• UserFlairOptional@lemmynsfw.com
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        10 months ago

        Cats survived before us by hunting small mammals and small birds, and they are very effective at getting fed.

        The motivation at the core of naming owners of outdoor cats as irresponsible is a sharp decline in songbird populations in direct proportion to the increase in outdoor cat population.

      • Ultraviolet@lemmy.world
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        10 months ago

        The danger isn’t to the cats, it’s to everything else. Ecologically speaking, cats are an invasive apex predator. They absolutely wreak havoc on local bird populations.

    • rektdeckard@lemmy.world
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      10 months ago

      You’re uninformed. Cats co-evolved with humans to serve a job (pest control, in exchange for safety and the occasional bit of food). There have only been fully indoor cats for a few hundred years. Not all cats have to have a job, but some WANT one, just like dogs. We should let them.

      My cat is angry with me if I don’t let him spend at least 12 hours a day roaming and catching bugs and mice. He has neighbor cat friends that he goes to see. Why would I deprive him of that?

      • Grayox@lemmy.ml
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        10 months ago

        “Outdoor domestic cats are a recognized threat to global biodiversity. Cats have contributed to the extinction of 63 species of birds, mammals, and reptiles in the wild”

        You shouldn’t be proud of contributing to the extinction of animals…