I was very disappointed by the December 21 Green Living column, “When to discourage housecats’ hunting?” It’s totally inappropriate in a green column to support the unnecessary killing of wildlife to allow for the “emotional fulfillment of the pets.” Our wildlife is struggling enough to survive due to loss of habitat. Adding cats into the mix just adds insult to injury.
The impact upon wildlife that cats have in the United States is horrifying. There are more than 90 million pet cats in this country, only about a third of which are kept indoors, in addition to millions of stray and feral cats. These felines kill hundreds of millions of birds and more than a billion small mammals, such as rabbits, squirrels, and chipmunks each year. This is not to mention the insects, reptiles, amphibians, etc., that cats also kill.
What people don’t seem to understand, because they usually don’t observe it for themselves, is that our wildlife keeps the environment functioning properly for us. For example, those moles in the garden that the writer doesn’t mind having her cat dispatch are there to help her plants to grow well.
(1) Moles aerate the ground so her plants do not struggle to grow in compacted soil.
(2) Moles feed on the critters underground to limit the numbers of grubs, such as Japanese Beetles, and other organisms that will be problematic for the gardener if their numbers are not kept in check. Kill moles and you destroy your natural insecticide which is far more safe, effective, and cheaper than any chemical pesticide on the market.
(3) It’s true that voles, which eat plants, make use of mole runways. However, those rodents exist to help limit plant overpopulations. Without them, you would have more “weeds” (I don’t like this word) to pull!
Lastly, it’s unspeakably appalling to read—in a “green” column—about letting pet cats roam because you can always bring your injured birds to the Wildlife Center of Virginia. For Ms. Howsare to make such a statement illustrates an incredible lack of empathy for the very real—and unnecessarily induced—suffering of creatures she professes to “love.”
Marlene A. Condon
Crozet