A house divided?

[urbpan]

Animal lovers and Environmentalists are usually thought to be the same people. Realizing that certain animals, through the acts of humans, have themselves become environmental problems, complicates the matter.

Perhaps no issue polarizes animal lovers and environmentalists like free-roaming and feral cats. While I was on vacation, I read this magazine article about the subject. It's a relatively long piece that deserves to be read, but I'll boil it down: Free-roaming cats in present an environmental problem through the killing of native species and the spreading of disease; trap-neuter-release programs are spreading and growing through the perception that they help solve the problem, when the evidence is that they do not. In other words, animal lovers who oppose lethally controlling feral cats, are coming into conflict with environmentalists. The animal lovers are currently winning this conflict, with more and more municipalities accepting and promoting TNR programs.

The article provides some helpful resources, including some information from the American Bird Conservancy. Also included is a link to this product, a bib that your cat can wear to protect bird species--it has the added benefit of making the cat more visible to drivers.

Comments

[calypso72]

As you know, I'm an animal lover, a cat owner and an environmentalist. I'd never have an outdoor cat.

[perspicuity.livejournal.com]

not having an outdoor cat is probably the right answer...

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[perspicuity.livejournal.com]

soon, cities will be overwhelmed by starlings and rats? :)

while this is probably one of the funniest things i've seen, well, i can't say i approve of it. good idea, but wrong way to do it...

besides, the area is now getting various actual wild cats back... like the lynxes. the bobcats apparently have settled in nicely. with luck: mountain lions :)

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[wirrrn.livejournal.com]

That's precisely why all my cats have been neutered, bell-collared and kept in at night; they will kill any wildlife they can get their claws on. Although I don't mind quite as much when it's a non-native bird :)

[yummykit.livejournal.com]

at the park i used to work at, the university has been doing song sparrow studies for years (something like 20 years now). i remember them telling me something ridiculous, like 100% of the dead song sparrows they find died from a cat. it was kind of crazy....and the cats clearly go for the song sparrows, who are easily accessible down on the ground (where as invasives like starlings are not as accessible).

i am not against cats, but outdoor cats...yeah. i definitely think it's environmentally unfriendly.

[urbpan.livejournal.com]

The first song sparrow I ever identified was one that my cat killed (my last outdoor cat, 1996 or thereabouts). He also killed the only greensnake I've ever seen.

[urb-banal.livejournal.com]

Ha ha! I love how pissed off that cat looks!

[callipygian80.livejournal.com]

This is an interesting read. I haven't seen any feral cats in my neighborhood, but there are definitely a lot more outdoor cats than the similar neighborhood we came from. So many that I'm actually pretty annoyed: for the wildlife, for my gardens, and for what I suspect was the source of fleas on our 100% indoor cat. Grrr...

[whatisbiscuits.livejournal.com]

My rescue cat goes outside but has three legs and no teeth, so probably the only wildlife he's a threat to is slugs :) Obviously he is a pretty unusual case, but if you do want an outdoor cat I recommend a disabled one!