Cats Kill Birds - Poll Result - Should cats be kept inside
Nov 7th, 2007 by Birdy Trish
Here is the result of my Poll asking if you think that Cats should be kept inside all the time.
Cats do kill birds. I know people who turn their cats out every night, not thinking about the number of roosting birds they could kill. Of course, cats kill birds during the day as well.
The result of the poll is
ROLL OF DRUMS -
CATS SHOULD BE KEPT INSIDE ALL THE TIME. 38%
CATS SHOULD BE KEPT INSIDE FROM DAWN TO DUSK 20%
CATS SHOULD BE ALLOWED TO ROAM. 42%
I hope I’ve opened a debate. But it’s obvious to me that cats should be kept inside all the time. Owners should take responsibility for their feline killers. Cats can return from their hunting and go to their home which is a safe haven for them. Birds don’t have a safe haven to go to.
If cat owners can’t be responsible for their cat 24/7 maybe they shouldn’t own a cat.
If we had not domesticated the cat they would have roamed freely and still killed birds. Since we have domesticated the cat there are probably less birds killed.
A very interesting poll.
Sara from farmingfriends
I’m in Australia and there were no native cats until the coming of the white man.
Australian animals and birds breed in low numbers and very susceptable to predation by an animal like a cat. In many areas species have been wiped out by feral cats.
In a domestic sense I feel a neighbour who introduces an uncontrolled cat into an area is selfish and totally thoughtless. Their animals intrude into my enjoyment of my home and benefit from the bird feeding I setup by killing the birds.
Cats should be locked up in cages in the same way as ferrets where they are not a natural part of the environment and cat owners should have legislation forcing them to this.
Hi Steve, Good to hear from you in Australia. No native cats in Australia until the coming of the white man - amazing.
I also feel people who own cats can be thoughtless. A lot of cat owners seem to turn their cats out on a night. I think they turn a blind eye to the fact they could be killing roosting birds.
People don’t let dogs roam. It’s the fact that cats kill so many wild animals and birds that annoys me. Good to hear from you. Trisha
If we had not domesticated the cat they would have roamed freely and still killed birds. Since we have domesticated the cat there are probably less birds killed.
A very interesting poll.
Sara from farmingfriends
Hi Sara, thanks for your comments. You could be right. But domesticated cats benefit from free food, a warm hearth, not having to look for food. Maybe domesticated cats breed more beause they are so healthy and well fed. It’s a interesting argument. Trisha