# Hunting domestic cats **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [April 14, 2005, 10:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hunting-domestic-cats/299366 "2005-04-14T22:49:56Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![justwannano](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/7ab992/32.png) [@justwannano](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/justwannano)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2005, 4:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hunting-domestic-cats/299366/41 "2005-04-18T04:00:42Z")
> [@JillGat](#): > > Sparrow - like starlings, another non-native, introduced species - are legal to kill as varmints in most places. That’s part of the basis for the proposed law about cats. If there are more sparrows than songbirds then don’t you think cats kill more sparrows than songbirds? Won’t the best sparrow predatator be missed? ---
**Author:** ![justwannano](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/7ab992/32.png) [@justwannano](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/justwannano)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2005, 4:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hunting-domestic-cats/299366/42 "2005-04-18T04:09:38Z")
> [@justwannano](#): > > If there are more sparrows than songbirds then don’t you think cats kill more sparrows than songbirds? > > Won’t the best sparrow predatator be missed? predatator–a new word meaning predator cat. Several of our cats have amazed me catching birds,usually sparrows , by running up into a large thich bush we have in the back yard. ---
**Author:** ![even\_sven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/dfb087/32.png) [@even\_sven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/even_sven)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2005, 4:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hunting-domestic-cats/299366/43 "2005-04-18T04:59:52Z")
> [@JillGat](#): > > EvenSven: > > Hmm. If this has happened multiple times to you, you might wanna look closer at what you possibly could be doing wrong. I even grew up in the same town you live in, and I can’t imagine this would be a constant problem. I grew up someplace very different than this bubble. ---
**Author:** ![JillGat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/9fc29f/32.png) [@JillGat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JillGat)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2005, 5:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hunting-domestic-cats/299366/44 "2005-04-18T05:07:16Z")
And I left that bubble when I was 17… ---
**Author:** ![justwannano](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/7ab992/32.png) [@justwannano](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/justwannano)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2005, 2:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hunting-domestic-cats/299366/45 "2005-04-18T14:10:39Z")
> [@levdrakon](#): > > When I lived in Maryland, my sister-in-law’s cat would regularly bring home bloody cardinal heads. During inclement weather when the cardinals would flock to the bird feeder, that cat could bring home two or three cardinal heads per day. I don’t remember if it ever brought home sparrow heads. Gee that wouldn’t have been a cardinal feeder would it? ---
**Author:** ![levdrakon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/49beb7/32.png) [@levdrakon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/levdrakon)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2005, 2:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hunting-domestic-cats/299366/46 "2005-04-18T14:40:51Z")
> [@justwannano](#): > > Gee that wouldn’t have been a cardinal feeder would it? I believe it was a bird feeder. Do they make _attract cardinals so your cat can eat them_ feeders? Is that in the cat section of the local Petsmart? ---
**Author:** ![justwannano](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/7ab992/32.png) [@justwannano](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/justwannano)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2005, 5:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hunting-domestic-cats/299366/47 "2005-04-18T17:20:14Z")
> [@levdrakon](#): > > I believe it was a bird feeder. Do they make _attract cardinals so your cat can eat them_ feeders? Is that in the cat section of the local Petsmart? I don’t think so. It does seem sorta strange that anyone attracting a certain kind of bird and discouraging others would be surprised that a predatory animal would only kill the most plentiful ones though. ---
**Author:** ![Duckster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/duckster/32/1244_2.png) [@Duckster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duckster)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2005, 5:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hunting-domestic-cats/299366/48 "2005-04-18T17:50:21Z")
We are owned by three cats. All are house cats. We would never let them outside, and we take great pains to ensure they never get out by accident. While I understand and appreciate free ranging cats on farms and such (rats and mice killers), they have no place practically anywhere else outside. With adequate identification and other safeguards, I’m for killing domestic cats found outside. I would apply the same standards to dogs as well. ---
**Author:** ![Odesio](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/odesio/32/20003_2.png) [@Odesio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Odesio)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2005, 6:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hunting-domestic-cats/299366/49 "2005-04-18T18:33:23Z")
> [@Duckster](#): > > With adequate identification and other safeguards, I’m for killing domestic cats found outside. I would apply the same standards to dogs as well. If it weren’t for the cat piss smell I wouldn’t mind the cats or dogs roaming around my land. I live on a few acres of heavily wooded land and I don’t really mind seeing the occasional strange animal. If a dog ever came onto my property and acted aggressively I’d put it down immediately, collar or no. Marc ---
**Author:** ![chefjef](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e480ec/32.png) [@chefjef](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chefjef)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2005, 10:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hunting-domestic-cats/299366/50 "2005-04-18T22:20:47Z")
My cat wonders around all the time and occasionally takes his collar off - it’s terrifying to think he could be target practice soon! [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hunting-domestic-cats/299366.md?page=2)