Prevention of Hunting

Cats can have devastating effects on wildlife in isolated environments.

Most dramatically, the single pet cat taken in 1894 to Stephen's Island off the coast of New Zealand killed the entire world population of the Stephen's Island Wren.

Domestic cats also aided the extinction of other island birds. In the Galapagos Islands, off the coast of South America, feral cats also consume vast numbers of freshly hatched baby turtles as they scrabble across the sand to the sea.

Wildlife protection agencies and legislators have been concerned about feline predation of wildlife for a long time.  The legislature ofIllinois passed a law in the 1940s restricting cats to homes, but it was vetoed by the governor.
 
In the 1990s many states are seeking to control feral cats. In Switzerland, cats must return to their homes every night.

But the debate over whether cats should be prevented from hunting has been most heated in Australia which has few natural, land-based predators. In 1989, a suburb of Melbourne imposed a dusk-to-dawn curfew on pet cats.

 By 1995, the state of South Australia had laws permitting the destruction of any unidentified domestic cat. Although we can prevent hunting, we have not removed the instinct.

Increasing numbers of cats live permanently indoors. When these cats see prey through a closed window, their teeth may chatter — this is not fully understood, but does not occur in any other circumstances.

Owners should play with their indoor cats and provide plenty of toys, or in the absence of live prey they may find ankles being stalked