Quote:
|
Do they threaten the balance of nature of songbird reproduction compared to the other various factors that effect the population of said "songbirds".
|
YES. Cats are not native and they definitely affect the population of native birds AND OTHER WILDLIFE such as lizards, snakes and assorted other small animals in a major and negative way. The "messing with mother nature" was when cats were imported--not killing them off now. It's not a matter of saving mother nature from herself, it's a matter of saving her from those who allowed feral cats to proliferate.
Quote:
|
Stray dogs are known to kill HUMANS, and yet hunting them was not proposed. ...we're talking hunting here.
|
Exactly--the regulation of animal populations is a matter for the game commision--who regulates hunting. Therefore a hunting law would seem to be the ideal way to regulate the population of feral cats. Self-defense, as you pointed out, has little or nothing to do with hunting or the regulation of animal populations.
BTW, in some areas of the U.S. hunters ARE encouraged to kill feral dogs and cats so I'm not sure where you're going with that...
Before anyone starts to hyperventilate, I am not a cat hater--in fact I own one. But it's a pet so I control its movements. It stays inside. That keeps it from getting run over, catching diseases, irritating the neighbors, killing birds, lizards or other wildlife, getting chewed on by other cats, chewing on other cats, or getting eaten by feral dogs or coyotes. I guess that seems pretty unreasonable to some...
Just for fun, here's a similar thread from THR. Interesting comments by Mr. Art Eatman on down the page a bit.
http://www.thehighroad.org/showthread.php?t=129092