A few weeks back, I wrote about the start of baby bird season. There I made a plea for keeping our pet cats as exclusively indoor animals. Clearly this raised some hackles since that gentle request resulted in a few most ungentle responses. Chill people, let’s pull those claws back in.
Although it should go without saying, apparently I have to say it. I love cats. I live with three cats now, and have lived with many for many years. I run an organization which last year saved the lives of 1,807 cats (that’s just one piece of the 6,142 animal lives saved total). I am a card-carrying member of Cats R Us.
My cats are all indoor only cats because, frankly, they deserve it. They deserve the same protection from an uncertain world as does every dog I’ve ever loved (again, a lot over a lot of years).
Furthermore, the native birds, squirrels, reptiles and amphibians who rely on my yard for food and shelter also deserve to be protected from my cats. Since they’re such hell on dirty tissues and the occasional stray sock, I can only imagine what they’d do to a baby goldfinch or California slender salamander.
I understand, most people don’t get to see what I see. Each year I see cats who have been hit by cars, attacked by predators, injured at construction sites, ingested toxins or have been victims of human abuse. Each year, I also get to see native birds, small mammals, amphibians and reptiles with telltale holes in their bodies, inflicted by cats. Not mean, not monstrous, just cats simply being cats.
To be clear about this, I witness many wonderful things but each year I also get to see animal suffering which could have been so easily avoided. So next week: how to turn your indoor-outdoor cat into a happy indoor-only animal, or let’s bring Fluffy in from the cold.
Ken White is president of the Peninsula Humane Society & SPCA.