Get cat owners to behave and we won’t need a cruel cull
I am furious at the irresponsible and dangerous suggestion in the story headlined ‘Why we should kill every stray cat in Britain’. These are the biased, inflammatory views of Dr Peter marra (mail).
The late Patrick moore adored his cats and had a high-walled garden to keep them safe. I wish I could do the same for my cat Lancelot and the two strays I’ve been feeding for years. Sadly, I don’t have the resources.
as for my strays, I can’t afford to adopt them properly, but I do my best to keep them from scavenging and starving. I’m also a bird lover and have trained my cat not to attack birds, at least not in my garden.
How many owners bother even to try to train their cats? It’s up to owners not only to neuter their cats, but also not to abandon them when they tire of them.
Lancelot used to follow me to the shops and wait for me outside, even at the library, without a leash. I miss our walks terribly since becoming housebound, but Lancelot remains independent and streetwise. It would be cruel to force him to stay indoors.
Cats cannot help their natural instincts, but we can guide them to better behaviour. They deserve at least this for the pleasure they bring to millions of us.
Mrs EFROSYNI HOBBS, London SE9.
Birds kill, too
HOWEVER did humans, animals and birds survive without ‘experts’ such as Steven moss and Dr Peter marra blessing us with their pontificating about a cat cull?
I live in a built-up area in a market town, and many birds visit my garden, yet I have a cat, as do several of my neighbours. We also have a regular visit from a sparrow hawk, which often leaves the discarded feathers of his victims. Would Dr marra and mr moss suggest culling that hunter, too?
Do these experts really not realise that they are encouraging the unhinged to wreak unspeakable cruelty and death on someone’s beloved pet? FAY GOODWIN, Lutterworth, Leics.
Fledgling victims
At Last someone is talking sense about cats and their decimation of our birds and other wildlife (mail), unlike the blinkered RSPB, which believes that only old and sick birds are killed by cats. By far most victims of cats in my rural area are fledglings. I even have problems from neighbours’ cats while trying to feed hedgehogs, an endangered species.
Time and again, no matter what clever device I use, the cats pinch the food. CHRISTOPHER ELLIS, Colkirk, Norfolk.
Whipping up hatred
CAT Wars author Dr marra says cats are ‘wonderful animals’, but is spreading hatred of these much loved pets.
I have had 26 cats over my lifetime — all rescued — and only one was a hunter. I can feed birds on the grass in my garden, as my cats take no notice of them. Don’t believe me? I have photographic proof.
It’s a pity this academic didn’t check with the RSPB, which states that cats barely affect the bird population but thousands, even millions, of migrating birds are shot on the Continent, including song birds, which are then eaten by humans. Nearly all animal species are in decline due to climate change, the use of pesticides and the rapid growth of the human population. meanwhile, the RSPCA and police are hunting a maniac who is going around London mutilating cats.
any harm done to cats or other animals carries a prison sentence and/or fines of up to £20,000 under the 2006 animal Welfare act.
In writing his warped book, Dr marra is distressing millions of people and whipping up hatred, hopefully not of our feline friends but of himself.
Ms VIVIEN CLIFFORD, Deal, Kent.
Bad treatment
I Was shocked by the suggestion that stray cats should be killed (mail).
The reason there are so many stray cats is because people adopt them and don’t have them neutered, even thought the charity Cat Protection offers neutering for £5 for those on benefits. other charities offer similar deals.
The owners then throw out the kittens who go on to breed. We should look to people for the solution, not consider feline genocide.
Britain is a country of dog lovers and cats are treated very badly. Stray dogs cause their own problems, but because the UK is obsessed with them, not a word is said. The answer is not to kill off an entire species, but to fine owners who don’t have their pets neutered. That would ensure control of the feline population and greatly help the issue with dwindling bird numbers.
Don’t forget, millions of cats are house pets and have never killed a bird in their lives. They bring endless pleasure and companionship to their owners who would be lonely without them. Disabled people can’t walk a dog, so a house cat is ideal for them. Cats are loyal and loving when shown love and care by a responsible owner. SHIRLEY ANN COWDEN, Dalry, Ayrshire.
Hound out felines
How many hunt protesters are cat owners who turn their pets out at night to wreak havoc on our wildlife, then traipse off to an antihunt rally the next day?
Their cats are lethal killers compared with the blundering fox hounds, which rarely catch anything. To restore the balance of nature, I would advocate bringing the redundant hunts into suburbia to control the cat population, which is more of a menace to us all than foxes are to livestock.
Being confirmed cat killers, foxes should be granted an amnesty while the crisis continues.
TIM HODGSON, Penarth, South Glam.
Put them on a leash
All around the country, cats and small dogs are kept indoors in flats and high-rise buildings and are none the worse for it. Cats don’t have the right to roam freely: this is england not africa.
Cats that are let outside should be on a leash to prevent them from straying. I don’t like other people’s cats coming into my garden. Would cat owners like it if someone’s dog came into their gardens and did the same thing? If you can’t control your pet, you shouldn’t have one.
ANDREW RHODES, Derby.
Licence for cruelty
Why the vendetta against cats, portraying them as the single cause for the demise of some wildlife? These views will give yobs the idea that they should use their airguns on cats: how irresponsible. Cats have hunted for centuries and wildlife has survived and, indeed, prospered.
If the cause of any danger to wildlife is sought, just look at farming with its use of chemicals and grubbing up hedgerows for a couple of extra feet of land to plough. Let’s get things in proportion.
J. L. SURCH, Pelsall, West Mids.
Pet project
I am a responsible cat owner: I’ve always had cats and now have three brothers from the same litter. all have been neutered and are kept in from 10pm until 10am, so they do not hunt (although they have been known to bring home a small bird in the daytime).
They all wear bells on their collars, and I put the bird feeders on a high wall behind bushes so the cats can’t see them feed.
I also feed a large population of wood pigeons from a tray on top of my fence, and the magpies and rooks get what the cats don’t eat, so everything from my pets is recycled.
I agree cat owners should be more aware of the damage domesticated pets do to wildlife. But if you look after your animal and give it a routine, that particular problem should be lessened.
The trouble is many owners leave their cats to do what they do naturally — go out all night and sleep most of the day.
In my area, I feed a stray that was left when its owners moved away. This isn’t the fault of the cat. owners need to be trained in the proper care of their pets. Mrs LYNNE MOZAR-LOTT,
Bordon, Hants.