General Discussion
In reply to the discussion: SICK SICK SICK SICK SICK woman puts arrow in cat's head - cheers on FB. And she's a vet! *GRAPHIC* [View all]Scootaloo
(25,699 posts)You can add as many syllables as you like, it's still the same thing as "feral."
And yes, they are a menace - they tear up wildlife and are primary vectors for diseases such as distemper. Why do you think you need to get your housecat vaccinated? it's not because magical disease fairies come in through the window at night and tickle Snookums' nose with viral particle-dust. it's becuse of the other animals out there ranging around carrying these diseases.
This does not mean i think people ought to go out and kill the animals, though. I think feral populations need to be controlled, absolutely - catch 'em, spay 'em, and let the colonies die out at their own time. Better yet, re-home the things if at all possible (and it often is; cats can become home critters after living wild, it's humans who get stuck on the notion). But it's just that if someone kills a feral cat, i'm not going to get terribly upset about it.
and yes, human beings are a menace. and without careless cat-jockeys who think Snookums should be free to roam around tearing up all the birds and squirrels he feels he needs to, there wouldn't be any feral cats in the first place. But no, miserable, ignorant, lazy people who think cats can "sustain themselves" insist on letting mr. Fluffums roam around, making all the "Li'l Fluffums" he can squirt out ("it's cruel to neuter!" tearing up the neighborhood's other cats, denuding the bluebird colonies and otherwise acting exactly as one would expect a very able predator with the instinctual stuntings of domestication to act like.