It's about time.
The articles linked to here contain very detailed information and insight into how pervasive and wide ranging the feral and free roaming cat problems are in the U.S. and around the world. Threatening and damaging impacts from free roaming cats on the welfare of wildlife and human health are significant and growing beyond a tipping point.
New Studies Highlight Impact of Outdoor Cats on Birds and Other Wildlife
“Crime Against Nature”
On March 15, The Wildlife Society said it was “taking a strong stand in favor of keeping pet cats indoors and removing feral cats from the environment to protect wildlife from cat predation.”
As part of this effort, the spring 2011 issue of the organization’s magazine, The Wildlife Professional, features a series of articles, “In Focus: The Impacts of Free-Roaming Cats.” The articles highlight problems that outdoor, stray and feral cats cause for wildlife and wildlife habitat as well as for animal and human health.
Among The Wildlife Society’s findings:
The number of free-roaming cats is increasing, currently between 117 million and 157 million in the United States alone. The domestic cat, Felis catus—a nonnative species—is now the most abundant carnivore in
While cat numbers are rising, nearly one-third of more than 800 U.S. bird species are endangered, threatened or in significant decline.
By some estimates, outdoor cats in the United States kill more than 1 million birds every day on average. Other studies suggest the death toll is as high as 1 billion per year.
Outdoor cats transmit rabies, toxoplasmosis, typhus, plague and other viral and parasitic diseases to both wildlife and humans.
According to the society’s executive director, Michael Hutchins: “Allowing free-ranging pet and feral cats to roam outside, breed unchecked, kill native wildlife and spread disease is a crime against nature."f
http://blog.nwf.org/wildlifepromise/201 ... wildlife/#