AIBU to think cats should not roam unsupervised like dogs?

[estrogone]

AIBU to think that if you dont leave your dog to roam streets unsupervised, then you shouldn't let other pets (cats), for the same reasons.

It blows my mind that people let their cats out because their sleep is disrupted and I wonder why they think its OK, when its highly unlikely they would put Fido outside if he kept the family up.

I’ll assume you’re okay with the 27-55 million birds killed by cats then. Mostly for fun since cats are generally well fed at home. Nice.

You are being nasty and melodramatic! Nobody thinks it's fine! There's several cats down here and they all shit in other people's gardens, you don't think cat owners have the same the issue! My cats will crap in my garden and they don't wander far out of the garden but they don't exactly like other cats but there's no magic spell! Until you have adopted stray cats and ferals you have no right because you don't have the knowledge to speak! When we moved house and had to keep our cats in they became depressed and withdrawn! I cannot write off their history as ex ferals! I used to feed a stray at my previous house who never had a home and was on the streets for years, he would come inside overnight in the dead of winter but by end of Feb he didn't want to come in. You could have bullied me senseless about him but there was nothing I or any of the other of the homes he used to visit could because he'd been on the streets too long.

If you try to a shut a cat in who has instincts you'll be suffocating all summer having to keep doors and windows shut because they'll want to get out and they won't come back! Did you not know that there's a massive feral and stray cat crisis in this country so you'll never have a world where theres no cats on the streets because it's the cats that are ferals and strays that are wanderers and nobody can have a magic wand over that no matter how hard you scream!

Talk to a cat rescue about the difficulties of these things if you don't believe me, let them tell you that not every cat can be transformed into an indoor only cat! Have you never heard of trap neuter release programs? Why do you think you think that exists? Because many strays and ferals are beyond the point of ever becoming pets!

Of course I have the right and knowledge to speak. You might not agree with my opinion.

If we have a stray and feral cat problem as you suggest, then the magic wand is to cull them.

Nope. More cats please.

Domestic cats - which are not indigenous to the uk - kill around 270 million animals a year. That can’t be right can it? I think that’s a shocking statistic. And all because, well, pets and people’s (all of whom claim to be animal lovers) right to own them as they see it.

It's madness! Why do these people think that they never see cats being walked on leads! Because it's foolish and dangerous because they are designed for it, dogs are dippy! Dogs are not savvy like cats are! These people don't seem to realise that you can't just harness train cats who were strays or ferals at one point or have been indoor outdoor cats previously! They'd just struggle and get out of the harness and be lost somewhere! And these people already don't understand that there's tons of strays and ferals on the streets anyway and they'd be adding more if cats get out of their harness mid walk and run off!

Who walks your cats when you are on holiday because I don't see anybody wanting that liability - these people mouth off without thinking of the practicalities!

Under British common law, cats are recognised as having a traditional "right to roam". They are not legally capable of trespassing, meaning owners are not civilly liable for ordinary roaming behaviours , like walking through a neighbours garden . The legal system assumes cats are small. solitary, and unlikely to cause major physical injury to humans or cause substantial property damage , unlike larger pack animals

Nutters
🙄

Yes, if we got rid of cats I’m sure people would love the explosion in the mouse and rat population…funny how it’s ok when it’s humans catching them.

Lots of humans shooting birds for fun - why aren’t people making a fuss about this? And fox hunting is still happening.

I worked at a place where they had people come to cull seagulls - they were doing nothing to us other than existing!

And don’t get me started about humans killing animals for food when we have many alternatives.

Should we be catching birds and caging them because they catch and eat worms which are important for the ecosystem? Where does it end?

They read it. They just don’t agree with you. And for some reason you seem to then resort to calling people bone idle etc. Insults are not permitted.

Again, I see the upper limit of estimates being quoted as "around". I wonder just how many animals a year used to be killed by Pine Martins? How many more were killed when we had 10 times the number of birds of prey? Or Lynx? Or wolves? Or 10 x the number of badgers?

If we have a stray and feral cat problem as you suggest, then the magic wand is to cull them.

Yeah sounds like you'd enjoy going round shooting and poisoning cats!

Also dogs are on leads because many are dangerous and/ or stupid.

They wander off and get lost far more than cats do. They run up to people and jump up at them, injure them, even kill.

We have a park near us where dogs must be on leads. Many dog owners ignore this. I’ve had a dog who has run off from its owner jump up at and look into my baby’s pram and scare the life out of me. Also when my DC were toddling along they had dogs jump up at them and almost knock them over on more than one occasion.

Cats are nothing like dogs. They don’t need to be on leads for people’s safety.

Oh god not this again.

OP. Animals exist and are allowed to be. Get over it.

Most of what my cat kills are voles, field & bank voles.

They are abundant, the most common mammal in the uk, my cat is not making so much as a dent in the population. Cats are not a threat to humans, almost never a threat to livestock and are only really a threat to the smaller most abundant wildlife.

Dogs are not allowed to roam because they are a threat to all of humans, livestock & wildlife. They are also pack animals that can & will collaborate with other dogs to bring down larger prey.

This is the craziest thread I’ve read for a while, and that’s saying something! 😂

No cats roaming around would be amazing. No
need to rid the garden of cat faeces from a cat I down own.

I hadn't read all your posts nor the replies.

Cats are different because they still have their natural instinct to hunt. Many domesticated cats would be able to survive by themselves (not all but that would fall under natural selection).

Dogs do somewhat but this is somewhat "surpressed" by training, and the fact the usually hunt in packs. Dogs can do far more harm to humans than cats, so wouldnt be allowed to roam.

You wouldnt let any other animal out (rabbits, guinea pigs) because they would not return and would not survive for long at all. They would likely be eaten by another animal.

Not everyone who has a cat would have access to a garden. So, your arguement that every owner should have a patio is based on that they have the space and can afford it.

Many rescue shelters state that it is better for the cat's wellbeing to be able to go outside. Whilst it doesnt specifically state to roam, I personally believe that is what it refers to as I dont think a ratio could be classed as a place where cats can "express natural behaviour".

Dogs and cats are on the whole as smart and intelligent as each other. The difference is in how that intelligence is displayed.

Dogs have a desire to please humans, do what is asked and receive praise.

Cats have no such drive or desire.

But make no mistake both species are intelligent and both understand.

Im just imagining putting my cat on a lead!

following him into bushes whilst he poos

up trees, over fences, through small holes, under cars

😂

I live in Australia and my cat is an indoor cat and always has been. We have venomous snakes where we live, on our street, people often drive like idiots and speed.

And we have some beautiful parrots in our garden and small marsupials so I dont want my cat to hurt them.

Cats are apex predators. But the wildlife includes cats and humans, historically. Cats are beasts and generally considered to be free, while dogs are more domesticated. Magpies, other birds, weasels, stoats, foxes are all out there trying to kill hedgehogs and birds and rabbits, mice, voles etc It’s part of nature that we , great apes, ignore when it suits us.

Why are people allowed to drive at night? Aren’t you afraid you will run over a badger, hit a deer, crush a fox? Or even in day time, birds flying into car windscreens, rabbits under wheels? People kill a lot more wildlife than cats do

My cat was always going to go out - as a kitten, she'd try to sneak out of the doors and windows if I didn't watch her like a hawk and would yell her head off to be let out. She doesn't go far, mostly our garden (and that's where she goes to the toilet). No way was she going to tolerate a harness and I don't think a catio would have curbed her curiosity. She's 9, our other two cats also enjoyed being outside and died of old age (20 years old and 17 years old).

OK so we get rid of all the cats. Now what are you going to do about the explosion in the mice and rat populations?

There are about 40 million shrews, and 85million breeding pairs of birds in the UK

So no. That stat is absolute bunkem or there would be no birds or small animals within a couple of years.

I looked this up once before, and the 55M birds killed by domestic cats was some very creative maths from a very small study.

My cats are allowed out in the day. Girl cat has never caught anything (she's white and fluffy, not made for hunting) and boy cat catches the occasional thing that must be even more stupid than he is. He doesn't know what to do with them, just brings them in and I shoo them outside again (apart from the occasional one that dies of fright)