Dila Cakir

Please keep your cats inside.

I do not hate cats, but seeing a cat outdoors upsets me without fail. Their presence constitutes a massive ecological catastrophe globally and locally. Tangible action can and must be taken.

As a birder, I am aware that the populations of many species across the continent are in rapid, alarming decline. A 2019 article published by the Cornell Lab of Ornithology estimated that more than one-fourth of our birds, nearly three billion individuals, have disappeared in the past half-century. That number is difficult to imagine. The causes of this drastic loss are manifold, including habitat loss, but premature mortality is another factor with extreme effects.

Cats kill over one billion birds every year in the United States, according to a study published in the journal “Nature.” Most of the destruction is caused by feral cats, but house cats also have a significant impact. The magnitude of this destruction is an unsustainable burden on our native birds, and it is exceedingly avoidable. Cats are invasive and unnecessary. There is no predator native to North America that hunts in the manner cats do. Our native species are entirely naive to this form of predation and easily slaughtered, often just for sport.

I have even heard this behavior described as amusing. Last Saturday, a man stopped me to talk in his yard along the main road in Bailey Island, Maine. Upon hearing I was a birder, he mentioned some local birds he had seen recently: an eagle and a pileated woodpecker, and was subsequently eager to inform me that his cat killed a few birds and voles each day. This cat was visible, sitting harmlessly for the moment on his driveway, and I was not surprised that it experienced such success. I didn’t voice my disapproval—it wouldn’t have done anything—but I wanted to. More than a dozen birds migrating south have probably died in that yard since I left, and nothing will change.

I do not understand how anyone who professes an interest in the outdoors, particularly anyone who enjoys birds, could willingly take part in such destruction. Despite knowledge of their invariable killing habits, many people continue to feed stray cats and leave their pets outside for the day (no bell will do anything to prevent the massacre of birds). I understand that they are cute and people enjoy them as pets, but there is no necessity to let cats outside, nor any benefit in allowing feral cats to propagate. Cats kill wildlife and are vectors for diseases like rabies and toxoplasmosis. Outdoor cats also live shorter lives, exposed to threats like car strikes and predation.

In other countries, like Australia and New Zealand, native species are closely protected, and conservation efforts are underway to remove millions of feral cats. This is controversial, but deemed necessary to protect native species. Similar efforts could and should be taken in the U.S., although they would face extreme pushback. For now, an easier start to reducing this damage is to keep house pets inside.

Elliot Dziedzic is a member of the Class of 2028.