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Beef is with cat owners

Editor: In my Good Birding column of 22nd January I detailed some of the impacts of free-roaming domestic cats on bird/small mammal populations. Joseph Davis replied, castigating me for “blaming the cats.

Editor:

In my Good Birding column of 22nd January I detailed some of the impacts of free-roaming domestic cats on bird/small mammal populations. Joseph Davis replied, castigating me for “blaming the cats.” Actually my beef is not with the cats but their owners who allow them to roam.

As we have detailed, there are numerous reasons for the worldwide decline of wildlife, and cat predation is nowhere near the top of the list. However, it is probably the easiest place to begin, with the simple and achievable expedient of keeping cats indoors. I would suggest that the vast majority of the population support this initiative and I encourage Gibsons councillors to find the fortitude to proceed accordingly.

Tony Greenfield, Halfmoon Bay