#I’ve personally seen cats eliminate the need for poison pest control

[biosblades]

1.) I’d rather have cats keeping mouse populations under control over people leaving poison out, which is way more harmful to the environment and other animals

2.) Some places are safer for cats than others. Busy roads or places with a lot of predators are good reasons to keep your cat inside. But it’s up to the individual owners to assess their circumstances and make an informed decision

3.) Letting your cats out is not inherently neglectful. Done right, it’s actually safer for them. A cat that’s determined to escape WILL get out, and they’re safer if they’re supervised, familiar with the environment, brought in at night, know how to get back in, have the skills to fend for themselves, trained to come in when called, are wearing a tracker, etc, etc. It’s the same way teaching your kid to swim is better at preventing drowning over a lifetime than banning them from going to pools as children

4.) Same thing with vaccinating your cats, fixing them, and knowing how to patch them up. They’re much better off being medically prepared to be out than getting out anyway and being way more vulnerable to health threats

5.) Cats have different personalities. Some are happy exclusively indoors and would hate being outside, others are not satisfied indoors at all. Some cats are happier/healthier indoors, but others are healthier/happier with access to the outside. It’s again up to individual owners to make a decision based on the specific circumstances, not just black and white

6.) If you embrace the cat’s natural instincts rather than trying to suppress them, you can actually teach cats to hunt mice/rats specifically. Again, it’s not about it’s always right/wrong to let cats hunt, it’s about being intentional with whichever choice you make

7.) Cats in homes are better than cats on the street. All the arguments you’ve listed are larger threats with larger stray populations than with a well cared for cat being allowed outside in a controlled way. That cat that you advocate for re-homing despite having a home would be taking that home from another cat who needs it way more

8.) The blanket claim that all cat owners who let their cats out are unqualified is not only misleading, it’s actively harmful. It’s not realistic to be all or nothing. Do you also think all farm cats should be re-homed?? Reminder that farm cats are typically feral and not determined to be good candidates to be adopted as pets, so the alternative is them being strays. Are you anti tnr too?? It’s not the perfect solution so why bother at all??

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, overdramatic accusations do more harm than good. Calling people abusive/neglectful for making an informed decision about their pets both waters down the impact of calling out ACTUAL abuse and negatively impacts those pet owners and their pets. Maybe find a way to actually concretely help cats (or local bird populations if that’s your bigger concern) rather than being nasty (in a naive way, no less) on tumblr

Friendly reminder to "outdoor cat" proponents that the common housecat (felis catus) is on the list of top 100 most dangerous invasive alien species and are listed as a worldwide threat.

Friendly reminder that the common housecat (felis catus) are credited with the extinction of at least 33 species of wildlife globally, primarily birds, small reptiles, and rodents.

Friendly reminder of all the hazards that exist out in the world including diseases, other animals, humans, cars, environmental dangers, and so on.

Friendly reminder that domesticated species are not suited to natural environments and can not support or defend themselves.

Friendly reminder that negligence is a form of animal cruelty.

Keep your cats indoors. I don't care that you think your cat is so much happier outside. I don't care that you think he's living a fuller life by being able to massacre local fauna. Either keep him inside and enrich him properly like a good pet owner, or rehome him to someone who can and never own an animal again. This is non-negotiable.