A New Book Called ‘Cat Wars’ Calls For Killing Free-Ranging Cats

[hunter]

22. Outdoor Cats Blamed in Otter Deaths

By CHRIS DIXON
Published: March 18, 2003

The New York Times

MONTEREY, Calif.— Three parasites, including one carried by outdoor cats, are being blamed for an outbreak of an infectious disease that is killing California sea otters, according to researchers at the University of California at Davis and the state Department of Fish and Game.

The most serious parasite is Toxoplasma gondii, which causes a brain infection. Researchers say they believe that Toxoplasma spreads as outdoor cats' feces, laden with millions of parasite eggs, wash into the ocean from streams and drainage ditches.

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http://www.nytimes.com/2003/03/18/science/outdoor-cats-blamed-in-otter-deaths.html

Cats have also been hell on the horned lizard population.



My wife's parents live in a rural area. Their housecats have always been obvious pets people have dumped out in the country. I don't know what's going on in the minds of people who do that. Pet cats abandoned in the countryside get eaten by coyotes and other predators, they starve, and otherwise die in many awful ways.

I've also learned by sad experience there are many people who will shoot or deliberately run over any small animal just for "fun." That veterinarian who shot her neighbor's cat is not an anomaly.

I'm not sure there is any good answer for this problem beyond spaying and neutering any feral cats you can catch. Unless you live on an island, even if you eradicated all the cats, some idiots will be along shortly throwing fertile cats out of their cars, and a fraction of those cats will survive and reproduce.