This is not an issue just for Australia. There seems to be an epidemic of stray cats here in the US also. Many come from people that leave their animals behind when they have to move, and the issue seems to escalate every time there is a downturn in the economy.
The stray situation is even worse in europe. US you might see a couple random strays in your neighborhood. Certain cities in europe you can walk 10 minutes and probably come by 100 cats along the way.
Stray animal control in the USA varies by region. In the northeast, catch-neuter-release programs have been so effective, it's difficult to find strays and if you want a pet from an animal rescue, it'll cost several hundred dollars to get an animal from elsewhere. Usually "elsewhere" is the south, where CNR programs have been less effective, strays still abound, and rescue prices are much lower (plus you can easily obtain a pet for $0 if one just follows you home).
it's just a cultural misunderstanding, in europe cats are not considered a problem, they are just one of tge species of animals that live in symbiosis with humans in the cities. just like birds. in Rome the local authorities actually pay people to feed the cats
Well if the risk of an outdoor cat is that bird populations decline, I don’t see how having probably ten cats to a person in a European city doesn’t harm that. Whether it was tradition or not doesn’t mean its a good idea. It was once tradition to dump the chamber pot out the window.
Somehow, considering the bad job humans do with maintaining a population of humans healthy and happy, I find the idea of entrusting control of animal populations to humans bewildering, but then, I was born in Istanbul, and I think our attitude towards street cats is probably well known by this point. After all, Turkish does not have a word to reflect the concept of a stray cat, they're street cats to us.
Currently living in Germany, I miss seeing cats in the streets, though the occasional duck and goose sort of make up for it in a weird way, though the Geese can get far more aggressive than any street cat.
Comments
This is not an issue just for Australia. There seems to be an epidemic of stray cats here in the US also. Many come from people that leave their animals behind when they have to move, and the issue seems to escalate every time there is a downturn in the economy.
The stray situation is even worse in europe. US you might see a couple random strays in your neighborhood. Certain cities in europe you can walk 10 minutes and probably come by 100 cats along the way.
Stray animal control in the USA varies by region. In the northeast, catch-neuter-release programs have been so effective, it's difficult to find strays and if you want a pet from an animal rescue, it'll cost several hundred dollars to get an animal from elsewhere. Usually "elsewhere" is the south, where CNR programs have been less effective, strays still abound, and rescue prices are much lower (plus you can easily obtain a pet for $0 if one just follows you home).
it's just a cultural misunderstanding, in europe cats are not considered a problem, they are just one of tge species of animals that live in symbiosis with humans in the cities. just like birds. in Rome the local authorities actually pay people to feed the cats
Well if the risk of an outdoor cat is that bird populations decline, I don’t see how having probably ten cats to a person in a European city doesn’t harm that. Whether it was tradition or not doesn’t mean its a good idea. It was once tradition to dump the chamber pot out the window.
Somehow, considering the bad job humans do with maintaining a population of humans healthy and happy, I find the idea of entrusting control of animal populations to humans bewildering, but then, I was born in Istanbul, and I think our attitude towards street cats is probably well known by this point. After all, Turkish does not have a word to reflect the concept of a stray cat, they're street cats to us. Currently living in Germany, I miss seeing cats in the streets, though the occasional duck and goose sort of make up for it in a weird way, though the Geese can get far more aggressive than any street cat.