The State of the Birds Report 2014 tells us that 2.4 billion birds are killed by cats annually in America with 196 million more slaughtered in Canada. That is not even beginning to mention how many small mammals they kill. How do we solve this? Keep cats, an invasive non-native species introduced by humans, indoors. That’s it. I know we have feral cats and that complex problem is very difficult to solve. I have had cats my entire life and have rescued plenty of strays, dealt with colonies, seen many suffer horribly because they live outside and others perish due in grotesque fashion. Please, please, please keep your cats in your home. They live far longer this way and your vet bills will go down as well. I know they want to be outside, each and every one – check out the claw marks in this screen from this boy – but I’m glad to know he’s safe and not living the life of a stray as he was before I trapped him several years ago. To be truthful he would be dead now if he didn’t let me scoop him into a cage on a frigid winter night as he is FIV positive apart from all of the other threats outdoor cats face. If we do our part we can at least drastically reduce the mortality of all involved.
