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]

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.