Cats everywhere!

Many wild predators kill when they don’t need to as well, surplus killing is very common. Foxes will kill even when they don’t need to eat if they are met with a prey animal. So will many birds of prey and animals such as weasels. Killing prey when they’re not hungry/ don’t need to eat is not a behaviour unique to cats and there are plenty of wild animals in the UK who kill surplus to their nutritional needs.

A dog recently chased pregnant sheep in a field near me. The ewes, and the lambs they were carrying, were viciously slaughtered. The dog was doing it for fun - it wasn’t going to eat them.
The farmer was devastated- financially and emotionally.
The farmer put up a sign some months later, saying Keep Dogs on a Lead, and that out of control dogs could be shot. A dog owner defaced the sign.
Dogs have killed many humans, including lots of children.
I have never had a cat jump up at me when I am out on a walk minding my own business, I have never had a cat wipe drool on my clothes whilst I am in a cafe eating, I have never had a cat take food from out of my children’s hands when they are sat eating a picnic in a park having a picnic.
I don’t think cats are anywhere near the problem dogs are…

Errr, you know that rabbits are a man-made problem too? They aren’t native to the UK, they were introduced by the Romans. They are certainly a man-made problem in the UK so surely by your logic killing a rabbit, or other species introduced by humans such as get squirrel, is fair game?

Do we need to kill to eat? Is a cat playing with a bird (a horrible thing I agree) really so much worse than a mother animal having her young taken away and being kept in a concrete pen?

It’s different as humans are the only species with a self-awareness and a consciousness that’s complex enough to think of alternative choices. Animals rely heavily on instinct and the world around them in real time. So the comparison there is a poor one.

Cats aren’t great for wildlife. But neither are cars, wind turbines, urban development, pollution… etc etc etc. at least cats are just doing what their instincts tell them. The rest is on us.

What about feral cats? They need to eat.

Wow, you’re going to be horrified when you discover how many animals are killed by humans.

And dogs don’t run & kill wildlife, livestock (lambs etc), baby rabbits, cats, people, children, other dogs?

snd people are never cruel & treat animals badly?

really?

Of course it’s their nature to hunt and kill

we are not training them to hunt

They excel in hunting they are intelligent, magnificent creatures their speed, how agile they are how they understand their prey is incredible

no one complains about the mouse population (or rats in some cases) being controlled slightly apart from a few moaning minnies on MN

birds maybe but humans are doing the better job at keeping the bird population down

thankfully we are all cat lovers (and dog lovers) around here

Vilifying an animal doesn’t change the fact that humans are the worst, especially humans that want to kick an animal, that’s just fucked up, and yes we all know you didn’t do it but the desire was there and it says so much about you.

Nothing with this face deserves to be criticised.

Cats are not part of society. They have neither rights nor obligations. They don't prescribe to our moral or legal code. As the most violent, destructive creature on the face of the earth by far, I don't believe humans have the right to impose our values on other species.

It really does depend on the cat. I have had only one pedigree, a male British shorthair, and to my knowledge he never killed anything apart from bluebottles in his whole 13 years. He did come running with a bird in his mouth once, but on closer examination it had been dead for days and he was probably just trying to impress us.

Neither of mine catch birds. The 16 year old never hunted and the young one only brings in rats and mice which she kills. We live round the back of a farm and we'd be over run with rats if it wasn't for her.

I understand the point about the wildlife, but it's their natural behaviour. My cat stays indoors and will occasionally venture out into the garden, so she's not endangering the wildlife... Plus she's just so cute and fluffy

My cat is also not useless or uncaring. I was quite ill last year and she stayed in my room with me all the time while I was stuck in bed. As did the dog!

Mine haven’t caught anything ever, they love hunting things including us though 😂

I love my cats and their lives are greatly enhanced by going outside, plus they get more exercise. I would never want to shut them in and shrink their world unless there was a medical reason why they couldn't go outside.
One cat doesn't really catch anything. The other one catches a lot of mice but rarely birds. He chases squirrels but has never caught one.
I try to rescue the cute mice but usually cannot. However, there are hundreds of mice and rats around here and before my cat rats came inside the house when the door was open and also in neighbouring houses. Mice were in the shed and rats were in the compost bin. People then poisoned them anyway.

@GoldfinchFeather might also be interested to know that birds of prey have also been known to indulge in surplus killing and “playing” with their prey. Those horrible old birds, eh?

Reading this thread, it's clear that most disagree that there are too many cats.
I adore cats, and admit that I do overlook their predatory tendencies. As others have said, humans are much worse.
Herbie here isn't a fan of other cats,
especially on his territory.

I presume you hate humans most of all, @Goldfinchfeather, given our murderous instincts and destruction of the planet? Not sure why it’s the cats you hate, tbh - they would eat their prey if hungry enough.

And I assume you also hate foxes, as their instinct is to do what is known as “surplus killing” - ie what you hate cats for. In fact, it is highly likely to be the case that half the time you are blaming a cat for something, it was killed or dug up by a fox.

Note to cat lovers, there is a cat show in Birmingham NEC on the 13th September 🥰

Exactly, my two are incredibly therapeutic and bring immense joy to our family. It’s very arrogant for any mammal to call another animal useless 😍