Harringay, Haringey - So Good they Spelt it Twice!
Cats - plea for responsible ownership of predators
As an ecologist let me first say that cats killing birds is about as natural as taking thousands of predators from another country, breeding them to look nice, and then dumping them into an ecosystem at a massive scale. Feeding them food transported many miles and releasing them into a habitat 'unevolved' for their presence at such scale (55 million birds per year in UK). That is not nature. That's putting a predator into an ecosystem which cannot support it. Hardly 'natural'.
http://www.mammal.org.uk/sites/default/files/Domestic%20Cat%20Preda...
As someone who enjoys nature, in particularly the rare biodiversity we have here in London, it saddens me to see armies of felines, mercilessly slaughtering young/parent birds at this crucial time of year.
I get the companionship and cuteness argument. And inside the house there is a mouse argument I guess. Hardly a blot on rat populations (but make me feel comfortable) - the presence is merely enough. But the statistics don't lie, these creatures are destroying biodiversity.
It's not the cat's fault, it's the owner.
Don't even get me started on the poo!
If you truly are an 'animal lover', then make it all animals please. Not just the cute furry salient ones.
Help those which have taken enough of a beating at our hands. If you must release cats into the wild. Please put a bell on your cat. A little effort goes a long way.
Just think of those little birdies.
Tags for Forum Posts: cats
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Michael Anderson on
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Absolutely true FPR. I wasn't saying that toxoplasmosis wasn't a problem. It just I really dislike the habit of journalists in taking a perfectly good bit of research (toxoplasmosis increases the likelihood of mental illness) and turn it into "cats make you mad". Ends up scaring people about the wrong thing - the MMR causes autism rubbish comes to mind.
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Permalink Reply by Lauren on
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I was brought up in the countryside and used to play in horse manure and cowpats and have lambs in my bed. Never did me any harm.
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Ditto (apart from the lambs). I've often wondered if the lack of the huge amount of dirt me and my playmates seemed to consume when I was young has contributed the the rise in things like childhood asthma and eczema.
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My sister and I were far healthier than the kids who were mollycoddled and sanitised, and we never had a day off school. We had loads of contact with various animals and muck. Mind you we also had to walk over a mile to school and back in all weathers (in the far north) and we had no central heating in our house so that probably helped.
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Tried riding a cow to school a few times. You have to use their ears to steer. Not recommended.
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Permalink Reply by Lisa on
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I grew up on a farm too.
Mum said I kept getting worms because I played in the mud then sucked my fingers
I turned out ok though....
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Permalink Reply by Finsbury Park Ranger on
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People used to bleat the same anecdote about cigarettes.
I've got two members of family who may have been effected. Aunt had a miscarriage, whilst my mother is a life long schizophrenic, both with some good reason to believe cats may have caused both.
Either way, whats known for sure, is that cats seriously decrease wild life population levels of other cute animals that would be cool to have around also.
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