I know I know… “obligate carnivore”

  • dodgy_bagel@lemmy.blahaj.zone
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    2 months ago

    Cats are bad, generally.

    They’re killing machines that have a big impact on local wildlife.

    A vegan that keeps cats isn’t exactly approaching the situation from a purely vegan-based mentality.

    • rekabis@lemmy.ca
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      2 months ago

      A vegan that keeps cats allows cats outside isn’t exactly approaching the situation from a purely vegan-based mentality.

      There, FTFY.

      Absolutely nothing wrong with cats that are 100% indoors, not only do they have no effect on the wildlife, but their lifespans are something like ⅓ to ½ longer due to the lack of accidents or conflicts.

      • UnderpantsWeevil@lemmy.world
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        2 months ago

        their lifespans are something like ⅓ to ½ longer

        Outdoor cats have a life expectancy of 2-5 years. Indoor cats routinely hit teenager status and can push past 20 with quality care and a bit of genetic good fortune. Its crazy what a steady diet, low stress, protection from the elements/predators, and even middling modern veterinary health care can accomplish.

        Now, imagine what this change in condition can do for homeless people.

    • UnderpantsWeevil@lemmy.world
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      2 months ago

      They’re killing machines that have a big impact on local wildlife.

      Saying this to my friends as I drive in my 2 ton steel box powered by liquid dinosaurs across the cemented remains of an old growth forest on the way to my job at the bitcoin mill.

      • dodgy_bagel@lemmy.blahaj.zone
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        2 months ago

        https://www.nature.com/articles/ncomms2380

        ! We estimate that free-ranging domestic cats kill 1.3–4.0 billion birds and 6.3–22.3 billion mammals annually. Un-owned cats, as opposed to owned pets, cause the majority of this mortality. Our findings suggest that free-ranging cats cause substantially greater wildlife mortality than previously thought and are likely the single greatest source of anthropogenic mortality for US birds and mammals. !<

        Unless, of course, you’re saying that we shouldn’t stop one bad thing because we do other bad things.

        We should rethink our attachments to miniature tigers.

        • UnderpantsWeevil@lemmy.world
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          2 months ago

          Un-owned cats, as opposed to owned pets, cause the majority of this mortality

          I’m not sure what the solution is here.

          We should rethink our attachments to miniature tigers.

          And do what? Its not the pets that are doing the bulk of the killing.

          • dodgy_bagel@lemmy.blahaj.zone
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            2 months ago

            Please be serious. I read the source that I posted; you’re not being clever. Cats don’t magically show up from nowhere. Our culture around cats enables and feeds the feral population. If we didn’t keep cats as pets, and animal control treated them the same way they treat raccoons, then this problem would be dramatically reduced. Probably eliminated, but they might turn into an intractable urban pest.

    • johannesvanderwhales@lemmy.world
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      2 months ago

      That is, of course, only a problem with outdoor cats and feral populations. Indoor cats are fine. Personally I keep my cat indoors for a bunch of reasons, but I also think that reasonable human beings can feel otherwise. I’ve noticed that there are a lot of people online who have decided that not only is keeping an outdoor cat bad, it’s a form of animal abuse. And therefore they not only berate people who allow their cat outside, they also encourage people who stumble upon outdoor cats to take possession of them since they’re being abused. This is a pretty extremist position that probably doesn’t reflect the views of most cat owners, but it tends to get magnified in cat communities that rely on upvotes, since upvotes encourage echo chambers.

      There’s a metaphor here.