Should domestic cats be eradicated to protect wildlife?

DOMESTICATED Is the operative word here. Outdoor cats are semi wild animals that come and go as they please, there is no such thing as an outdoor dog nor should there be. I think the practice of having an "outdoor"cat should be outlawed unless you live on a farm and the cat has a functioning purpose of killing mice and rats. Any cats seen roaming the streets should be snatched up and dispatched, i see nothing wrong with someone in the city owning a cat but it should be neutered licensed collared and kept indoors like ALL other pets.

i think i have lost faith in humanity completely reading some of the replies in here

I don't know. I can see both sides of this issue. Apparently feral cats are killing a large number of native animals. Confining all cats does seem a bit drastic though.

They are house cats killing birds in areas adjacent to wildlife. It's the same thing in Australia. You have some national parks with people living around them and their cats kill everything. Flightless birds have no chance.

Australia's native species had a massive extinction event 5000 years ago when people came down with dogs.

reply to post by ollncasino


Great idea lets pick on cats as having a negative impact on wildlife....far easier of course than targetting the biggest parasites on the planet, humans.
Cats 1, humans 0.

reply to post by SkuzzleButt


I'm with you.
I'm ashamed to be related to the same species that are posting these comments. We don't deserve a place on this planet, a day will come when we've exhausted our natural materials and all wildlife. Quite a legacy.

I won't return to this topic as it makes me sick.

Originally posted by SkuzzleButt
i think i have lost faith in humanity completely reading some of the replies in here

Me too. Sick psychotic ( can't say what I'm thinking). It's pissing me off too much.

Just neuter and spay. Fixes problem. No more cat births.

Ship the rest to Canada. The coyotes and foxes here kill off the cats, which keep mice and rats away.
We need more cats here. They're a huge help in farmland areas.

reply to post by Night Star

No place in nature for a thoughtless, heartless, evil animal like the domestic cat?

Do I look evil to you?

Actually, yes.



You may like cats, that's ok.

But please do not add insult to injury.

Do you think an animated GIF of a Lol-cat laughing at me is going to cheer me up?



Show some respect please,

2 precious lives were brutally taken yesterday.

For fun.



This is how I see Cats...

Originally posted by ollncasino

Originally posted by sirhumperdink
ridiculous
nature changes and adapts all the time

sooner or later a predator would have made its way to new zealand and the animals that couldnt adapt strategies or traits that would allow them to evade said predator would die out

Let the cats make all the New Zealand native species go extinct?

That seems a bit drastic.

New Zealand is a lovely country and had unique wildlife due to its isolation for 800 miilion years. Then settlers arrrived about 1000 years ago - the human kind.

The biggest threat ever to her fauna and flora is you guessed it man.

The lovely birds were the only wildlfe on the island before the settlers arrived a few 1000 years ago and wiped them out !!!

The forests were dominated by birds with no predators so they were able to remain flightless such as the kiwi, kakapo and takahē.

The arrival of humans, BINGO = deforestation on a mass scale, the introduction of rats, ferrets and other mammals and the extinction of many bird species, including large birds like the moa and Haast's eagle.

Blame humans not the cat.

reply to post by HelenConway


BTW I do have a cat - but i am responsible and she wears a bell and if I see her stalking birds I stop her, by chucking something softish at her head

Plus I keep her in at night,

Originally posted by ForestForager
reply to post by ollncasino

 

The cats I killed were not collared, were on my property, and threatened the birds that came to my feeders, and the squirrels that came to me for nuts... it's no different then trapping/killing a rat... people keep those as pets too.

Who are you ? You need to be reported to the police and if you are in the UK i will happily do it if not then someone in the US needs to report you so your IP can be traced and the SPCA can visit you,

I feel sick that is evil. How can you do it?

Originally posted by HelenConway

Who are you ? You need to be reported to the police and if you are in the UK i will happily do it if not then someone in the US needs to report you so your IP can be traced and the SPCA can visit you,

I feel sick that is evil. How can you do it?

edit on 3-2-2013 by HelenConway because: (no reason given)

It is not illegal to kill a wild animal attacking you.

Originally posted by Retikx
DOMESTICATED Is the operative word here. Outdoor cats are semi wild animals that come and go as they please, there is no such thing as an outdoor dog nor should there be. I think the practice of having an "outdoor"cat should be outlawed unless you live on a farm and the cat has a functioning purpose of killing mice and rats. Any cats seen roaming the streets should be snatched up and dispatched, i see nothing wrong with someone in the city owning a cat but it should be neutered licensed collared and kept indoors like ALL other pets.

Domesticated doesn't mean lives indoors...

They come and go as the please because they aren't a threat to humans, other pets, property or large wildlife. They also follow a fairly strict sense of habit, spend most of the day sleeping within a safe area of their territory which for a domestic cat is within the boundaries of their human owners territory and have set areas they patrol for hunting like game trails. Not allowing a cat to be a cat is cruel, and a cat being a cat isnt a problem compared to a dog being allowed to be a dog, a dog forms packs and act aggressive or confrontive to strangers (both human and animal) you just cant have them wandering naturally. Also dogs being a pack animal that responds to a human as their pack leader can be walked regularly to alleviate any psychological stress being cooped up in a house or small yard makes. You cant do that with a cat (a cat on a leash... ) , their independent animals most of the time that do what they want when they deem it necessary... thats one the reason cat people like cats (a cat is an equal not a submissive). Cooping up a cat in a small area like a house drives them nuts, and even the ones brought up from birth in such an environment often suffer psychological problems (which aren't readily apparent to most cat owners with cats in such a situation) in such situations.

Their the only 'pet' that can be wild and domestic at once, thats their charm and they do it well, if they where cheetah/lynx sized beasts then sure, we'd have to have dog like rules for them but they arent.

And what is it with people who kill cats that wander into their property?... are these people some sort of animalistic minded creatures, do they kill the birds that invade their property, what about a wandering dog or a human that comes to knock on their door? (hmmm given some recent events i guess some humans do). I just dont get it, how sick are some people... i dont kill the neighbors dog if it gets out and onto my property which they tend to do regularly (id probably have to if it attacked one of our cats, but who wouldn't protect a family member being savaged?), i dont sit there with a gun shooting every bird that eats 90% of all our fruit trees fruit every year (even with 10 cats the birds still swarm the fruit trees). i dont run out and bitch slap the neighbors cat with a bat as it rolls around fighting one of mine because a territorial standoff went on to long.

Its odd but the more i see of this the more its plain to see that those with cat issues havent owned cats (and by owned I mean owned as more than just a 'possession' or 'the cat') or simply dislike or hate them because they are cats. Maybe the statistic i once read about in a book dealing with cats, ie 1 in 3 people have a irrational fear and dislike of cats is true.

I have a slightly irrational fear of dogs, due to a traumatic encounter as a child... I dont kill em because of it, and the thought of such is abhorrent.

If your a cat hater, find and read the book "The Cats Mind, Understanding Your Cat's Behavior" by Bruce Fogle ... One of the best books ive read dealing with what makes cats special, hes a vet and looks at cats both personal experience and scientifically as a vet. If you dont understand what cat likers see in cats after reading that or are still unable to see why a cat is a cat, then I just dont know.

Originally posted by gangdumstyle

Originally posted by HelenConway

Who are you ? You need to be reported to the police and if you are in the UK i will happily do it if not then someone in the US needs to report you so your IP can be traced and the SPCA can visit you,

I feel sick that is evil. How can you do it?

edit on 3-2-2013 by HelenConway because: (no reason given)

It is not illegal to kill a wild animal attacking you.

edit on 3-2-2013 by gangdumstyle because: (no reason given)

a cat attacking you is a wild animal is it ? Last I checked they weigh about 10lbs [ 4 - 5 kg] - get a grip.

You think a 10 lbs 'animal attack', which did not happen lets face it - that is bull dollops ... is ok to justify you killing a small creature.

It is illegal to kill cats in the UK and I am sure it is not legal in America either.

The fact that you are justifying his murder of cats - shows you must be cut from the same cloth. We have nothing more to say. But please get help - it starts with animals and then leads to people - you need help. Seriously.

Originally posted by Theflyingweldsman
Show some respect please,

2 precious lives were brutally taken yesterday.

For fun.

Brutally?.. do you throw the remote at the TV in rage when a lion catches a bison and eats it?

And Fun?, what is it with people saying this... cats dont kill for Fun, they kill out of need and instinctual drive, a domestic cat is a neonatlized animal, its mentally still a kitten, they haven't developed the one hit death bite because they have no need to instantly kill and eat their prey, being domestic, but their instincts drive them to hunt because in the wild they would have too, to survive. A cat tossing their prey around isnt them having fun its them releasing the mental conflict inside them, they've killed this thing their instincts have told them to hunt but they don't need to eat it, so the energy and drive has to be channeled into somewhere else which becomes 'play' behavior... although play in this regard is also hunting learning and practice (just as a kitten does with prey its mother brings back to the nest). A cat that hunts constantly is a bored cat, its owners need to stimulate it in other directions, or get it a playmate.

For your goldfish, id say a cat saw them fished them out and realized hmm... not what I thought and left (after all you dont mention they where eaten, all it saw would be a few odd looking shapes moving under the water and cats are inquisitive creatures, we used to have a pool of gold fish, non of our cats killed any of em)... OR maybe a bird pulled them out? Had you thought of that?... after all cats dont hunt fish naturally.

And its odd when people say "damn cats killing the birds 'I' attract to my garden" into small, unnatural easily hunted kill zones with a feeder... oh but its the cats that are the horrible murdering beasts taking advantage of what they see as a perfect hunting spot some human built?

What of the worms and insects lives 'brutally' taken by the birds?.. and yeah I often feel sorry for the worms when i watch a bird tearing one up out of the ground. Im not gonna shoot the damn bird though am I.

Originally posted by gangdumstyle
It is not illegal to kill a wild animal attacking you.

Cats attack you?.. oh boy. Although i guess if one ever actually did, a cat defending itself from a human trying to kill it would be justifiable... for the cats actions that is, not the human. Completely sick.

Originally posted by ForestForager

I've killed several cats in my time that I've found wandering around my old neighborhood that may have been someones pets, I didn't care... if it's not on a leash or in a house, I consider it a stray and a threat to local wildlife. Don't get me wrong, I love cats, but they are predators, and need to be controlled. If you are going to let your cat out and wander, please collar it with an attached bell. That simple measure will spook its prey, and I may let it live to return to its semi-responsible owner (semi-responsible because any animals considered pets should NOT be wandering around off of your property).

edit on 3-2-2013 by ForestForager because: (no reason given)

This is illegal - will someone report this cruel person?

This truly would be a great step forward to finally show how much we take care of our beloved and cared wildlife

my cat is indoor only. so no. i would even get a permit for an indoor cat if i had to lol.

but other outdoor cats, im all for it. kill em all. all of em.

reply to post by Bisman



This is a good response. You are the first responsible cat owner to post to the thread.

why not get rid of cats all together and introduce a native friendly pet program, feral cats also do masses of damage in Australia, where cat lovers could be introduced to animals such as bilbys, possums and other marsupials that don't destroy the environment.

Bottom line is this.

Cats go where humans go. Humans came to NZ and Aus.

If we're going to talk about culling ferrell cats, we have to start at the cause. Ferrell humans.

Ferrell humans walk in your garden, open you windows, steal your stuff. Break your things. Beat and bash your elderly. But we only tap them on the wrist and say "Now now this won't do, aren't you aware this is illegal, sonny jim?" and let them back out.

But oooh nooo we must exterminate the cats. Cats eat tweety birds and other creatures.

I mean, if the cats eat all the animals, what will us humans have left to look at?