Outdoor cats have an impact on wildlife | Letter to the Editor

Published 12:07 pm Tuesday, September 27, 2011

I loved reading Leslie Brown’s editorial (“Summer’s end brings another kind of sweetness”), describing the end of summer beauty that surrounds us here on Vashon. We are truly blessed to live in a place where nature is so close at hand. How unfortunate that the caller she describes became aware of our rare and beautiful native northern flying squirrel only after her cat dragged one that it had mortally wounded into her home.

The native birds and wildlife that we share this remarkable island with are under great pressure from habitat loss, pesticide use and invasive species. To add further pressure from cat predation to this list is both tragic and unnecessary. Keeping cats indoors is not only kind to wildlife, but kind to cats, too. Indoor cats live on average three times longer than outdoor cats. They do not prey on vulnerable birds, squirrels, amphibians and other wildlife, and they do not get hit by cars, snatched by eagles or coyotes, or attacked by other cats, dogs and raccoons.

The Audubon Society and the American Bird Conservancy have teamed up to create a national program called “Cats Indoors!” that is aimed at educating the public about the impact of outdoor cats on birds and wildlife. They estimate that each year in the U.S. free roaming cats kill more than 200 million birds and over a billion small mammals. Their website (http://web4.audubon.org/bird/cat/) also provides great information for people concerned about this issue and trying to transition their outdoor cats to indoor life.

— Sara Van Fleet