Catseroles and kitten mittens.

[urbpan]

Domestic cats are some of the worst invasive species when allowed to roam free and breed. They kill native prey species and compete with native predators. (They also spread diseases like rabies and toxoplasmosis.) In Australia, a place free of placental mammalian predators for millions of years, they are especially bad. That's why they can get away with a feral cat recipe contest while in America we couldn't get a simple hunting season going, on the grounds that it was "cruel and inhumane" (As if somehow hunting feral cats is more cruel than hunting feral pigs, or for that matter, any animal.) Unfortunately for those who would eat cats to extinction in Australia, it turns out they aren't especially good eatin'. Their fur could be a good product to motivate a cat hunt, but you couldn't import it into Europe. Fur, useful as it may be, has fallen out of favor in recent decades, anyway.

What do you think? Any good way to control feral cats that you can think of? Capture/Sterilize/Release is one solution, but still puts cats out in the wild, to kill birds and spread disease. Part of my new job is dealing with feral cats, and not all of them are saved. It seems like a waste to toss a carcass in the trash, or incinerate it, when it's made of useful meat and fur. Or is pragmatism uncalled for with the sensitive issues surrounding beloved species? Do all cats (and horses) deserve decent burials? What to do with the glut of unwanted and pest animals?

Comments

[squid-ink.livejournal.com]

puhlease.. overdevelopment has killed far more animals than any cats.

People are the worst invasive species when allowed to roam free and breed.

[squid-ink.livejournal.com]

..forgot to mention.. in alot of countries (I'm thinking specifically South and Central America, and in the parts of Africa where I've been).. packs of feral dogs are a huge problem, but they kill cattle and other livestock, which threatens a person's livelihood. They're shot but not eaten. (I havent' been to the far east).

besides, where I live.. there really are very few feral cats. They're strays that have been dumped by people, they are domestic animals, not wild. Cats are also not protected by law like dogs are (in terms of licensing, animal control can't pick up stray cats..in our town they do, but by law they can't). That needs to change.


I'd sooner eat a dog than a cat, but I'm vegetarian so I'll pass.

[urbpan.livejournal.com]

Cats are basically a satellite species to humans, and an effect of development. When land is developed, habitat is fragmented, water and air (and light and sound) are polluted, and new predators (cats and dogs) are introduced. The problem of cats can't be separated from humans (and to some extent, vice versa).

Which is more or less true of all invasive species; by definition, they are present due to human activity.

[squid-ink.livejournal.com]

by definition, they are present due to human activity.

just like pit bulls (and other dogs) that are taught to be attack dogs. Should they also be killed and served up on a plate, or treated with some compassion?

whatever. I'm not interested in having this conversation with you, and have lost all interest in reading your blog.

[urbpan.livejournal.com]

The problem of dog overpopulation is pretty much the same. About 5 million of them ARE killed every year, no matter what I think about it. I was just putting the question out to my readers: is there a better way?

[cottonmanifesto.livejournal.com]

if you can keep a feral cat in your house (like you can an animal aggressive dog), then more power to you.

[calypso72]

Actually, it's not completely far-fetched. Both of our cats were rescued feral cats who were domesticated by a woman dedicated to that cause. They are strictly indoor, neutered, and have never given us a day's trouble (aside from the usual cat bulimia and drinking from human water glasses and glaring at us).

[cottonmanifesto.livejournal.com]

that is not what i said. clearly people are rescuing feral cats daily.

if you can keep a feral cat in your house (like you can an animal aggressive dog), then more power to you.

animal aggressive dogs require no extensive rehabilitation to live in peace with their human handlers.

[ziggysinamerica.livejournal.com]

puhlease... Human development is evolution in action, and as evolution goes, you adapt or die out.

Plenty of species eke out an existence alongside us, and others die off, unfortunate as it is. Now that we're more aware of our environmental impact, humanity generally tries harder to not mess things up too much. Regardless, there's no way for humans to kill of all life on this planet excepting major, and I mean MAJOR climate change, sometime akin to the surface of Venus.

Humans are natural creatures, and it is a fallacy to suggest otherwise. There have been mass extinctions throughout the history of this planet, and whether it's caused by a meteorite, massive amounts of oxygen in the air, climate change, or human development, it doesn't change the fact that these things happen and by natural causes.

If fixing the environment is something we should do as self-appointed stewards of nature, then that includes getting rid of feral cats, and if they have to die, so be it.