Letter to the editor:

Saving feral cats is really no kindness

Jane Russell, Las Vegas

Friday, Aug. 15, 2008 | 2:03 a.m.

Regarding the Las Vegas Sun’s Thursday story headlined “She’d ‘legalize’ feral cats to save them”:

I am writing to present another point of view regarding the supposedly compassionate management of the feral cat problem here in Las Vegas, by trapping and neutering. I do not see how releasing these cats back into their neighborhoods is to their benefit.

I have personally had to deal with the mockingbirds, woodpeckers, doves, quail, baby cottontails and native lizards they have destroyed and left on my lawn for me to clean up. Also, I have had to pick up several of them after they had been hit by cars, then crawled onto my lawn to die.

I simply do not understand the mind-set of people who feel it is somehow kind to allow them to roam around, being injured and destroying the native wildlife. It is also a fact that many wild cats will not allow themselves to be trapped, so the idea of neutering them will never succeed in the long run.

Discussion: 3 comments so far…

By ShannonK

8/15/08 at 1:27 p.m.

Suggest removal

I agree with you. I think that the feral cats should be destroyed when they are captured. I am tired of cats coming in my yard where I have to clean up their mess. It is illegal for cat owners to let their cats out of their own yards, yet we will allow feral cats to roam where they please? What kind of sense does this make? Additionally, if a cat owner has had their cat trapped in someone else's yard more than once, animal control should put down that cat as well as the owner's obviously cannot obey the laws and are not responsible enough to own a cat.
By feral

8/16/08 at 1:56 a.m.

Suggest removal

The cats are wild and we simply do not kill something because it is wild. Besides they are released into the care of a colony caretaker that sees that they have food,water and shelter. They are as much part of our ecosystem as any other wild animal. Since we have an abundance of rodents, that is their chief prey. They serve the community as self sustaining, non-toxic rodent control. The birds they kill are usually the sick and weak, in a Darwinian manner. They do not target any particular species. Plus, studies have shown that humans with their use of pesticides, loss of habitate and phone towers are the main killer of our birds. The present system of trap and kill has failed. Trap, neuter and return is the only way to reduce the population. Colonies can easily be trained to poop in a desirable place. Note the many cases of cats kept in warehouses as rodent control. The Los Angeles Police department uses "cat Patrols" in all their facilities. Your eagerness to distroy your neighbors pet betrays your prejudice against cats. The problem was with people tossing their cats, but the cats are intelligent enough to exist on their own and now there are 80 to 100 million of them. So being angry at the past or present pet owners does not do much to help the situation. Neither can 13 Animal control officers do anything in a community of 2 million. Only the animal rescue societies can help solve this problem. Why not be part of the solution instead of complaining.
By azsk8fan

8/18/08 at 7:17 a.m.

Suggest removal

Shame on all those who think there is a simple answer to this problem 'kill them'.

So if you have a kid that gets in trouble more than once should we kill the kid or maybe we should kill the parent who can't seem to 'control' the kid.......