A New Book Called ‘Cat Wars’ Calls For Killing Free-Ranging Cats

[KamaAina]

Not The Onion.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/a-new-book-called-cat-wars-calls-for-killing-all_us_57c4b1d1e4b0c936aaba8a63

In the process of writing about an on-going war on wolves (please see, for example, “Defenders of Wildlife Supports Killing Wolves: Livestock Win,” “Defenders of Wildlife = Defenders of Livestock? Why Do They Support Killing Wolves in Washington?”, and links therein), I received a new book by bird advocate Dr. Peter Marra, head of the Smithsonian Migratory Bird Center, and writer Chris Santella, called Cat Wars: The Devastating Consequences of a Cuddly Killer....

The move from wolves to cats was dishearteningly seamless. Simply put, the authors of Cat Wars are confirmed bird advocates and activists and foes of all free-ranging cats. To wit, their book calls for a no holds barred, one-sided war on cats, in which the authors conclude, “From a conservation ecology perspective, the most desirable solution seems clear—remove all free-ranging cats from the landscape by any means necessary.” (pp. 152-153; please click here for information on the phrase “by any means necessary”). The authors use the phrase “free-ranging” to refer to feral, outdoor, and community cats....

Clearly, the authors are not advocating removing free-ranging cats softly, nor are they advocating any form of euthanasia or mercy killing. Rather, they are advocating outright and unregulated removal “by any means necessary.” When I asked some people what this meant to them, answers ranged from trapping, snaring, poisoning, bludgeoning, and shooting. A number of people feared we would see violence “in the name of science.”

Lest anyone say that these are hysterical responses, one only has to read the very words that Marra and Santella wrote. It’s not asking too much from people to write what they mean, and although the authors surely read through their manuscript many times as did reviewers and editors, the phrase “by any means necessary” remains. Cats are vilified and no attention is paid to the emotional lives of these sentient beings.

I just spent a heavenly weekend sitting for two mainly outdoor kittehs.

[sarae]

1. !!!

this makes me so sad...

[EV_Ares]

2. I agree Feral cats have to live a really terrible life. If the book is what you say or you are

getting out of it, I hope we have not regressed in this manner about the treatment of animals or in this case cats.

If this is to be done, it needs to be done in a 100% totally humane manner, nothing else.

I understand some of the concerns about the large colonies of cats that exist, regarding diseases, birds, etc but there is no excuse for trapping of which I don't believe should be allowed in any case.

Thanks for posting the info.

[Botany]

3. Cats are a hammer on birds, reptiles, invertebrates, native pollinators and more critters

If you love your cat don't let it run free and if you are taking care of some feral cats
find a way to get them fixed.

non native plants like honeysuckle, privet, burning bush, and buckthorn along
w/cats have all but wiped out the American Wood Thrush.

''

[msongs]

4. so all those dead birds were not "sentient beings" who hads no "emotional lives"? nt

[Glassunion]

5. Good. All cats are evil.

Read the manual.

[FLPanhandle]

6. Good idea but people will react like you have.

Cats are devastating to the environment.

New Zealand especially as they have many ground dwelling birds.

Cats have been a disaster to many ecosystems where they have been introduced by man.

[mopinko]

7. when someone comes out w a level headed evaluation

that includes all that cats do to keep rodents in check in our cities, i will listen. till then, imma take care of my ferals.

[hamsterjill]

38. I'm with you!

My ferals are all fixed, fed, sheltered, vaccinated and they just want to live and be safe.

[Warpy]

8. I'm all for keeping domesticated kitties indoors

Yes, they can be tough on songbird populations, but cars and predators can be tougher on the cats.

Feral cats are something else. TNR is a great program, allowing ferals to keep the rodent population down while ensuring that bumper crops of kittens aren't being born just do die in misery. The feral cats will be replaced by people who adopt kittens and throw them away when they're not kittens any longer.

Cats are not great predators when it comes to birds. I used to see mine stalking birds all the time back in New England, the birds escaping. There was little evidence of birds being eaten, so I have to assume they were able to catch only old, ill, or dumb birds. There were always rodent corpses around, so they were doing a much better job there.

Ailurophobes (cat averse extremists) will always be with us. I don't dump cats into their laps and will usually shut the cats into a bedroom so they're not made uncomfortable while they visit. However, declaring war on such an incredibly useful companion animal is beyond the pale. If these assholes care that much about songbirds, they need to start caring about the pesticides that poison their food source. DDT nearly wiped them out by interfering with shell formation. The poisons that replaced it are very likely to be having an adverse reaction on the birds they love so much.

[get the red out]

10. Great points!

Thanks

[Egnever]

30. Some cats

I had a cat that would come home with some creature almost daily. Plenty of birds in that mix.

https://www.google.com/#q=cat+catching+bird&tbm=vid&start=10

There sure are a lot of videos of them sucking at it..just sayin.

[virgogal]

9. Istanbul knows how to treat street cats---they are loved and cared for.

Delightful to see.

[Warpy]

14. Istanbul has a long memory

that goes back to explosions in the rodent populations leading to waves of bubonic plague.

Feral cats are working cats. We just want to limit the kittens they produce.

[KamaAina]

18. This subthread is useless without pictures

[Warpy]

20. Thank you!

kitty pix are always appreciated.

[KamaAina]

21. De nada.

[KittyWampus]

11. Cats are a drop in the ocean comparted to human impact.

[mike_c]

12. I'm a professional ecologist with nearly 25 years experience in post-doctoral academic science...

...and I disagree with Marra and Santella unequivocally. I have colleagues who do agree, but in every instance they are dedicated birders whose objectivity-- in my opinion-- is hostage to their personal agendas. Disclaimer-- on the the other hand, I admit my own bias in favor of cats. I'm a lifelong cat person.

Nonetheless, there is little evidence that bird populations are endangered by cats. Most of the "evidence" that's cited has to do with the numbers of birds that cats kill annually, as in "cats kill millions of birds, so they must have significant negative impacts on bird populations." The second statement simply doesn't necessarily follow from the first. While many studies of cat predation are inconclusive and essentially anecdotal, some are fairly well documented so I have no real problem accepting-- at least in general terms-- that cats kill many birds every year. Despite that, the greatest danger to most bird populations is not predation-- it's habitat degradation and loss. Bird mortality would likely be high even if cat predation were eliminated entirely, either because other predators take them, or did before their numbers were reduced by human activity, or because of disease, parasites, starvation, reproductive failure, etc. Many, if not most birds killed by cats would probably die anyway. The British Audubon Society web site used to say this flat out (and still might): most birds killed by cats are weak, old, debilitated, handicapped, have marginal fitness, and so on. Cats have simply augmented native predators that regulated bird populations naturally until their own numbers were reduced by human encroachment.

Not only is there little real evidence that cats endanger bird populations, but there is considerable evidence that most bird populations that are in decline are threatened by other pressures, not cats. And a number of raptors also prey on cats, especially young cats, as the recent controversy about an eagle family consuming a cat on a nest camera reminds us.

Free ranging cats also kill rodents and other small mammals, many of which are far easier prey to capture than birds. In doing so they control disease vector populations and stored product pests that invade human habitations far more frequently than birds do.

[Doremus]

16. Let the cats kill as many birds as they want because birds are also dying of other causes?

I've read many attempts to rationalize allowing cats to roam at will but that one takes the cake.

There are so many untruths in your post that I can't begin to address them all.

Bottom line: cats should not roam at will any more than dogs. Allowing them to do so threatens their health and well-being as well as the health and well-being of every creature that DOES belong outside.

By the way, you don't mention the main reason most people let their cats out. Sure saves a lot of money and effort letting them go bathroom outside, huh?

[GulfCoast66]

19. Totally agree

Own and care for 2 cats but I support removing feral cats by any means so long as it is humane.

Hell, there is a stronger argument for allowing wild dogs. At least they are filling a niche we removed(wolves). Not that I support allowing feral wolves.

Cats are an invasive predator.

[mike_c]

24. use a cat flap....

Then cats can go to the bathroom wherever they want. We use a flap, and have several litter boxes as well.

No evidence

Despite the large numbers of birds killed, there is no scientific evidence that predation by cats in gardens is having any impact on bird populations UK-wide. This may be surprising, but many millions of birds die naturally every year, mainly through starvation, disease, or other forms of predation. There is evidence that cats tend to take weak or sickly birds.

We also know that of the millions of baby birds hatched each year, most will die before they reach breeding age. This is also quite natural, and each pair needs only to rear two young that survive to breeding age to replace themselves and maintain the population.

It is likely that most of the birds killed by cats would have died anyway from other causes before the next breeding season, so cats are unlikely to have a major impact on populations. If their predation was additional to these other causes of mortality, this might have a serious impact on bird populations.

Those bird species that have undergone the most serious population declines in the UK (such as skylarks, tree sparrows and corn buntings) rarely encounter cats, so cats cannot be causing their declines. Research shows that these declines are usually caused by habitat change or loss, particularly on farmland.

more@link

http://www.rspb.org.uk/makeahomeforwildlife/advice/gardening/unwantedvisitors/cats/birddeclines.aspx (Royal Society for the Protection of Birds)

And please stop putting words in peoples mouths. If I meant to say "Let the cats kill as many birds as they want because birds are also dying of other causes" I would have said that. Instead, I said that against the natural background mortality of birds, cat predation has little or no effect on bird populations.

[REP]

29. Birds are prey of opportunity, not of choice - rodents are their primary prey

I know we're in agreement - I'm just responding to you. I've read the research you have, including those who think Marra is a raving lunatic.

[Doremus]

32. University of Georgia and National Geographic disagree with you.

Cats ... killed an average of 2.1 animals every week they were outside, but brought less than one of every four of their kills home. Of particular interest, bird kills constituted about 13 percent of the total wildlife kills. Based on these results, American Bird Conservancy and The Wildlife Society estimate that house cats kill far more than the previous estimate of a billion birds and other animals each year.

https://abcbirds.org/article/kittycam-reveals-high-levels-of-wildlife-being-killed-by-outdoor-cats/

Freerange cats have irresponsible owners who are either ignorant of the hazards or indifferent to them and in either event have no business owning cats.

[FLPanhandle]

17. I grew up in New Zealand, and the ecologists there would disagree with you

Cats are devastating to island ecosystems.

It's more than just birds, it's small animals, reptiles, etc.

I agree humans are far worse than cats, but that doesn't mean cats are benign.

[mike_c]

23. in New Zealand I would disagree with me....

I considered adding the caveat you point out. You are indeed correct-- on islands ANY introduced predator is ecologically damaging.

[Botany]

31. Feral Cats Kill Billions of Small Critters Each Year

http://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/feral-cats-kill-billions-of-small-critters-each-year-7814590/?no-ist


Their results paint a grim picture for wildlife. In a paper published today in Nature Communications, they write that between 1.4 to 3.7 billion birds lose their lives to cats each year in the United States. Around 33 percent of the birds killed are non-native species (read: unwelcome). Even more startlingly, between 6.9 to 20.7 billion small mammals succumb to the predators. In urban areas, most of the mammals were pesky rats and mice, though rabbit, squirrel, shrew and vole carcasses turned up in rural and suburban locations. Just under 70 percent of those deaths, the authors calculate, occur at the paws of unowned cats, a number about three times the amount domesticated kitties slay.

Cats may also be impacting reptile and amphibian populations, although calculating those figures remains difficult due to a lack of studies. Based upon data taken from Europe, Australia and New Zealand and extrapolated to fit the United States, the authors think that between 258 to 822 million reptiles and 95 to 299 million amphibians may die by cat each year nationwide, although additional research would be needed to verify those extrapolations.

[Doremus]

13. Cats need to stay inside. And I say that as a cat lover, owner of 2 nt

[ProudToBeBlueInRhody]

15. When you take in stray (not feral) cats, it is almost...

....impossible to keep them from a daily trek outdoors.

[Doremus]

33. No more so than a 2yr old -- you wouldn't let your child go play in traffic would you?

Why is it okay to let your precious fur baby go fend for itself with the coyotes, stray dogs, diseases and other dangers?

Because it 'wants to go out'?? That's crazy.

[ProudToBeBlueInRhody]

40. Cats know how to handle themselves on a level far advanced than a toddler

I really don't know if you are being facetious, but the "fur baby" bullshit is at best, infantile nonsense created by people acting silly. You need to accept not all people treat their pets like baby humans. They'd be insulted if you ask me!

My family had numerous cats, mostly taken in as strays, for years. We lived in a rural area. The vast majority died of natural causes at the ages of 17 or 18, in once case 20. A couple were very sick, and wandered off to die. They came in from living in harsh conditions after being abandoned, they were fine. They never went very far.

[hunter]

22. Outdoor Cats Blamed in Otter Deaths

By CHRIS DIXON
Published: March 18, 2003

The New York Times

MONTEREY, Calif.— Three parasites, including one carried by outdoor cats, are being blamed for an outbreak of an infectious disease that is killing California sea otters, according to researchers at the University of California at Davis and the state Department of Fish and Game.

The most serious parasite is Toxoplasma gondii, which causes a brain infection. Researchers say they believe that Toxoplasma spreads as outdoor cats' feces, laden with millions of parasite eggs, wash into the ocean from streams and drainage ditches.

--more--

http://www.nytimes.com/2003/03/18/science/outdoor-cats-blamed-in-otter-deaths.html

Cats have also been hell on the horned lizard population.



My wife's parents live in a rural area. Their housecats have always been obvious pets people have dumped out in the country. I don't know what's going on in the minds of people who do that. Pet cats abandoned in the countryside get eaten by coyotes and other predators, they starve, and otherwise die in many awful ways.

I've also learned by sad experience there are many people who will shoot or deliberately run over any small animal just for "fun." That veterinarian who shot her neighbor's cat is not an anomaly.

I'm not sure there is any good answer for this problem beyond spaying and neutering any feral cats you can catch. Unless you live on an island, even if you eradicated all the cats, some idiots will be along shortly throwing fertile cats out of their cars, and a fraction of those cats will survive and reproduce.

[flvegan]

25. Wait...so humans, made some sort of preference on the value of life

of other beings based on what they like? Shut up!

Bird advocates that eat chicken and turkey. They aren't bird advocates. They are hypocrites, full stop. They care about what animals they care about, and nothing else. Kind of why bacon isn't made of cat or dog around here.

Yeah, that last part is on most of you. "Emotional lives" of "sentient beings" and all.

[Doremus]

34. Whether or not the poster eats meat is irrevelant to the fact that it's wrong to let cats roam.

I'm vegan by the way, so save that argument for someone else.

[KamaAina]

36. I have often wondered how vegans relate to cats.

Cats, as you may know, are obligate carnivores, that is, they must eat meat or else they will go blind, because they cannot synthesize the amino acid taurine and so must get it from meat.

[Doremus]

39. I can't speak for all vegans but I can tell you about myself and how I relate to cats

We're BFFs. I own 2, both rescues that were dumped by their former owners onto my corner lot, perhaps in the mistaken belief that leaving them to roam free is a kinder fate than taking them to a shelter. More likely though they were just uncaring assholes.

While I apply my compassionate beliefs about using animal products to everything I buy and use in my daily life, my cats do eat commercial cat food that contains meat of one form or another. Does that bother me? Yes, actually a lot. Am I going to kill my fur babies so they no longer have to consume it? It goes without saying, but no.

I'll have to content myself in the knowledge that as they're eating leftover slaughterhouse remnants, they're not torturing and killing creatures living in their rightful habitats.

[LeftyMom]

43. We get along okay except the cat who keeps digging her claws in my tits.

Thanks for asking.

[KamaAina]

44. I was wondering more about how you felt about feeding them meat.

[flvegan]

48. I'd reread the response.

It was in regards to the authors of the book, not the poster.

There are cats that roam, feral or otherwise. Suggesting they be killed by any means necessary, not very "vegan" of you. Or maybe you don't support the premise suggested by the authors. I don't know.

[MFM008]

26. we took one 1 homeless cat off the street

another is a half in and half out
She is 14 now and will lay there and watch them, she has a squirrel buddy she lets get close
and has lived to tell the tale.
I think shes just to old to really care.

[dembotoz]

27. i have cats, i love cats, but cats must be under control

yes they take out rodents but they take out other things too.

to allow them to wreck havoc on an ecosystem is just stupid

[Liberal_in_LA]

28. Noooooooo

[killbotfactory]

35. 9 out of 10 rats agree. nt

[tapper]

37. Cruel and unworkable

I don't believe a 'kill them all' policy could really work, and it would only increase suffering and (indirectly) encourage those who are inclined to cruelty against animals.

The existence of feral cats won't disappear as long as too many humans consider cats as little more than commodities to be uncaringly disposed of, when they become inconvenient.

As long as there are ferals, I think that the trap-neuter-release programs are the most humane approach. There are also programs which help place some of these cats with companies or farms to become 'working' pest-control cats.

A good site to learn more about one TNR+ effort is http://tinykittens.com or Facebook.com/tinykittens . This group has, in the last year and a half, neutered about 95% of a 200+ cat colony, pioneered capturing feral pregnant cats, and giving them a safe, cage-free rooms to birth and raise their babies (with the babies socialized and adopted, and mom spayed and, in most cases, released back to the colony).

They've also managed to socialize and adopt out well over a dozen feral adult cats and older kittens, including one who is half-blind and has a heart condition.

And, of course, there are also the kitten cams. At the moment, one cam (http://livestream.com/tinykittens/felicity) watches a pair of rambunctious, 6-week-old bengal kitties, whose mom was rescued from a backyard breeder. The other cam is on a dilute-calico, 16-month old feral who will be giving birth to her second and last litter in a couple of weeks (http://livestream.com/tinykittens/starling).

The TinyKittens approach is what she should all be supporting.

(Owned by one rescued black kitty, and one adopted black tuxedo.)

[roamer65]

41. Feral cats are not at the top of the food chain here in MI.

Coyotes and bald eagles regularly prey on them. No way do I ever let my cats outdoors, ever.

The bald eagles even take small dogs.

[TransitJohn]

42. I absolutely agree

Selfish cat owners never license or leash their pets as required by law. So sick of picking up cat shit in my yard and garden in downtown Denver several times a week. I have a big Labrador Retriever and most of the shit I pick up in our yard and garden isn't even his.

[KamaAina]

46. Cat licensing and leash laws are less common than those for dogs.

And dogs have owners. Cats have staff.

[TransitJohn]

47. leash and license laws are identical, selfish cat owners are just scofflaws eom

n/t

[TexasBushwhacker]

45. I'm all for TNR

You can never remove ALL feral cats and the ones that are left will quickly reproduce and moved into areas where the cats are removed. They call it the Vacuum Effect. It's better to Trap, Neuter and Release. That controls the population of ferals to manageable levels.

[KamaAina]

49. Looks like this dystopian fantasy is coming true, in Australia.

"Cull" means exactly what you think it does.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/10026982523

The Australian government intends to eliminate two million feral cats by the end of the decade, Environment Minister Greg Hunt announced on Thursday, waging a war on hordes of felines that are said to be the single biggest threat to many of the country's native species.

"By 2020, I want to see two million feral cats culled, five new islands and 10 new mainland areas as safe havens, free of feral cats, and control measures applied across 10 million hectares," Hunt declared.

Millions of feral cats roam around the continent, and scientists say that they are a primary factor behind one of the world's biggest extinction crises. Australia has seen the extinction of more mammals than any other nation, losing at least 29 indigenous mammal species since the British started settling New South Wales in 1788.

Couldn't they just set aside the five new islands and 10 new mainland areas as safe havens, free of feral cats, and apply the control measures across 10 million hectares, perhaps with the kitty equivalent of the dingo fence that runs for thousands of kilometres in the Outback, without the "culling"?!