4 ms·

Umm no, a thousand times no, first off my cat walks himself, he is free to come and go as he pleases. second and most importantly if you value your flesh actual

Umm no, a thousand times no, first off my cat walks himself, he is free to come and go as he pleases. second and most importantly if you value your flesh actually being attached to your skeleton youd be wise to not attempt to put a lead on my cat, he would happily peel your face off for putting a collar on him let alone a harness

mabbo 8y ago
> he is free to come and go as he pleases The problem with indoor/outdoor cats is that they eat all they need at home, but still hunt and kill birds. A lot of them. Some species may be risking extinction. Plus, if you live in a condo 13 stories up, that's not possible. > he would happily peel your face off for putting a collar on him let alone a harness Takes time and effort, but cats are trainable. I grew up with a murder-mitted beast who didn't put up with anything. My cats now, I take the time to train them rather than let them be violent.
- thaumasiotes 8y ago
  > The problem with indoor/outdoor cats is that they eat all they need at home, but still hunt and kill birds. How is this a problem with indoor/outdoor cats? Are you worried about the cat's immortal soul? Or is it more that you just think cats are a problem in general, but you'd prefer to make the claim more specific than that here?
  - hueving 8y ago
    >How is this a problem with indoor/outdoor cats? It's answered in the same post you just quoted. They hunt so many birds they are destructive to the environment and are driving some to extinction.
    - triplesec 8y ago
      Do you have a source to back up that claim? Australia has specific problems with cats, but apart from that, without evidence to the contrary, i don't see cats as any more problematic than other wildlife. There are more pressing issues to do with birds, mostly involving loss of hedgerows and tree habitats from 'development', and climate change.
      - hueving 8y ago
        >i don't see cats as any more problematic than other wildlife The massive numbers of them are the problem. The only other pet as common is a dog and they don't hunt birds just for the sake of hunting like many cats do.
    - thaumasiotes 8y ago
      That sounds like a problem with outdoor cats. Why call out indoor/outdoor cats? The only part of the complaint specific to indoor/outdoor cats is that they hunt even though a human will feed them. That's a complaint about the cats' morality, not a complaint about their effects. It also assumes without justification that humans don't feed their outdoor cats.
      - hueving 8y ago
        Cats hunting is a problem regardless of whether or not there are fed. It has zero to do with their 'morality'. The problem is any cats that wander around killing multiple birds. So many people have cats that even a small percentage of them doing this is super destructive to the local birds.
- fjsolwmv 8y ago
  Those species wouldn't be facing extinction if humans didn't destroy 90% of the habitat before letting the cats out. But sure, blame the cats.
  - anoncake 8y ago
    We're in no position to accuse cats of being an invasive species.
- tdb7893 8y ago
  How many birds do they actually eat? The study I've seen has been mostly speculation as it's an incredibly hard thing to measure generally.
  - rhexs 8y ago
    Feel free to explore the sources here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cat_predation_on_wildlife https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cat_predation_on_wildlife "Our findings suggest that free-ranging cats cause substantially greater wildlife mortality than previously thought and are likely the single greatest source of anthropogenic mortality for US birds and mammals. Scientifically sound conservation and policy intervention is needed to reduce this impact."
matthewowen 8y ago
You didn't read the article.
- porphyrogene 8y ago
  You didn't read the Hacker News comment guidelines.

mabbo 8y ago

> he is free to come and go as he pleases The problem with indoor/outdoor cats is that they eat all they need at home, but still hunt and kill birds. A lot of them. Some species may be risking extinction. Plus, if you live in a condo 13 stories up, that's not possible. > he would happily peel your face off for putting a collar on him let alone a harness Takes time and effort, but cats are trainable. I grew up with a murder-mitted beast who didn't put up with anything. My cats now, I take the time to train them rather than let them be violent.

thaumasiotes 8y ago
> The problem with indoor/outdoor cats is that they eat all they need at home, but still hunt and kill birds. How is this a problem with indoor/outdoor cats? Are you worried about the cat's immortal soul? Or is it more that you just think cats are a problem in general, but you'd prefer to make the claim more specific than that here?
- hueving 8y ago
  >How is this a problem with indoor/outdoor cats? It's answered in the same post you just quoted. They hunt so many birds they are destructive to the environment and are driving some to extinction.
  - triplesec 8y ago
    Do you have a source to back up that claim? Australia has specific problems with cats, but apart from that, without evidence to the contrary, i don't see cats as any more problematic than other wildlife. There are more pressing issues to do with birds, mostly involving loss of hedgerows and tree habitats from 'development', and climate change.
    - hueving 8y ago
      >i don't see cats as any more problematic than other wildlife The massive numbers of them are the problem. The only other pet as common is a dog and they don't hunt birds just for the sake of hunting like many cats do.
  - thaumasiotes 8y ago
    That sounds like a problem with outdoor cats. Why call out indoor/outdoor cats? The only part of the complaint specific to indoor/outdoor cats is that they hunt even though a human will feed them. That's a complaint about the cats' morality, not a complaint about their effects. It also assumes without justification that humans don't feed their outdoor cats.
    - hueving 8y ago
      Cats hunting is a problem regardless of whether or not there are fed. It has zero to do with their 'morality'. The problem is any cats that wander around killing multiple birds. So many people have cats that even a small percentage of them doing this is super destructive to the local birds.
fjsolwmv 8y ago
Those species wouldn't be facing extinction if humans didn't destroy 90% of the habitat before letting the cats out. But sure, blame the cats.
- anoncake 8y ago
  We're in no position to accuse cats of being an invasive species.
tdb7893 8y ago
How many birds do they actually eat? The study I've seen has been mostly speculation as it's an incredibly hard thing to measure generally.
- rhexs 8y ago
  Feel free to explore the sources here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cat_predation_on_wildlife https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cat_predation_on_wildlife "Our findings suggest that free-ranging cats cause substantially greater wildlife mortality than previously thought and are likely the single greatest source of anthropogenic mortality for US birds and mammals. Scientifically sound conservation and policy intervention is needed to reduce this impact."

matthewowen 8y ago

You didn't read the article.

porphyrogene 8y ago
You didn't read the Hacker News comment guidelines.