There's a raging debate right now about cats being allowed to roam around and no matter what side of the argument you reside, it is inescapable that domestic cats are NOT native to any state and with some research, you can find many examples of the damage domestic cats do well beyond the claims of "controlling rodents".
http://birds.suite101.com/article.cf...ats_kill_birds
Look what happened in a closed environment where feral cats nearly wiped out all the birds:
http://birds.suite101.com/article.cf...cension_island
If I were to allow my dog to go around hunting and killing other animals, including those cats that are allowed to roam, I'd have neighbors pounding on my door screaming to high heaven. One of my neighbors has a dog that escapes every now and then and never returns without a dead cat in its mouth and every cat person in the area screams and wants to call the police on the owner but the moment the animal control shows up and sees the unlicensed cats all over the place she just leaves.
I can't even hang a bird feeder anymore to enjoy the songbirds or other birds that were plentiful when I bought my house almost 20 years ago. I haven't seen a cardinal or bluebird in many years because the cats, both feral and domestic, whether allowed to roam or free ranging, aren't looking for food, they just kill shit.
I have neighbors on both sides of me who put out bowls of food for the cats and that attracts many other things that the cats don't get near such as raccoons and possums. The various rats also scavenge for the cat food when the cats are off away from the food bowls which are left with food 24/7.
I like cats. IF they are properly kept and not let out to rein destruction on the beneficial aspects of my area. But when they spray all around my house, scratch my cars when they try to jump onto the roof, or sit there on the top of the fence teasing my smaller dog, enough is enough.
Originally Posted by LazurusLong
I noticed when I first move here (6 years ago from up North) that people left their cats outside with food. The folks we bought our house from left their cat behind and the next door neighbor use to feed the cat outside. We had to finally take the cat to the pound.
I am with you on his one, that leaving food out causes other animals to come around. I let my cats go outside, but they come inside to eat. So no food is left out. I live in a wooded area so we have lots of birds and critters. Cats are natural hunters; I have seen a few bird kills, frogs,, but more so field mice and baby rats. All I have to say is, I don't have a mouse or rat problem, but the neighbors who don't clean the dog crap out of their back yards do..
There is a few tom cats that roam in my neighborhood. Cats are territorial so we wind up having cat fights because the unneutered cats want to mark their territory. I don't let my cats stay out at night to avoid the cat fights, and I am with someone else who mentioned about cats who are strays. It is the folks who leave food out that cause the problems. Personally it is open season for one cat in our neighborhood,, but no one can catch the damn thing..