirpation zones around feeding stations. It is obvious that TNR is not the answer to our problem.
I believe the best thing we can do to save our native species and remove this negative stigma from domestic cats is educate people. What I have discussed here are just two polarized sides to an argument, but there are many more cat owners whose opinions fall somewhere in the middle. Many of these people do not realize the detriment that they are doing to the ecosystem by allowing their cats to roam free outside. They do not realize that their innocent pet turns into a methodical killer when it is allowed outdoors. So, please, for the sake of wildlife and diversity everywhere keep your cats confined and pass the word on to others.
Dauphine, N. and Cooper, R. 2011. Pick One: Outdoor Cats or Conservation. The Wildlife Professional. Vol. 5 No. 1, p. 50.
Dauphine, N. 2011. Follow the Money: The Economics of TNR Advocacy. The Wildlife Professional. Vol. 5 No. 1, p. 54.
2 comments:
This is actually an issue that I remember discussing in my high school journalism class. It's sad that some cat owners don't seem to care if they let their pet roam and contribute to the problem. Some of the control methods I recall talking about were similar to the TNR method,except that female felines were also spayed and the plan didn't include feeding stations. Another control idea we discussed was hunting the feral cats to protect both our native species, but more importantly our own safety, especially that of children.
I think the idea of TNR is ridiculous. The bottom line that some people do not seem to understand, is that domestic cats are no different than any other exotic invasive once they become stray or feral. Groups such as Alley Cat Allies and others who fight for the rights of stray or feral cats have no logical argument and should be completely disregaded in my opinion.However, although hunting them may help control the problem, it will never be a complete solution.
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