Just get your cats to do their business outside. We haven’t had a litterbox for a decade. The cats go to the bushes behind our garden. Never seen or smelled a single thing anywhere in our home or garden. Only the occasional dead mouse.
Obviously doesn’t apply if you live in an appartment.
The source is NABU = “Nature and Biodiversity Conservation Union” (the largest non-profit nature conservation organization in Germany)
Translated from german:
But you have to look at the overall picture: only in human settlement areas are cats a serious factor that can partially lead to a decline in bird populations. But in fact, bird populations are increasing there, while they are decreasing especially in agricultural landscapes, but also in forests. Blaming these declines on cats would be far too simplistic. The greatest threat to biodiversity is and remains the progressive degradation of habitats by humans.
Ah yes, the non US cat, way different, doesn’t kill animals in droves for fun, sorry, my bad. Justify it however you want doesn’t change the fact that loose domesticated cats are detrimental to the wildlife in the area.
As I mentioned, our cats kill about 3 mice a year. I live in the middle of town. Not much prey to speak of. How harmful cats are to the environment depends on the environment. In many cases, it’s absolutely fine to let them go outside.
It is not about how many animals a cat kills. The question is “how many kills are sustainable for the local animal population?”.
And that number will always be different depending on where you are.
In North Africa cats are literally native animals and in Europe they have been held as free-roaming pets for thousands of years.
Just get your cats to do their business outside. We haven’t had a litterbox for a decade. The cats go to the bushes behind our garden. Never seen or smelled a single thing anywhere in our home or garden. Only the occasional dead mouse.
Obviously doesn’t apply if you live in an appartment.
The effect that has on the animal population around your house is pretty devastating
That depends on where you live. Every ecosystem is different.
Australia or USA? Yes thats bad.
Central Europe? Not so much.
Source?
The source is NABU = “Nature and Biodiversity Conservation Union” (the largest non-profit nature conservation organization in Germany)
Translated from german:
https://www.nabu.de/tiere-und-pflanzen/voegel/gefaehrdungen/katzen/15537.html
They recommend castration to limit the cross-breeding of house cats with wild cats, but see no general problem in free-roaming house cats.
Thanks! Appreciate that.
Why? Because of the 3 mice they kill a year?
https://www.nature.com/articles/ncomms2380
I don’t live in the US.
Ah yes, the non US cat, way different, doesn’t kill animals in droves for fun, sorry, my bad. Justify it however you want doesn’t change the fact that loose domesticated cats are detrimental to the wildlife in the area.
As I mentioned, our cats kill about 3 mice a year. I live in the middle of town. Not much prey to speak of. How harmful cats are to the environment depends on the environment. In many cases, it’s absolutely fine to let them go outside.
It is not about how many animals a cat kills. The question is “how many kills are sustainable for the local animal population?”. And that number will always be different depending on where you are. In North Africa cats are literally native animals and in Europe they have been held as free-roaming pets for thousands of years.