February 6, 2013
6:00 pm
Written by Becky Robinson,
Alley Cat Allies
Newspaper articles and
television programs labeling cats as mass killers and the reason for bird
declines, have been all over the news this week, from The New York Times to ABC
News, reporting on research published in the online journal Nature
Communications.
Without questioning the integrity of the research report,
these and dozens of other news outlets have helped manufacture a fake debate
that outdoor cats are the number one killer of birds in this country.
Of course, habitat
destruction, pollution, and climate change are far and away the greatest
threats to birds and wildlife. And bogus reports like these, sensationalized by
the media, sidestep serious debate on the real threats to birds and end up
scapegoating cats.
Because the basic premise of
this research is that cats shouldn’t be outdoors, a very real outcome to all of
this could be more cats killed.
In fact, millions of healthy
cats are rounded up and killed in shelters every year, because
of outdated and cruel animal control “catch and kill” practices
Where is the media in
reporting on these deaths? And do they want to be responsible for
more?
When outrageous extrapolations
based on small study samples use the word “billions” to describe bird and small
mammal deaths, it makes people sit up and take notice. And pitting species
against species sells papers. But we don’t need small local studies to point to
the millions of animals’ lives lost in shelters each year—we already know that
nationally, 70% of all cats who enter shelters are killed there.
Catch and kill has been
practiced for over a century. The evidence is in: it just doesn’t work. From
animal protection experts to individual caregivers, from mayors of small towns
to city councils of large cities, people have had enough of the wasted dollars,
the wasted lives. They’re turning to Trap-Neuter-Return (TNR).
Trap-Neuter-Return works to
end reproduction and to stabilize populations of feral cats. It’s the innovative,
compassionate, and effective approach for cats—and that is why every year, more
and more communities are adopting it.
Alley Cat Allies celebrate and
protect cats, but we’re also lovers of all animals, including birds and
wildlife. And we agree that wildlife protection needs serious consideration,
but let’s not think killing millions of cats is going to somehow abate the real
threats to birds and wildlife: habitat destruction, environmental pollution,
and climate change.
It’s time for the
one of the funders of this study—the Smithsonian—to disavow this research,
stop funding this junk science, and turn their attention to remediating the
real threats to wildlife populations. Scapegoating cats may seem like the easy
answer, but in reality, killing more cats will not save populations of birds or
small mammals.
It’s time for the national
media to start reporting on the thinly-veiled agenda of these researchers:
their proposed “solution” really endorses the mass killing of cats.
A policy of more killing is
never the right answer.
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