4 ms·

No kidding. Where I live, we had many different kinds of small birds and bunnies in our yard. A couple of years ago, 2 Neighbors got a cat and they let them o

by jmclnx 3y ago

No kidding. Where I live, we had many different kinds of small birds and bunnies in our yard. A couple of years ago, 2 Neighbors got a cat and they let them out. After 6 months, no birds and no rabbits. Now all I see are crows and an occasional Blue Jay. All the small song birds are gone. IMO, there should be a $2000 USD tax per year on owning cats. If you do not register the cat, you get a hefty fine. Also dog catchers should be allowed to pick up cats roaming outside.

siliconwrath 3y ago
Even for indoor cats? Responsible indoor-only cat owners cause none of these problems
- jmclnx 3y ago
  Cats get out, I know plenty of people who's cats escaped and they spend a day or two looking for them.
  - kelnos 3y ago
    This is the exception, not the rule. And if a cat that's escaped and spends a couple days outside is going to destroy a wildlife ecosystem, then that ecosystem was probably already on the verge of collapse anyway. I think we have much lower hanging (and more impactful) fruit than "ban even indoor-only cats because sometimes they escape".
Foxhuls 3y ago
I’d much rather see a tax on pitbulls before cats
rad_gruchalski 3y ago
I don’t know why it happened in your neighbourhood but when I lived in Monschau, I had a Freiganger and there were at least five other cats outdoor all the time. We had plenty of birds. But we took care of our gardens so there were so many insects. Bees, wasps, hornets, flies, mosquitoes of various kinds, ants, spiders, occasional hummingbird, everything. Not many rats. Some mice. Those cats kill a ton of mice. Now I live in the city. No cats but rats and people walking dogs dumping on the sidewalk. I take a suburb with cats. Edit: of course, I don’t deny that cats kill a staggering number of birds.
flohofwoe 3y ago
Hard to believe that this would be caused by two cats. I live in a village (south east Germany) which had plenty of free-roaming and stray cats for decades (or rather, centuries I'd guess) and wildlife seems to manage just fine.
kelnos 3y ago
> Also dog catchers should be allowed to pick up cats roaming outside. Many places have TNR programs (Trap, Neuter, Return), at the very least. Sure, that doesn't solve the problem of the existing cats killing local wildlife, but it at least ensures they won't continue to reproduce. The problem with catching and keeping all cats (and dogs, really) is that most places just don't have the shelter space for them. Euthanasia for stray animals has become unpopular in many places (a stance I support and agree with), so it boils down to balancing how many animals you can get adopted vs. how much shelter space you have vs. how many stray animals there are out there. In the past few years we've adopted three cats from our local SPCA shelter, that were found as strays. I wish every cat out there had the opportunity to live in a nice home without needing to kill the local wildlife for food.

by jmclnx 3y ago

siliconwrath 3y ago

Even for indoor cats? Responsible indoor-only cat owners cause none of these problems

jmclnx 3y ago
Cats get out, I know plenty of people who's cats escaped and they spend a day or two looking for them.
- kelnos 3y ago
  This is the exception, not the rule. And if a cat that's escaped and spends a couple days outside is going to destroy a wildlife ecosystem, then that ecosystem was probably already on the verge of collapse anyway. I think we have much lower hanging (and more impactful) fruit than "ban even indoor-only cats because sometimes they escape".

Foxhuls 3y ago

I’d much rather see a tax on pitbulls before cats

rad_gruchalski 3y ago

I don’t know why it happened in your neighbourhood but when I lived in Monschau, I had a Freiganger and there were at least five other cats outdoor all the time. We had plenty of birds. But we took care of our gardens so there were so many insects. Bees, wasps, hornets, flies, mosquitoes of various kinds, ants, spiders, occasional hummingbird, everything. Not many rats. Some mice. Those cats kill a ton of mice. Now I live in the city. No cats but rats and people walking dogs dumping on the sidewalk. I take a suburb with cats. Edit: of course, I don’t deny that cats kill a staggering number of birds.

flohofwoe 3y ago

Hard to believe that this would be caused by two cats. I live in a village (south east Germany) which had plenty of free-roaming and stray cats for decades (or rather, centuries I'd guess) and wildlife seems to manage just fine.

kelnos 3y ago

> Also dog catchers should be allowed to pick up cats roaming outside. Many places have TNR programs (Trap, Neuter, Return), at the very least. Sure, that doesn't solve the problem of the existing cats killing local wildlife, but it at least ensures they won't continue to reproduce. The problem with catching and keeping all cats (and dogs, really) is that most places just don't have the shelter space for them. Euthanasia for stray animals has become unpopular in many places (a stance I support and agree with), so it boils down to balancing how many animals you can get adopted vs. how much shelter space you have vs. how many stray animals there are out there. In the past few years we've adopted three cats from our local SPCA shelter, that were found as strays. I wish every cat out there had the opportunity to live in a nice home without needing to kill the local wildlife for food.