By Susan Hagood
About 4,000 years ago, Egyptians began capturing and
breeding wild cats, likely because the animals provided a
valuable service: They hunted snakes and rats and other animals
who raided the food supply. Little wonder the ancient Egyptians
promoted female cats to a goddess-protector role.
But thousands of years later, the typical domestic housecat,
thought to be a descendant of wild Egyptian cats, has long
since lost the ability to survive in nature. What the housecat
hasn't lost, however, is the instinct to hunt. It's estimated
the 40 million cats kill millions of wild animals every year in
the United States.
Where do those 40 million cats come from? They come from
owners who allow the animals to roam outdoors. Others are
strays, abandoned or feral cats. Collectively, these millions
of cats will, according to studies, wreak havoc mostly on small
mammals—meadow voles, white-footed mice, chipmunks, and ground
squirrels. About 25 percent of their victims are birds.
Wild animals are almost certainly killed in direct
proportion to their abundance, thus cat predation may not, in
most cases, have a long-term negative effect on the prey
population. Regardless, it certainly has a negative effect on
the individual animal, who suffers and dies as a result of this
natural predator that has no place in nature.
The Egyptians Were Right
At the risk of stating the obvious, let me clarify one thing
immediately: The Egyptians were right. Cats are wonderful.
They're affectionate, playful, contemplative, squirmy,
and—along with a good book, a warm blanket and a cold, rainy
Sunday afternoon—are a key ingredient in a first-class nap.
Let's, just for the sake of argument, compare the average
cat with the average dog. Now, I have nothing at all against
dogs. I share my home with three who, while able to bring an
amazing amount of mud into the house at this time of year, are
utterly charming and mostly well-behaved. But let's contrast,
just to use one example, the post-defecation behavior of dogs
vs. cats.
The average dog points her rear in the general direction of
the deposit, and, sometimes, gives a couple of quick backward
strokes with her hind legs to mark that spot before skipping
off to some other adventure. The average cat will scrape and
cover and sniff and cover and scrape some more in the litter
box, sometimes for minutes, before she is satisfied that the
area is well and truly marked as her own.
Cats are not only more deliberate than dogs, they are
neater, cleaner, and often easier to manage as a family member.
It's no wonder they've surpassed dogs as the most popular
companion animal in the United States.
Cats are not, however, self-sufficient survivors. They
neither possess nine lives nor have the street smarts to put to
good use. Though society has long accepted the need to protect
our dogs from life-at-large, millions of American households
let their cats out the back door, knowing full well that the
fence that keeps Fido safe poses no obstacle at all to
Fluffy.
Dead-End Streets
Our refusal to let go of the "cat-as-survivor" myth often
has tragic consequences. Outdoor cats may live only two to five
years, while protected cats often survive past the age of 17.
Many cats allowed outdoors die long before the end of their
natural life span from a host of hazards—cars,
fights, predators, disease, poisoning. Cats make convenient
targets for 10-year olds with rocks or pellet guns, while traps
set for furbearers annually extract their toll.
Most of us who've let our cats out—and I was one—console
ourselves when they fail to return. "He's just found another
home," we tell ourselves. But odds are Fluffy is dead, or soon
will be.
Though we've yet to elevate cats to the status long enjoyed
by dogs, the transition has begun. Many humane societies
require potential adopters to commit to keeping their cats
indoors, and many strongly recommend that all cats wear collars
and identification tags to increase the likelihood of their
return should they escape.
What's more, local ordinances that encourage owners to
control their cats as we do dogs are increasingly being
implemented. The justifications include not just the safety of
the cat and the right of neighbors to dig in their gardens
without unearthing a carefully covered cat deposit, but also
the protection of wildlife.
Hunters By Instinct, Not
Necessity
Those who proclaim that cats are predators, and their
destruction of wildlife merely a part of nature, ignore the
fact that domestic cats, unlike bobcats, mountain lions, and
other wild felids, do not establish long-term populations
independent of human activities and support.
If cats could make it in the wild, we'd see them, or
evidence of them, deep in the San Juan or Great Smoky
Mountains, instead of just lurking around campground and
visitor center dumpsters. That we don't is testament to the
fact that these animals are indeed domesticated. They may not
have lost the instinct to hunt, but they can no longer rely on
their ability to hunt to survive and prosper.
Otherwise responsible cat owners—those who provide routine
veterinary care, protect their charges from extremes of
weather, and provide abundant food—thus unleash upon the
natural world a highly subsidized predator whose numbers may
far exceed what natural systems can support. Though there is
little evidence that domestic cat predation has a long-term
effect on the most common prey populations, the presence of
these felines may negatively impact other predator populations,
including owls and raptors, with which they compete for small
mammals and birds.
Then there's the tragedy of the common victims—the gold
finches, tiger salamanders and the odd milk snake. Their deaths
are no more acceptable because these animals are abundant.
Their suffering and dying is unacceptable because it is
unnecessary and avoidable.
One of the chief obstacles in convincing the public to keep
their cats indoors is the widespread belief that felines
deserve their freedom. Indeed, there are cats who evidence a
strong desire to be let out, particularly those who once were
partly or wholly outdoor cats. Though it is rarely difficult to
raise kittens to be indoor cats, helping an
older outdoor cat make this change is not without its
challenges.
There are ways to
ease the transition, however, and to safely expose even the
indoor cat to the wonders of the outdoors,
provided they are watched and protected from harm.
Susan Hagood is a Wildlife Issues
specialist for The HSUS.
Print out our Safe Cats PDFs:
A Safe Cat Is a Happy Cat
The Uninvited Cat
Cat Care Basics
Guide to Cat Law
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Generous support for the Safe Cats
campaign was provided by The Kenneth A. Scott Charitable Trust,
a KeyBank Trust, and the Frances V.R. Seebe Trust.
