Your cat, your responsibility . . . thank you

An estimated 100 million birds are killed by cats every year (Northland Regional Council statistics). Most of this will be caused by the estimated 1.2 million feral cats and some 200,000 strays. These are a big problem that needs to be dealt with.

However, owners of the little domestic moggie (as in Beck Eleven, Sep 24), need to take responsibility too. If you want a cat as a domestic companion, keep it at home. I can’t let my domestic companion dog roam all day and return when it feels like it. It should be the same for cats.

Chip them, de-sex them and responsibly confine them with a wire cage outside your own back door. They are your pet, your responsibility.

Myself and the birds will thank you. Pam Vickers Clifton

Evolution not applicable

I disagree with BR Armstrong (Sep 24) – natural selection only works in a constant ecology. Introduced species disadvantage native flora and fauna because the evolution required for life to adapt and develop intuitive higher-level evasion skills and habitat is ingrained over eons of generations.

Cats don’t strengthen the gene pool; our native birds fall prey to cats because they simply haven’t had the time to learn how to evade them. J Inch Rural Christchurch