Cats Should Not be Permitted to Roam Freely Outside!

outside cat

My rant for the day is this:  Why are cats allowed to roam outside freely, killing birds and rabbits and pooping in gardens while dogs must be leashed with their owners picking up their poop immediately after it hits the ground?

My husband was upset when he witnessed a cat killing a baby rabbit in our backyard recently.  He was looking out our kitchen window and saw the cat chasing the bunny.  By the time he got out to the backyard, the cat had injured the bunny so badly it barely had the strength to limp across the yard before it collapse dead.

This video posted on Youtube recently shows a cat eating baby birds in a nest…

One of my gardening clients says her cat brings her dead birds as “presents” all the time. My cousin, also an avid nature lover, posted recently on Facebook about a cat in his neighbourhood that attacked a nest of baby cardinals…

Why is this allowed in this day and age?  Granted, cats rarely attack people and their pile of poop is smaller than most dog’s, but cat poop or feces is very dangerous to pregnant women and small children.  I learned this firsthand as TOXOPLASMOSIS was one of the suspected reasons for the three  STILLBIRTHS  I suffered through years ago. Toxoplasmosis is a parasite transferred to humans through exposure to cat feces.

I understand that cats like to hunt the birds and bunnies, thinking they are presenting their owners with a gift.  Domesticated cats certainly do not need to hunt these poor unfortunate creatures as a source of food.  Some of you will say this practice is part of nature.  Cats like to stalk, shred, scratch etc.  Regardless, it is a cruel, unnecessary practice that should be prevented!

Cat owners should be accountable and responsible for their cats as dog owners have to be for their dogs.  If you cannot prevent your cats from roaming the neighbourhood killing creatures of nature, get them declawed or keep the cats on a leash.  Better yet, keep them inside, buy them fancy toys to play with or let them shred your furniture.

photo credit

20 thoughts on “Cats Should Not be Permitted to Roam Freely Outside!

  1. You are 100% correct. Cats owners should adhere to the same restrictions as dog owners. Here in NYC there are no stray dogs. Yet, there are thousand and thousands of homeless cats and the city does nothing about it. Sad.

  2. I have been ranting on about this for years. Brought it up at a KBCA meeting and was told it was brought in years ago in England to curb the spread of the bubonic plague. Not sure on the sp?

  3. It makes me so mad!!! Our neighbors cat goes into our garage and kills bunnies and there’s nothing I can do about it!!! I don’t think it’s right at all!!!

  4. Thank you for this post. Cats have contributed to the decline of bird populations throughout the US and other countries, and they are unsanitary. It should be illegal to let them wander around.

  5. Quite right about everything in this post except one thing and that is declawing a cat that is probably the most cruel and torturous thing you could ever do to a cat and permanently damages their paws.to the point it becomes uncomfortable for them to walk.Some how I don’t think you would want to have all of your finger nails and your toe nails ripped out because that is exactly what happens to a cat when you declaw them.a horrible inhumane practice that should be outlawed.But I do think the cat owners should be made to be more responsible for their cats and keep them inside unless they are on a leash and be made to clean up after them like a dog owner does.As an owner of a pet house rabbit I have seen first hand what damge a cat can do when a cat came in to my garden and attacked him ripping his leg wide open.He had to have surgery and stitches to repair the damage,now if it was a dog that done this the owner would have been responsible for the vet bill.I now have high Chicken wire fencing around the perimiter of my garden which stop the cats coming one thing cats won’t do is climb is chicken wire as it doesn’t support the cats weight and I also use cctv for when I can’t supervise my rabbit in the garden,though normally if that is the case he is only aloud out in the back part of the garden to play in if I can’t be out side with him.xx Rachel

    1. Declawing is banned over here because of the severe trauma. Some cats have to be on permanent pain killers prescription after declawing. 🙁

      1. Yeah 🙁 one of my friends in the US is campaigning to ban declawing in all states. Her website is called catkind.

        There are many other more human ways of dealing with it. For example you could flip the claws every other month and even have the vet glue on little rubber claw shaped tips to make the clipping last longer. I’ve a couple of friends that get cool pink tips for their cats haha

  6. Thanks so much for writing this! I’ve been complaining about this for years as well! esp since a stray cat frightened my poor darling parrot away when he came into our back yard! it makes me so mad!

    1. So true! imagine that stray cat came into my backyard and terrified my sweet little birdie who was very sheltered. The last time he came the kids ran inside for water and he flew into the trees. Called for me for about three weeks, my neighbours were all looking for him and then he stopped calling. Never got over it. I hate cats alot less now but I’ll never have a pet cat.

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