TNR is irresponsible

For the feral cat advocates, I have a very simple question:

If cats are a domesticated animal, then why is that they are allowed to roam everywhere?

You can’t let dogs, cattle, or horses do that. (Unless it’s grazing or hunting on public land or letting the dogs run at the dog park.)

And if a ferret ever was found roaming, I’m sure people would be demanding that they be banned.

I find that we have very unbalanced laws on animals in this country.

Dogs might be a predatory species, and they might kill deer and other animals. They are predators of livestock, especially sheep and goats. However, dogs actually have to learn how to kill, usually from other dogs. The motor patterns that dogs have for hunting and killer are innate; however, they have to learn to right context to use those motor patterns. They usually learn it from other dogs. Also, selective breeding has reduced or exaggerated certain motor patterns in dogs that prevents them from being effective predators. Most feral dog populations, like those that have been extensively studied in Italy, are scavengers.

For example, my golden retriever caught a small cottontail rabbit a few weeks ago, but she has been selected to not have the killing bite. Now, a retriever can learn to have a killing bite, but it’s not something they typically have in their predatory motor patterns. Now, non-retrieving retrievers can have this sequence.

Cats are much more instinctive hunters. They usually have the full sequence of hunting motor patterns. All they have to learn is what species to hunt.

Very often, they learn to hunt just about everything.

Now, I’m okay with native predators taking animals.

But I’m not okay with Mesopotamia wildcats taking millions of birds and small animals every year. Not only are they harming populations of those animals, they are competing with native wild predators for those resources.

More cats means fewer rabbits for beaglers and rabbit courses to chase. More cats means fewer game birds for gun dog enthusiasts to shoot.

I have often wondered why that people turn to cats whenever there is a rodent investation.  Ferrets and terriers are a far better alternative.

Why?

Because you can direct a ferret or terrier into a barn or granary and easily pick it up after its done its damage. Using them does mean that you have to actually turn them out and watch them, but you know that your animal is doing its work and not killing off all the song birds or annoying the neighbors who like to feed the songbirds.

In fact, ferret droppings have long been known to be a rat repellent.

Rats and mice have an instinctive fear of mustelids, and the very scent of ferret droppings will send them running.

So ferret shit is a far more ecologically friendly way of ridding yourself of rats and mice than releasing the weapon of small animal destruction that we call the domestic cat.

And why would anyone think that releasing sterilized feral cats in an area would be a good idea?

I suppose if you really hate having native mammals and birds around, it would be a great idea.

If you like the idea of replacing native predators with an introduced one, it is an even better idea.

If any other introduced species killed native wildlife like cats do, most people would be demanding that they be controlled or eradicated.

When Burmese pythons went feral in South Florida, there is a huge movement to ban the ownership of large pythons, not just in Florida but in the US entirely. Because giant African land snails went feral in Florida, the various species of African land snail are  currently banned nationwide.

Now, I’m not saying we should ban cats, and I’m okay with keeping barn cats near agricultural enterprises. I’m saying that in every other circumstance, cats need to be controlled. They need to be behind fenced yards or on leashes. Cat fencing exists. (Thanks to Pai for showing me this link at Terrierman.)

Further, if you actually cared about your pet cats, letting them roam is a terrible risk. Dogs and coyotes can kill them, and in some areas of the country, cougars have been seen preying on them. Further, they are exposed to disease, infection, and injury from other cats.

If they are truly a domestic animal, it is the ultimate cruelty to leave them up to their own devices. In the case of ferals, euthanizing them is responsible.

Now, if they are truly wild animals, then conservation agencies should have jurisdiction over them.  In that case, they could set up controlled culls for cats.

But people want them in no man’s land.

They want to keep them as pets, so they can’t be culled like  other introduced species. And they want them exempt from any laws that curb their roaming and/or firmly establish ownership. It’s like cats are allowed to exist in total anarchy.

I am deeply concerned about the ecology of this country. We have so many unique species. I don’t think we truly recognize the wonders of biodiversity on this continent. We certainly didn’t when Europeans first settled here. But now that we are beginning to realize that some of our actions are really harming the planet and the other species with which we share it. And we are contributing to these problems by letting our pet cats roam at large and by maintaining feral cat colonies.

Just as true greens must look at hunters differently than that animal rights fanatics, true greens may have to reconsider how we view cats. Sometimes facts and logic reveal uncomfortable realities, but denying the realities doesn’t wind up helping anything.