Current Events > UK Pet cat kills over 270,000,000 animals every year experts warn.

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Pet cats in Britain's suburbs may be killing up to 270 million animals per year, a study suggests.

Dr Rebecca Thomas, from Royal Holloway University of London, who was part of the research team said: 'They are a non-native species.

'They reach incredibly - and unnaturally - high densities, especially in suburban environments. They get fed by their owners and given veterinary care so you could consider them mini super predators.'

And it is not just the direct killing of prey that is the issue, said the lead author of the study Dr Tara Pirie, who is now based at the University of Surrey.

The mere presence of cats in an area can have what is known as a 'sub-lethal fear effect' which then has consequences for animal numbers down the line.

'Just the presence of a predator can cause wildlife to change their behaviour either reducing feeding through heightened vigilance or staying away from a nest leaving it exposed, for example,' said Dr Pirie.

'This can reduce the survival of both adults and offspring.

'Cats can also carry diseases such as Toxoplasma gondii which can be transmitted to wildlife, again reducing their survival rate.'

For the study, published in the journal Landscape and Urban Planning, the team tracked the movements and amount of prey brought home by 79 cats living across Berkshire and Hampshire, over a period of a year.

They compared the predation rates of those living within 100metres of natural land and those living around 1 kilometre from it.

The pets near the natural land ventured an average of 3.42 hectares around their home, while the others roamed in 2.01ha.

'A simple extrapolation based on the predation rates found in this study suggests that the 9.5million pet cats in Great Britain may kill in the region of 160-270 million prey individuals per year,' the team wrote in their research paper.

They added: 'Domestic cats bring great joy and companionship to their owners, with benefits for mental health and well-being.

'But they also cause the loss of tens of millions of animals each year through predation, which in some cases may go beyond animal welfare concerns and become conservation concerns.

'It is only by understanding the possible negative ecological effects pet cats may be exerting on their local biodiversity that we can begin to develop appropriate approaches to environmentally-sensitive cat ownership.'

Dr Pirie said that previous research had found that bell-wearing did help reduce killing and that it may be that the cats in their study were 'very good hunters and the owners had put a device on because they were aware of it'.

But giving more food in the hope that filling them up will prevent hunting is unlikely to help.
'As our research and other research suggest, leaving food out does not appear to reduce prey returns,' she said.

'This does make sense because cats are intrigued by movement - think of a cat playing with a toy - and it could be the movement of prey that simply triggers the hunting behaviour of the cat.'

Full Article: https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-10866639/Cats-kill-270million-prey-year-study-suggests.html

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/user_image/4/3/9/AAZiH8AADQW_.jpg

Keep your kitty indoors.

Keeping a cat indoors is cruel, but most Americans will argue until they're blue in the face, lol

But we have native cat breeds/species over here.... Otherwise thats an interesting study.

Keeping a cat outdoors is cruel, but most Britains will argue until they're blue in the face, lol

D'aww they are such good predators

I will not. I live in an area with abundant wildlife.

Also humans eat way too much meat so fuck off. All the excess meat you eat gets broken down to basically glucose. So fuck off with the idea of thinking you need all this protein

PopcornDonuts posted...

I will not. I live in an area with abundant wildlife.

Also humans eat way too much meat so fuck off. All the excess meat you eat gets broken down to basically glucose. So fuck off with the idea of thinking you need all this protein

Go eat your doughnuts

neccis posted...

Keeping a cat indoors is cruel, but most Americans will argue until they're blue in the face, lol

Keeping a cat outdoors means it will kill everything that it can

Wtf I thought this all from one cat at first

DocileOrangeCup posted...

Wtf I thought this all from one cat at first

A very busy feline

[LFAQs-redacted-quote]


I mean, that's what its purpose was. Why do we not do that anymore?

Hedgehogs will run everything.

UnfairRepresent posted...

Keeping a cat outdoors means it will kill everything that it can

Humans are doing wayyyy more damage than a cat could ever meowing dream of. Nothing wrong with having a cat outdoors. Don't be so dillusional.

PopcornDonuts posted...

I will not. I live in an area with abundant wildlife.

Also humans eat way too much meat so fuck off. All the excess meat you eat gets broken down to basically glucose. So fuck off with the idea of thinking you need all this protein

oh okay. Now I know who you are. I promise I won't tell anyone wink emoji

Cats are literally an invasive species and if you dont keep yours indoors you are harming the environment

I thought this was a singular cat.

Rip and tear

VigorouslySwish posted...

Cats are literally an invasive species and if you dont keep yours indoors you are harming the environment

Hold on, my cat wants to come in.

neccis posted...

Humans are doing wayyyy more damage than a cat could ever meowing dream of. Nothing wrong with having a cat outdoors. Don't be so dillusional.

What insane logic

"It's okay to steal because a murderer somewhere is doing something worse"

2 wrongs don't make a right dude

https://www.iheart.com/podcast/105-stuff-you-should-know-26940277/episode/cats-invasive-species-97385706/

UnfairRepresent posted...

What insane logic

"It's okay to steal because a murderer somewhere is doing something worse"

2 wrongs don't make a right dude

Letting a cat outside is not wrong.
Wtf is wrong with this new generation of people?

VigorouslySwish posted...

Cats are literally an invasive species and if you dont keep yours indoors you are harming the environment

Life is invasive and harms the environment

yeah cats kind of suck, and cat owners are some of the most rabid, obnoxious people

UnfairRepresent posted...

What insane logic

"It's okay to steal because a murderer somewhere is doing something worse"

2 wrongs don't make a right dude

A car docking several birds mice and gophers frees up space for more birds mice and gophers to frolic around.

Cats need to roam as other people have said. They arent like dogs where its fine to keep them inside all day. Having said that, less people need to own cats if this is a thing we care about

if cats "need to roam," maybe they shouldn't have been domesticated in the first place. they need to scratch, they need to roam, they need to hunt, fuck the ecosystem, my furbaby's needs are everything in the world!!

Stone cold kitties

It's not the cats fault if people don't keep them indoors. If they're left outdoors to fend for themselves, they're following pure instinct.

viewmaster_pi posted...

if cats "need to roam," maybe they shouldn't have been domesticated in the first place. they need to scratch, they need to roam, they need to hunt, fuck the ecosystem, my furbaby's needs are everything in the world!!

viewmaster_pi posted...

if cats "need to roam," maybe they shouldn't have been domesticated in the first place. they need to scratch, they need to roam, they need to hunt, fuck the ecosystem, my furbaby's needs are everything in the world!!

Maybe you can build a time machine and set things right. While you're at it, keep fire away from the monkeys.
Give me a minute, before you go I'm going to right you a list.

[LFAQs-redacted-quote]

The more bells a cat has on, the higher its power level.

i'm surprised no one said bells are cruel

I have a lot of birds in my area. Part of this is because there are also coyotes.

Does the UK not have coyotes?

shironinja posted...

I have a lot of birds in my area. Part of this is because there are also coyotes.

Does the UK not have coyotes?

Yes but they call them Tories

UnfairRepresent posted...

Keeping a cat outdoors means it will kill everything that it can

Until a dog or car kill it

viewmaster_pi posted...

if cats "need to roam," maybe they shouldn't have been domesticated in the first place. they need to scratch, they need to roam, they need to hunt, fuck the ecosystem, my furbaby's needs are everything in the world!!

I've actually heard some arguments that cats still aren't fully domesticated.

neccis posted...

Letting a cat outside is not wrong.
Wtf is wrong with this new generation of people?

Theyre literally explaining to you the negative impact that cats cause, but its like you just want to pretend you did not see/hear it.

Cats also have a significantly longer life expectancy when kept indoors.

Master_Bass posted...

The more bells a cat has on, the higher its power level.

Ankle bells.

I thought this was a story about the most violent cat that ever lived...

Turbam posted...

I've actually heard some arguments that cats still aren't fully domesticated.

cats have fully domesticated some humans more like

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/user_image/7/3/5/AAJsn1AADSYn.jpg

impressive cat!

Lorenzo_2003 posted...

Theyre literally explaining to you the negative impact that cats cause, but its like you just want to pretend you did not see/hear it.

The negative impacts humans cause is much more significant is what I'm trying to get through your thick skull.
Cats being let outside is insignificant.
The view of the U.S. has always been lock everything up so whatever.

So, this Newspaper Article is a perfect example of "PhD New Cycle" in action:

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/user_image/7/8/2/AABxOHAADSZW.jpg

Because the Science article is not about the killing rate of cats, but rather Pet cats (Felis catus) from urban boundaries use different habitats, have larger home ranges and kill more prey than cats from the suburbs, and Tara et al, have this to say:

"A simple extrapolation based on the predation rates found in this study suggests that the 9.5 M pet cats in Great Britain (Murray et al., 2015), may kill in the region of 160270 million prey individuals per year. However, without a large scale, multi-site study, gaining a more precise understanding of national predation rates (and the possible consequences for prey populations) is challenging."

Which has at best a sufficiently different tone from the Newspaper Article, at worse the Newspaper Article is outright making claims that are radically different from the Journal Article.

viewmaster_pi posted...

yeah cats kind of suck, and cat owners are some of the most rabid, obnoxious people

yep, i'd put them on the same level as pitbull owners/apologists

nanny cat

feline of peace