Cats: a serious danger to wildlife and our children... NOW UPDATED!

Above: blackbird chicks pulled out of their nests, killed and left to rot by uncontrolled pet cats.

Dangerously irresponsible letters and articles in the Southport press concerning cats need addressing.

In many places today cats have become over-bred and over-fed mini predators, roaming free in our gardens to bring utter carnage to birdlife, mammals, etc. There are however other concerns.

Cats can also be a serious danger to humans and especially families with small children in the house

"Oh mummy cats are so sweet, can we have one please?"  This is a familiar plea to many parents, yet it may hold a sinister downside...

Cat attacks baby in cot - Sleeping Georgie needs 17 stitches

Links showing how dangerous cats are to young children.


http://www.mumsnet.com/Talk/other_subjects/181221-my-cat-keeps-attacking-my-baby

http://community.babycenter.com/post/a29121737/cat_attacked_my_baby

https://mysmelly.com/Archive/CatAttackedANewborn/cjwpv/post.htm

The Sun reported …

A MUM was woken by screams from her baby girl and found her being savaged in her cot by a neighbour’s cat

The tabby was still on the head of terrified victim Georgie Gittus — clawing at the bloodied 17-month-old’s face. Distraught Samantha, 23, grabbed her sobbing daughter and rushed her to hospital, where she needed 17 stitches to a gaping wound on her right brow.Many such attacks have happened yet terminally stupid parents STILL bring these dangerous animals into contact with children, WHY?

https://www.thesun.co.uk/archives/news/870201/cat-attacks-baby-in-cot/ 

Clearly, cats make unsuitable pet, to keep close to little children, when considering their genetically aggressive links. Adults too are not safe from cat attack. 

Woman reveals nasty facial injuries after cat attack leaves her blind in one eye and permanently scarred

http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/woman-reveals-nasty-facial-injuries-7731845

Pet cats share neurotic tendencies with zoo lions, say researchers

American psychologist Dr. Max Wachtel, one of those behind latest research, described cats as "little, aggressive predators" who, despite their general demeanour, still have the capacity to attack without warning. He told the BBC: "What's really scary is that sometimes they attack and have that killer instinct and other times they don't. If you're standing among a pride of lions, sometimes you'll be fine and other times they will pounce and attack for no reason. And it's the same for little domestic house cats. "They are sweet an affectionate and can curl up with you bed...but they can turn at any time."

http://www.heraldscotland.com/news/13928864.Is_your_cat_trying_to_kill_you__Scottish_house_cats_share_personality_traits_with_African_lions/

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Cats are frequently the worse types of house pets, especially if you really care about your children. Many birds and animals they kill are not even eaten but just left to rot. Cats are particularly fond of waiting under the nests of hatching songbirds such as the robin and thrush etc. They also like to wait by garden ponds to catch amphibians that they kill slowly and also leave to rot. Occasionally they chew a frog's head off before leaving the rest of the body to decay. 

Sadly, the UK wildlife law as it stands is an ass. This is because it defends cats’ right to hunt songbirds and mammals at will, without challenge, yet at the same time the law does nothing for our dwindling native wildlife. Do the UK politicians who make these irrational laws have no courage to face up to their responsibilities to protect the fragile environment?

In other more responsible countries eco-experts are expressing serious concerns about how cats are wantonly destroying the environment, yet in the UK the attitude seems to be…’It’s just nature and anyway, who cares?’

Australia takes action as wildlife is massacred to the point of extinction by feline menace

The Australian government announced plans to cull up to 2 million feral cats by 2020 in a bid to save dozens of native species that face extinction because of the cats' predatory behaviour. Speaking to a national radio station, Gregory Andrews, the country's first threatened-species Commissioner, said Australian Environment Minister Greg Hunt is "declaring war on feral cats, and he's asked me to take charge of that programme."

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/australasia/australias-war-on-cats-government-plans-to-cull-2-million-by-2020-10398555.html

In Canada Conservationists are urging owners to keep their cats inside, saying this could help save 200 million birds each year in Canada alone. 

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/cats-the-no-1-killer-of-birds-in-canada-1.3130437

Cats, the top threat to dwindling US wildlife. Billions of wild birds dying thanks to recklessness of cat owners. 

Scientists said stray and feral cats were the worst offenders. Nevertheless, they added that pet cats also played a role and that owners should do more to reduce their impact. It was stated that more animals are dying at the claws of cats in the United States than in road accidents, collisions with buildings or poisonings. The authors on a recent report estimate cats are responsible for the deaths of between 1.4 and 3.7 billion birds and 6.9-20.7 billion mammals annually.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-21236690

Sadly, in the UK some (not all) cat owners’ stance is usually a defensive or at least a highly apathetic one. Such intransigence does nothing to stop the terrible impact free-roaming pets have on the fragile environment.

Give generously, to help cats 'eradicate' our precious UK wildlife 

In some places the spread of cats is activity 'encouraged' with tin-rattling idiots giving no thought or concern for the terrible impact these deadly mini predators have on our native wildlife.  

With new housing developments being constructed near greenbelt all over the land it does not take a genius to see what irresponsible cat owners are doing to the vanishing ecosystem.

Cats roam far and wide and away from their homes into the countryside. This means that they are free to kill at will.

Are YOU a part of the problem?

You are sitting there blissfully watching your TV and kitty has gone out to play. But he/she is NOT playing but most likely waiting patiently under a songbird's nest for the fledglings to leave. When are YOU going to wake up to the eco-damage your beloved pet cat is doing to our wildlife system?

Furthermore, keep in mind that wildlife laws DO give wild birds some protection from the plain stupidity and ignorance of  man. The RSPB for example recommend that cutting hedges and trees is avoided between March and August as this is the main breeding season for nesting birds.

If you  are aware of any wild bird's nest being destroyed, or even disturbed, then report it to the police and authorities ASAP. 

Under the Wildlife and Countryside Act – 1981 it is an offence to damage a nest intentionally while it is in use or being built and hedge cutting is highly likely to damage nests or cause them to be deserted. The maximum penalty that can be imposed for an offence under the Wildlife and Countryside Act - in respect of a single bird, nest or egg - is a fine of up to £5,000, and/or six months' imprisonment. 

For the love of our wonderful songbirds etc, please 'think' carefully before you encourage 'more' cats into our countryside.

Numbers of cats should be limited due to the ongoing terrible damage they do.

When will our lazy politicians in the UK start to take action to stop this avoidable wildlife tragedy?

Will they wait until, the hedgerows fall silent? No more songs from our thrush, goldfinch, robin, wren and blackbird.

A brief response to OTS News readers’ Facebook posts, (and a few from misguiding folk who prefer to send in abusive posts, via 'other' means) concerning the ongoing global cat problem.

Here is a more lightweight example of the type of rude and abusive mail sent to people like me, who simply report facts...




It's never easy to deal with conceited ignorance and rigid minds that are made of stone, but here is my general response...

I would like to sincerely thank people for taking the time to post on this interesting debate. There are far too many posts to answer them all, so please forgive just one shot here.

We are fortunate in this country to have the freedom to express opinions without censorship and oppression. OTS News often gets some stick yet the freedoms of expression here can never be found so easily within the regular press. Newspapers are also much slower, so getting your ‘Right to Reply’ is frequently a falsehood with the grey-suit controlled regular media. 

The cat debate will rage on as it has in many other counties. In some lands, drastic measures of control have been taken by apprehensive authorities to protect endangered wildlife numbers from overbred domestic and also feral cat populations. Naturally, beleaguered authorities cannot be expected to stand around and let enormous cat populations wipe out other species. If officials took no action then history would record them as being no better than the greedy fools with rifles, who almost exterminated the American bison or others who managed to eradicate the poor old Dodo. Personally I hate NO animal as each one acts according to its nature. That is simply the cosmic way and the balance. I have spent my life campaigning hard for the environment, our lovely countryside and had a few wins along the way.

The problem arrives when ill-informed/reckless people overbreed any one species to the detriment of others. This is exactly what has occurred with regards to pet cats.

 I do know some owners who are good responsible folk and keep their pets in the house because they are fully aware of the destruction they do and most especially at songbird nesting time.  Others make sure that the cats are fenced in their gardens with netting, so they cannot plague neighbouring properties. Such responsible actions are to be applauded.

Alternatively, seeing nests raided and tiny new-born chicks taken on a regular basis is heart-breaking to many of us who care deeply about nature and the wildlife that is struggling as man’s destructive developments progress into green belt areas. Sadly, some cat owners appear to have no concerns whatsoever for the cries of the parent blackbird, robin, wren etc, as pet cats mount hedgerow raid after raid. Cats in the UK are given freedom to roam as they please and this naturally causes a great deal of social tension and environmental damage.  

Laws governing dangerous dogs are non-existent when it comes to cats. The recent story of the sleeping toddler being badly mauled after a neighbour’s cat crept through a window does in fact alarm some of us.  If a dog entered a house and attacked a baby then cries for justice would be widespread. Many cat lovers’ forum threads elsewhere also exist expressing posts which show that the cries of infants do seem to stimulate cat attack on occasion. This is of course very worrying to all genuine parents and may relate to  recent studies at Edinburgh University that showed disconcerting attitude links to pet cats and African Lions.

Many free-roaming cats are also killed under cars on roads, so we see ‘ZERO OWNER CONSIDERATION’ here.  Some cats also cause accidents in this respect with cars. Is your cat out freely wandering gardens and roads tonight?

The cat debate is a sensitive one, with many people rushing in without really looking at the issues involved properly. Some of the  more obnoxious or inflammatory posts on this OTS thread are highly misleading, as they are concealing hidden agendas linked to politics or religious fixations the authors have against me personally. This, whilst being rather amusing, is deceptive to others who are falling for their spin.  

Posting from fake Facebook accounts does not impress me although it may excite others who think a great body of opinion exists, when the truth is in the opposite. My deepest concern and sympathy rests with our fragile environment. We ALL have a responsibility to it because we are all a part of it. 

I continue to say that owners of cats MUST learn to take proper responsibility for the actions of their pets. Many responsible cat lovers actually 'agree' with me on that score. 

When your pet returns with dead animals and songbirds you need to ask yourself WHY you are letting this happen. Multiply what your pet is doing by BILLIONS on a global scale and you may one day understand why the ecosystem is suffering so badly everywhere. Humans have a LOT to answer for.

Cat owner will become their pet’s worst enemy if they continue to do little more than shout abuse when this issue is raised.

It is NOT someone else’s fault if wildlife numbers (in the BILLIONS) are being eradicated globally by out of control cats.

THE CAT PROBLEM RESTS FIRMLY WITH THE OWNERS WHO ARE ‘SUPPOSED’ TO BE CARING FOR THEM. That is simply logic!

Address the issue in adult fashion, so that officialdom will not have to ultimately do it for you! IT IS BETTER TO BE SELF-REGULATING THAN BEING OFFICIALLY REGULATED.

One can only warn and I think most will agree that nobody wants to see what’s happening in Australia to happen here.

It’s time to grow up, address the problem  and stop shouting childish abuse at anyone who simply highlights this pet-owner created international problem, which is certainly going to backfire on owners, SOONER THAN THEY MAY THINK! 

With ownership comes responsibility. So, rather than SHOUT abuse simply think this one out like adults! The cats themselves deserve better than this and some folk have sadly become their pets’ worst enemy!

Speaking of irrational human abuse and apathy towards the environment, the following news items appears to explain this mystery to some extent...

Dangers of serious mental illness linked to cat ownership, say expert researchers 

Some (not all) cat lovers seem to live in a fantasy world and will see no wrong in what their pets do.

International destruction on a massive scale of our songbirds, protected mammals and even unprovoked attacks on children just pass over them like water.

The irresponsible owners have no concern whatsoever for the massive global impact their pets have on an already suffering ecosystem. Moreover, if anyone even dares to mention the problem many owners resort to childish insults, personal abuse and even more aggressive behaviour. To many people this type of appalling apathy to our environment from cat owners seems very strange, to say the least. It has been compared by experts with the similar sort of intransigence we see at many beauty spots where reckless holiday makers thrown bag loads of rubbish into the countryside, without a care in the world.

This type of mental blocking and irrational rage seems to have very real key, as experts have recently discovered...

Being a cat lover could cause mental illness that could lead to suicide

Are you a lover of cats? Are cute little kittens your preferred pet? If so, a new study suggests that being around the feline species increases your exposure to the parasite, Toxoplasma gondii, which could cause mental illness that can lead to suicide. This is claimed and especially if you are a woman.

http://www.examiner.com/article/being-a-cat-lover-could-cause-mental-illness-that-could-lead-to-suicide

The findings come after research at John Hopkins University School of Medicine into whether or not childhood cat ownership is a risk factor for severe mental illness in adulthood. Scientists say that a parasite called "Toxoplasma gondii" in cat faeces can lead to toxoplasmosis. The study follows two previous which suggested that childhood cat ownership is a possible risk factor for later developing schizophrenia or other serious mental illness.

http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/world-news/owning-cats-linked-mental-illnesses-7655469 

More…

A new study has found that people with Intermittent Explosive Disorder (IED) - characterised by explosive bouts of rage - are twice as likely to have been infected by a parasite found in cat faeces.

The findings suggest that toxoplasmosis, an infection from the parasite Toxoplasma gondii, may alter people's brain chemistry to cause long-term behaviour problems. Cats are known to pass the parasite on to human by shedding its eggs in their faeces. People can become infected by not washing their hands after cleaning a cat's litter tray, and then unintentionally ingesting the eggs. Around a third of people in the UK will become infected at some point in their lives - with cat owners at particularly high risk. Toxoplasmosis has also been linked with schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, impulsivity and suicidal behavior in earlier studies. The new study, published in the Journal of Clinical Psychiatry, looked at 358 adult participants.  Researcher found that 22 percent of the people with IED tested positive for toxoplasmosis exposure, compared with only 9 percent of those without IED.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2016/03/30/owning-a-cat-can-lead-to-mental-health-problems-study-warns/ 

Avoid cat litter pregnant mums told 

Cats can shed a parasite called Toxoplasma gondii in their feces, and if a pregnant woman accidentally inhales or eats the parasite and becomes infected, there are serious health risks. In 20% to 50% of cases (PDF), the fetus also becomes infected.

http://fox13now.com/2016/06/06/why-pregnant-women-are-being-warned-about-owning-cats/

Some studies have therefore linked the cat parasite with psychotic disturbances in humans such as self-harm and suicide, and even serious psychiatric illnesses such as schizophrenia.

Such studies go a long way to explain WHY some cat owners have a mental block along with aggressive/abusive bouts of rage when others simply highlight the terrible impact their cats are having on the environment. Due to these expert research finding can we now expect to see authorities taking the cat issue more seriously for the sake of the fragile ecosystem, cat owners' health and the pets themselves?

We ignore the facts at our peril so PLEASE ... don't shoot the messenger...


Always report wildlife crime.

RSPCA: 0300 1234 999 (England and Wales)

Merseyside Police: https://www.merseyside.police.uk/contact-us/report-crime-online/

More

http://www.otsnews.co.uk/cats-a-serious-danger-to-wildlife-and-our-children/