Dogs and cats - Why is it ok for cats to kill things for fun?

[Southernbelle]

I hate when owners let their cats roam.

My neighbors have 5 outdoor cats that love to stalk my chickens, poop in the kids' sandbox, drink out of the swimming pool, hide under my cars, poop in my garden and under my porch, use the expensive swingset as a scratching post and sun themselves in my yard. I hate their cats! As far as I know, they've never killed a chicken, but when I've got a broody raising chicks, I've had baby chicks mysteriously disappear.

 

[PamB]

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Well, I have a 6 pound yorkie. He is a lap dog and has no desire to be more than two feet away from us at all times....haha. I would not get a dog that needed to roam unless I had the set up for it. I understand that your dogs are trained and I think that is wonderful. However, like I said, my neighbors think theirs are trained but they are not. These dogs are in my yard often and actually have ripped the screen on my sliding door trying to get into my house to get at my dog. Also, they have peed on my porch.

 

[Beekissed]

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Thanks for bringing this thread back on topic. I was treading lightly for fear of offending people or getting a fight started. I feel exactly the same. Any life taken for no reason is offensive to me and dogs and cats killing native species have nothing to do with "the circle of life". Just because it's natural for a dog or cat to kill doesn't mean it right or healthy for our environment.


Good point too about the dogs killing wildlife. Twenty years ago my Husky killed a wild duck and it cost me hundreds of dollars in fines. If my cat killed that duck's ducklings nothing would have happened to me.

Where does one draw the line then? These pets need food and something has to die in order for them to have it. If you only feed cats and dogs what you can buy from the industrialized food source, those large farms displace wildlife also. They change the whole habitat and environment for many species, not just the ones preyed on by the common housecat.

Its really too late to argue what impact cats or any domestic animal has on the natural environment and the creatures that live therein.....the pets are here and they are here to stay, so there's no use in bemoaning the fact a day late and a dollar short.
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Personally? My cats keep down the rodents that attract foxes, snakes, coyotes and owls to my place. I have two cats and their hunting range is very small, and I find them quite beneficial to my life and the life of my livestock. I eat my livestock and need them for my own sustenance. It really is a big circle....its just a different one than the original. When my cats die they are food for another creature...maybe even the rodents they used to hunt.

 

[PurpleChicken]

The point of this thread, or at least my intent, was to highlight and discuss the double standards applied to cats that aren't applied to dogs. I'm not telling anyone they can't or shouldn't have an outdoor cat for controlling rodents on their property.

Domesticates cats and dogs are not indigenous to this country (USA). Cats are partly responsible for throwing off this elusive "circle of life" in many areas. We see this with cats, rats, snakes, fish, and even plants.

Most, not all, people would be angered or offended by a dog allowed to run loose that killed wild animals for sport. The same does not hold true for cats. It's more acceptable for a cat.

Like most issues there are many opinions on this.

As for cats hunting for food well those cats are in the minority. Most cats with owners that feed them don't eat the prey they kill. They torture it until it dies and then leave it to rot. If my dog did that animal control would take him away.

 

[Beekissed]

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PC, I'm guessing you live near a town or city? Lots of feral cats running around? Or maybe just many neighborhood cats with irresponsible owners? I'm sorry that there is such an issue with cats where you live. Where I live a .22 takes care of these types of issues.

Out here in the boonies, most cats hunt, kill and eat what they kill even if they are fed by their owners. I've pretty much owned cats all my life and they eat 95% of their kills but tend to not eat moles. These kind of cats may be in the minority where you live and I can understand your disgust with the whole thing but it really is situational.

Out here in God's country, if my dog tortured and killed an animal we would either pick it up and throw it on the brush pile or let the dog play with it until it stunk too bad to have in the yard.

I read an article on the way cats play with their food and biologists had agreed that the animals were in so much shock that they most likely didn't feel any pain during the process. That is just the nature of cats...hate 'em or love 'em, no one is going to change that any time soon.

To most city or urbanite folks, this kind of behaviour distresses them and they just want it to stop. I guess in the country we are more attuned to the natural way of things and accept it more readily.

 

[Q9]

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I thought dogs were indigenous. If I'm not mistaken, European settlers noted that the only domestic animal in North America was the dog.

Domestic cats are a different story, but really, how can they do that much damage? We used to have a cat, she'd kill things and eat them, despite being fed. I never noticed any ecological collapse.

I do agree about the double standard to a degree, though.

 

[Mattemma]

I have 3 cats and 2 dogs.I do not allow them to kill anything.I do love it when the dogs chase the squirrels and chipmunks out of the yard.I penned them up when they found a cottontail nest.Cats would be locked up if they killed any birds(wild).

 

[ChickieBooBoo]

Quote:
Well, I have a 6 pound yorkie. He is a lap dog and has no desire to be more than two feet away from us at all times....haha. I would not get a dog that needed to roam unless I had the set up for it. I understand that your dogs are trained and I think that is wonderful. However, like I said, my neighbors think theirs are trained but they are not. These dogs are in my yard often and actually have ripped the screen on my sliding door trying to get into my house to get at my dog. Also, they have peed on my porch.

ahh, sorry PamB. I assumed you have a larger breed like a German Shepard or something

 

[ChickieBooBoo]

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why would you lock the cats up?? Thats what they do, they hunt. Why do some people think a cat killing a wild bird is cruel? Its nature!

 

[desertdarlene]

I like to say that just because it's natural doesn't mean I have to allow it to happen. Just because it's natural for a cat to kill, doesn't mean I have to allow it to slaughter all the chicks or ducklings it wants. If I see them attacking or going to attack something I don't want them to catch, I'm not going to let them.

But, I do notice that a lot of baby birds, like killdeer chicks, slow their systems down when they are attacked or handled. They almost go to sleep. This is so they don't trigger the predator to kill them if they're "played with" and, hopefully, stay alive long enough for the parents to distract the predator or for the predator to give up and go away. But, I wouldn't say that they don't feel pain when they are killed. A lot of cats, even in rural areas, will just eat the heads. Headless chicks and ducklings are a horrible thing to see.