ECOVIEWS: SHOULD PET CATS RECEIVE A STAY-AT-HOME ORDER?

Domestic cats rank high on the list of animals I consider beneficial to humans. House cats do far more good than harm in households and have done so for centuries. People who are cat worshipers adore them and derive great pleasure and psychological support from them. The bonds between cat and human are sometimes disturbingly mystical.

Cats also have their detractors. Some people simply dislike cats, finding them sneaky, conniving and devious. Others place house cats on the negative side of the ledger because of their appalling impact on native wildlife. Even some cat-fanciers think domestic cats are beneficial only if they remain indoors, pointing out that free-roaming house cats are a scourge to small wildlife. And feral cats can be found almost anywhere. Their ancestors were house cats that got out and for whatever reason never came back. Whether you adore cats, despise them or are indifferent, the facts are clear–domestic and feral cats are amazing killers of native wildlife worldwide.

“Cats have been devastating to Australian fauna,” says Sarah Legge (Australian National University) and colleagues based on a study published this year in the scientific journal Wildlife Research. They estimate that pet cats allowed to roam outdoors kill more than 79 million Australian birds each year. Based on earlier research by wildlife biologists, house cats in Britain kill more than 20 million birds each year. The Cornell Lab of Ornithology estimates kill levels by U.S. cats to be as high as 4 billion birds annually.

Some environmentalists take a strong stance on the question of outdoor cat carnage. The Australian article addresses various options to manage the problem. The most extreme, but decidedly effective, measure is to make owning a cat illegal. “Cat prohibition” is not uncommon in some parts of Australia. (Good luck with that idea in the United States.) A less restrictive decree, “cat-containment,” makes it illegal to let a cat out of the house. Some local governments have instituted cat curfews, meaning cats are allowed outdoors only during certain hours. This solution has an obvious problem: If the curfew is at night, outdoor cats kill birds and lizards during the day. If the curfew is during the day, cats kill small mammals at night. If cats are allowed outside they will find a way to kill.

The Australian study also examined the effectiveness of cat collars with bells or other devices to reduce predation levels of outdoor cats. None proved entirely effective in protecting wildlife from a stalking cat. One interesting finding about pet cats with indoor-outdoor privileges was that approximately one-fourth of them have no interest in killing wildlife. Our cat, Margarita, fits snugly in the no-kill category. In 15 years I have never seen her kill any wildlife, ever. Her total disinterest in birds, lizards and squirrels in our yard is palpable. I have always assumed she is just plain lazy.

The assertion that some well-fed house cats engage in wanton killing is indisputable. Nonetheless rationales have been given in support of letting cats roam the neighborhood. One argument I have heard put the issue in ecological terms. “I am puzzled by the concern some people have for native wildlife that suffers because house cats go outside. What exactly is the problem? No animal has ever gone extinct because of cats. Lizards still seem to be around my house, along with chipmunks and small birds.” Could house cats simply be serving an ecological role, filling a void we created by our removal of natural predators?

One thing is certain, the debate on whether pet cats should be issued stay-at-home orders or be allowed to have free-ranging outdoor privileges is never-ending and will never be resolved to everyone’s satisfaction. You can find zealots on both sides of the issue and discussions that rival religious and political arguments in intensity, acrimony, and unyielding opinions.

Whit Gibbons, professor emeritus of ecology, University of Georgia, grew up in Tuscaloosa. He received bachelor’s and master’s degrees from the University of Alabama and his Ph.D. from Michigan State University. Send environmental questions to ecoviews@gmail.com.