Why aren’t cat owners responsible for all the wild birds their pets kill?
If cat-lovers really care about animals they should face up to what their pets do (Telegraph Journalist)
Well, why aren’t cat owners responsible for the birds that their cats kill? These are my reasons but visitors may have better reasons.
Firstly, there is an argument that cat owners could be vicariously responsible for the deaths of wildlife that their cat preys upon. It is a point of view.
It is illegal to shoot the majority of wild birds in the UK but there are exceptions (source: RSPB).
These are my reasons why it is not possible to make cat owners responsible for bird kills:
- Most cats don’t prey on birds so the impact from cats on birds is not as big an issue as made out by some people.
- I think that most cat owners do feel responsible but there appears to be a conflict between allowing their cat to act naturally and modifying their behavior by preventing predation.
- How are you going to know if your cat killed a bird? Impossible even if your cat brought a bird back to your home. It might have been dead when your cat encountered it. It would be impossible to enforce a law which made cat owners responsible for their cat’s bird kills unless their was a blanket ban on all predation and cate kept inside.
- When cats prey on animals it is nature’s way. To outlaw the predation of birds by cats would make an act of nature illegal. That would be stupid. It would mean all acts of nature involving a predator killing an animal illegal. Clearly unthinkable.
The same journalist says that a lot of cat owners are animal lovers. True. But he questions whether a person can be an animal lover and accept the killing of animals by their cat. I disagree because it is natural for predators to kill animals and we have to accept this. Although it can be difficult for some cat owners.
Humans should not be predators because it is cogently argued that we are herbivores and therefore plant-eaters!
Source and article referred to in the article: Aren’t cat owners responsible for all the wild birds their pets kill?