Columbus, Ohio USA
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Cat Wars
By Dawn McCombs
July/August 2019 Issue
See Also: Feature Article Mar/Apr 2015
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Leo | Courtesy Photo At last November’s election, when I was stating my name and address at the Thompson Recreation Center where I vote, the poll worker said, “Where’s Leo?” I said, “Leo is my cat, and he isn’t allowed to vote.” The man laughed and then said he missed seeing Leo on his porch and hadn’t seen him in at least a year. I explained that Leo isn’t allowed outside, so this was good news to me.
We have had better luck lately keeping him in. Leo has a talent for streaking past our ankles into the great outdoors when we enter or leave our home. We have taped signs on the doors reminding guests that the cat is not allowed outside, and placed spray bottles of water by the doors to terrify him with the notion of getting wet, but nothing has tamed his escapist instincts. Leo loves to go outside, and not all our neighbors love him like the kind pollworker does.
I once saw a post on a neighborhood forum warning people to keep their cats inside and that any cats found by the poster – both feral and pet cats – would be trapped and removed. This kicked off probably the longest and most heated thread I have ever seen on that site. It carried on for weeks, until I finally had to delete myself from the group, finding that I was spending way too much time watching the drama unfold.
Through this experience, I learned about the many and varied cat factions in our neighborhood. There are people who love cats, but only when they live strictly inside. Then there are those who love cats and are relaxed about them being indoor or outdoor. You have people who hate all cats, regardless. People who are very focused on cat “rules,” and are equally aggressive about imposing those rules on others. People who trap cats and take them to shelters. People who poison cats. People who specifically love to help stray cats. This last group, I learned, should never be messed with. I will refer to them as “Power to the Cat” (P2C) people.
Just the other day, I saw an article from another state about a P2C person who pulled a gun on her neighbor who had asked her to stop feeding the local stray cats. After the incident, the victim reported to the police that she feared for her life. I think if the victim would have seen the tone of the forum thread that I saw about cats in our neighborhood, she would have thought twice about asking the P2C person to stop feeding them in the first place.
This brings me back to the topic of the cats running loose in our neighborhood. It is not ideal (this cat-person’s opinion) for cats to be fending for themselves outside. Thankfully we have several Trap-Neuter-Release (TNR) volunteers in our neighborhood. After a cat is trapped, it is taken to a vet to be neutered or spayed and vaccinated and is released back to the area where it was originally found. The cats often get their ears tagged to let people know they have been TNR’d. These TNR/ P2C people also feed and care for the cats outside, and often provide shelter so they can live as comfortably as possible.
In a perfect world, house cats would never escape and people would spay and neuter all cats in order to reduce the number of feral cats who run loose in neighborhoods. Some municipalities have banned outdoor cats. In communities like Upper Arlington and Dublin, for example, pets must be contained on one’s own property, and feral cats are not tolerated. Currently there are no laws in Columbus banning cats from roaming free outside. Also, in all 50 states, intentionally harming or killing a feral or owned cat is prohibited under anti-cruelty laws.
Cats have landed on the list of the top 100 invasive species worldwide, according to the International Union for the Conservation of Nature. An invasive species is one that is not native to an ecosystem, and that causes harm. Cats were originally introduced to North America by European colonists. A study conducted by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute estimates that cats kill 2.4 billion birds per year. Cats are one of the invasive species, yet are welcomed and protected by most humans.
Shelly Pappas is a neighbor in Dennison Place and a stray cat lover. She practices TNR and feeds approximately 10 cats twice daily in her backyard. Shelly states,”Feral and stray animal populations are a human-created problem, but humans do not want to admit responsibility and take action to solve the problem.” To add credence to Shelly’s statement, an excerpt from Alley Cat Allies says, “Flawed reports and publications are used to scapegoat cats, but human pollution and habitat destruction are the true threats to wildlife. Catching and killing cats is not only cruel; it’s ineffective: removing cats creates a vacuum effect where cats from neighboring areas relocate into the space and repopulate. TNR is the only humane and effective approach to the community cat population.” Shelly also feeds birds in her backyard and only occasionally finds one that has been killed, but not often. She believes that cats are a part of our natural environment, and have been living alongside humans for thousands of years and that it is more realistic to figure out ways to include them humanely.
One study conducted in Chicago’s urban green spaces, by Stan Gehrt, an associate professor of environment and natural resources at Ohio State University, finds that cats who live outdoors, tend to avoid larger green spaces where urban coyotes live. The coyotes, in essence, protect the natural areas and the cats had a greatly reduced impact on native wildlife in those areas. Which makes me think that another solution to this problem is to create larger green spaces in our urban areas and welcome the coyotes, who inadvertently protect the native birds and mammals. But green spaces are disappearing, and wily coyotes won’t be welcomed any more by humans than the wild cats, even though the coyotes are a native mammal to our habitat.
The solutions are varied, somewhat difficult and can be controversial, but the cat wars will inevitably continue and we will have two groups of people continuing to protect animals, and becoming enemies with one another. On a personal level, I have a certified wildlife garden consisting of mostly Ohio prairie plants, to attract birds and pollinators – and I have cats. About once a year my cat Leo will kill a bird, and each time it has been a European sparrow, which is also an invasive species to North America. But, in essence, I do my best to protect both birds and cats.
The poll worker and I shared a few more insights about the Cat Wars on the neighborhood forum. He then said, “Did you know that the neighbor who posts about not wanting cats in her yard plants cat mint?” We both laughed at the irony of this and he handed me my ticket to vote. “See you next year.” He said. I added, “Maybe next year I’ll register Leo to vote, and bring him with me to see you – except, he really isn’t allowed outside.”
Dawn McCombs lives, and is the owner of Glean, in the Short North. She likes swashbuckling around the neighborhood, planting Ohio prairie gardens in urban landscapes, and reducing her carbon footprint by cycling and recycling.
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