# Should it be a crime to feed feral cats within the city limits? **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [December 29, 2017, 5:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-it-be-a-crime-to-feed-feral-cats-within-the-city-limits/805526 "2017-12-29T17:24:15Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Bill\_Door](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/50afbb/32.png) [@Bill\_Door](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bill_Door)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2017, 5:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-it-be-a-crime-to-feed-feral-cats-within-the-city-limits/805526/21 "2017-12-30T17:49:27Z")
If you’re feeding them they’re not feral cats, they’re poorly cared for pets. ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2017, 5:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-it-be-a-crime-to-feed-feral-cats-within-the-city-limits/805526/22 "2017-12-30T17:59:01Z")
> [@Bill\_Door](#): > > If you’re feeding them they’re not feral cats, they’re poorly cared for pets. So is that true for the birds (and squirrels) fed from bird feeders? Is it true of the deer that take advantage of salt licks? What about people that put out food in general to just attract wild animals into viewing range? I think the content of your post is incorrect if you could not gather that. When I lived in a garden apartment complex I was happy some of the older ladies put food out for the local feral population. We were between a restaurant and a creek and would have been overrun with rodents if not for the cats. The cats were clearly not pets but almost welcome employees of the complex. ---
**Author:** ![BlueMerle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/a87d85/32.png) [@BlueMerle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BlueMerle)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2017, 6:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-it-be-a-crime-to-feed-feral-cats-within-the-city-limits/805526/23 "2017-12-30T18:49:25Z")
> [@Jackmannii](#): > > She needs to be educated… While I agree, I’ll have to assume you’ve never tried to have a conversation about animals with a crazy cat lady. In training or otherwise. She gets a bit, how can I put it… defensive. ---
**Author:** ![Damuri\_Ajashi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/898d66/32.png) [@Damuri\_Ajashi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Damuri_Ajashi)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2017, 7:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-it-be-a-crime-to-feed-feral-cats-within-the-city-limits/805526/24 "2017-12-30T19:10:31Z")
> [@JcWoman](#): > > My local animal shelter also has an innovative program: there are some feral cats out there that are too “wild” to ever become house pets, so the shelter gives them a health workover and then “adopts” them to local farmers as barn cats! I’ve been told it’s a very successful program! They have something like that here as well but I live in the suburbs and they neuter the cat and you provide it with outdoor shelter (usually involves putting a cat door in your outdoor shed or something under your deck) and food and it provides you with a vermin free property. People seem to like it and the cats seem willing to eat whatever you give them. ---
**Author:** ![nelliebly](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nelliebly/32/5422_2.png) [@nelliebly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nelliebly)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2017, 7:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-it-be-a-crime-to-feed-feral-cats-within-the-city-limits/805526/25 "2017-12-30T19:46:44Z")
> [@What\_Exit](#): > > So is that true for the birds (and squirrels) fed from bird feeders? Is it true of the deer that take advantage of salt licks? What about people that put out food in general to just attract wild animals into viewing range? > > I think the content of your post is incorrect if you could not gather that. > > When I lived in a garden apartment complex I was happy some of the older ladies put food out for the local feral population. We were between a restaurant and a creek and would have been overrun with rodents if not for the cats. The cats were clearly not pets but almost welcome employees of the complex. I love cats, but you’re making a false comparison. Feral cats are not the same as wildlife; they’re a domestic species that has been inhumanely returned to the wild state. The birds that come to feeders are not escaped or abandoned canaries. They generally survive quite well if no humans put out food for them. People don’t put out food to attract feral cats as they do wild birds, nor do people start feeding birds because an emaciated robin came around. I’m concerned about the situation at your old apartment complex. First, a restaurant that’s attracting that many rodents is surely in violation of several health codes. Second, if the rodent population is that large, the cats wouldn’t need an additional food source; providing one would make them _less_ likely to dine on those rodents. I like cats, too, but the life of a feral cat is not a pleasant one, and they definitely tend to have shorter lives due to predators, including other cats, and traffic. People feed them because they understandably feel sorry for them, but feeding without fixing is a cruel condemnation of future generations of feral cats. If people are going to feed them, they’re morally obligated to TNR them. ---
**Author:** ![nightshadea](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/7ba0ec/32.png) [@nightshadea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nightshadea)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2017, 7:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-it-be-a-crime-to-feed-feral-cats-within-the-city-limits/805526/26 "2017-12-30T19:49:26Z")
actually the official policy of los angeles county is trap them fix them and put them back because it keeps the desert rodents out and in residential areas theyd rather have a dominant herd because it keeps strays out How ever the cats seemed to have reached a pax with the desert squirrels more or less cause they don’t like the teeth and claws of the other…now the mice …the squirrels and the cats are at war with ---
**Author:** ![j666](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/9de0a6/32.png) [@j666](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/j666)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2017, 7:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-it-be-a-crime-to-feed-feral-cats-within-the-city-limits/805526/27 "2017-12-30T19:53:02Z")
> [@Inbred\_Mm\_domesticus](#): > > I look forward to reading your research in regards to the questions you raised **j666**. As I am not proposing changes to public policy, I probably won’t be doing any. I also won’t be introducing any invasive species to a small restricted area. I will continue to argue that feeding any wild animal is very bad for its group and to carefully read articles, even in Nature, for signs of a previously existing agenda. And to look for ways to kill vermin that doesn’t introduce toxic materials into the ecosystem. ---
**Author:** ![j666](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/9de0a6/32.png) [@j666](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/j666)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2017, 8:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-it-be-a-crime-to-feed-feral-cats-within-the-city-limits/805526/28 "2017-12-30T20:01:47Z")
An ideal solution would be adding some form of chemical birth control to the food. > [@Xema](#): > > It applies because the cats exist as the result of human action. > Note that it’s certain that feral cats with other food sources are more likely to produce more feral cats. > It should not be hard for anyone to give reasons why a preserving a variety of native species is preferable to allowing their destruction. Whereas the suppression of outdoor kittycats in no way threatens the survival of their species. I am not convinced that feral cats would not thrive without human interaction. Everyone recommends keeping the feral cats population in check, but some prefer a method rather than starvation. Feral cats are not driving species into extinction in most environments; any invasive species is dangerous, so singling out feral cats is conflating two issues. ---
**Author:** ![Inbred\_Mm\_domesticus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/aca169/32.png) [@Inbred\_Mm\_domesticus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inbred_Mm_domesticus)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2017, 10:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-it-be-a-crime-to-feed-feral-cats-within-the-city-limits/805526/29 "2017-12-30T22:06:15Z")
> [@j666](#): > > As I am not proposing changes to public policy, I probably won’t be doing any. > > I also won’t be introducing any invasive species to a small restricted area. > > I will continue to argue that feeding any wild animal is very bad for its group and to carefully read articles, even in Nature, for signs of a previously existing agenda. > > And to look for ways to kill vermin that doesn’t introduce toxic materials into the ecosystem. Well why not point out the evidence for a previously existing agenda in the article then? I thought the article did a decent job of pointing out the knowns and unknowns on the topic and gave a lot of decent examples of how to shape policy to the specifics of their analysis. ---
**Author:** ![Bill\_Door](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/50afbb/32.png) [@Bill\_Door](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bill_Door)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2017, 11:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-it-be-a-crime-to-feed-feral-cats-within-the-city-limits/805526/30 "2017-12-30T23:00:40Z")
> [@What\_Exit](#): > > So is that true for the birds (and squirrels) fed from bird feeders? Is it true of the deer that take advantage of salt licks? What about people that put out food in general to just attract wild animals into viewing range?(snip) It is clearly irresponsible to feed wild animals. Deer car collisions cause more than a billion dollars in property damage and over 200 fatalities a year. Habituating wild animals to human beings does harm to both human and animal populations. Leave wild animals alone, they and you will be better off. edited to add: That’s 200 human fatalities. The deer fatalities are exponentially higher. ---
**Author:** ![nelliebly](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nelliebly/32/5422_2.png) [@nelliebly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nelliebly)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2017, 12:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-it-be-a-crime-to-feed-feral-cats-within-the-city-limits/805526/31 "2017-12-31T00:47:13Z")
> [@Bill\_Door](#): > > It is clearly irresponsible to feed wild animals. Deer car collisions cause more than a billion dollars in property damage and over 200 fatalities a year. Habituating wild animals to human beings does harm to both human and animal populations. Leave wild animals alone, they and you will be better off. > > edited to add: That’s 200 human fatalities. The deer fatalities are exponentially higher. Agreed, and I’ll add that it’s also bad for the deer in other ways. When deer become habituated to urban areas, they don’t eat ONLY the food that’s put out for them. They eat plants in lawns that have been cultivated using chemicals such as those in Roundup, the world’s most popular weed killer. Roundup and Bravo cause thyroid damabe in developing deer fetuses, which in turn causes emaciation, hoof malformations, and hair loss. ([Link](http://http://www.northamericanwhitetail.com/conservation/whitetails-crossroads-crops-contributing-whitetail-decline/#ixzz52nEQ0ZM0).) ---
**Author:** ![D\_Anconia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/67e7ee/32.png) [@D\_Anconia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/D_Anconia)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2017, 1:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-it-be-a-crime-to-feed-feral-cats-within-the-city-limits/805526/32 "2017-12-31T01:30:06Z")
> [@Duckster](#): > > I will not stop feeding them, no matter what my city might try to enact if they ever did. Why do you feel that you’re above the law? ---
**Author:** ![pool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pool/32/4152_2.png) [@pool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pool)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2017, 2:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-it-be-a-crime-to-feed-feral-cats-within-the-city-limits/805526/33 "2017-12-31T02:14:36Z")
Random question, I don’t know enough about feral cats. I see them in parking lots around here sometimes and they’ll generally run into the sewer if approached. If you got enough of them around will they ever attack humans, not that they are a legitimate threat just wondering if they would ever try. ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2017, 3:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-it-be-a-crime-to-feed-feral-cats-within-the-city-limits/805526/34 "2017-12-31T03:23:57Z")
> [@Bill\_Door](#): > > It is clearly irresponsible to feed wild animals. Deer car collisions cause more than a billion dollars in property damage and over 200 fatalities a year. Habituating wild animals to human beings does harm to both human and animal populations. Leave wild animals alone, they and you will be better off. > > edited to add: That’s 200 human fatalities. The deer fatalities are exponentially higher. Deer are not getting hit because they are getting fed, they get hit as they have a lack of natural predators these days and cars have effectively taken that role. You’re taking an extremely small number of deer that might have gotten to use to humans and thinking that is the cause of any but a small number of the road accidents deer are involved in? Come on now. ---
**Author:** ![Inbred\_Mm\_domesticus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/aca169/32.png) [@Inbred\_Mm\_domesticus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inbred_Mm_domesticus)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2017, 3:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-it-be-a-crime-to-feed-feral-cats-within-the-city-limits/805526/35 "2017-12-31T03:50:49Z")
Another good reason to attempt to ban the feeding of feral cats is you’re rarely just feeding the cats. You could be feeding skunks, raccoons, rats, mice, birds, foxes, cockroaches, and anything that might see the cat food as an opportunity. The unintended consequences of concentrating all these animals around a central food source are injury due to fights, constant stress from the competition, and the spread of disease. ---
**Author:** ![fervour](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ce7236/32.png) [@fervour](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fervour)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2017, 4:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-it-be-a-crime-to-feed-feral-cats-within-the-city-limits/805526/36 "2017-12-31T04:18:36Z")
> [@Xema](#): > > These SDMB discussions rarely take much notice of an important aspect of feral cat populations: they are an unholy disaster for wild birds - most especially those that nest on & near the ground. Encouraging outdoor cats really is deeply irresponsible. > > In the real world, a feeding ban seem unlikely to be highly effective. Yet I think it’s justified. > > Many sensible rules - e.g. about the use of handicapped parking spaces - are frequently violated. But that doesn’t mean they are wrong. Why are wild birds more valuable then wild cats? I have two indoor/outdoor cats that were rejects/feral. They are both fixed. They show love. I have no reason to believe that it isn’t love. They have very similar neurochemicals as humans. They are mammals. I know that anytime when they go outside they may die. But that is their wont. They are 11 years old. I have seen 11 year old , Molly Clementine, snatch a bird out of the air. I don’t see how that bird is more valuable then her. I have also rescued a Chuck-Will’s-Widow that she brought into the house. I have NEVER been loved by a wild bird. I hope they thrive. I will NEVER accept that wild birds are more valuable then feral cats. They can duke it out. BTW, Duckster, Molly Clementine does the “touch noses” thing too. I know she loves me. ---
**Author:** ![Inbred\_Mm\_domesticus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/aca169/32.png) [@Inbred\_Mm\_domesticus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inbred_Mm_domesticus)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2017, 4:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-it-be-a-crime-to-feed-feral-cats-within-the-city-limits/805526/37 "2017-12-31T04:47:22Z")
> [@fervour](#): > > Why are wild birds more valuable then wild cats? It depends. If the wild birds you are referring to are starlings or house sparrows, I doubt many would value the birds over the cats. But if the bird is a native species, I don’t see why you would place so much value on the cats over protecting the birds. What is more difficult for me to understand is how you value the cats’ privilege to go outdoors over the wild birds living at all, and peoples’ passion to observe and enjoy these birds means less to you than letting your cats go out and needlessly kill wildlife. Your cats could enjoy your company without them ever going outside. Most domesticated cats have absolutely no reason to be outside. ---
**Author:** ![fervour](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ce7236/32.png) [@fervour](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fervour)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2017, 5:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-it-be-a-crime-to-feed-feral-cats-within-the-city-limits/805526/38 "2017-12-31T05:03:33Z")
> [@Inbred\_Mm\_domesticus](#): > > It depends. If the wild birds you are referring to are starlings or house sparrows, I doubt many would value the birds over the cats. But if the bird is a native species, I don’t see why you would place so much value on the cats over protecting the birds. > > What is more difficult for me to understand is how you value the cats’ privilege to go outdoors over the wild birds living at all, and peoples’ passion to observe and enjoy these birds means less to you than letting your cats go out and needlessly kill wildlife. Your cats could enjoy your company without them ever going outside. Most domesticated cats have absolutely no reason to be outside. Because they want to. The cats want to go outside. It matters not to me that they didn’t start detained. The fact that they want to go outside means something. I assume you want to go outside. Would you deny that right to your child? Imprisoning something wild because you feel it would be better for a different species seems-----I don’t know. Have you never loved an imperfect animal? I don’t see how you have answered why wild birds are more valuable then feral cats. ---
**Author:** ![elfkin477](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a9a28c/32.png) [@elfkin477](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elfkin477)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2017, 6:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-it-be-a-crime-to-feed-feral-cats-within-the-city-limits/805526/39 "2017-12-31T06:08:22Z")
> [@pool](#): > > Random question, I don’t know enough about feral cats. I see them in parking lots around here sometimes and they’ll generally run into the sewer if approached. If you got enough of them around will they ever attack humans, not that they are a legitimate threat just wondering if they would ever try. Yes, see [this documentary](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0102994/?ref_=nv_sr_2). ---
**Author:** ![Roderick\_Femm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/roderick_femm/32/14875_2.png) [@Roderick\_Femm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Roderick_Femm)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2017, 6:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-it-be-a-crime-to-feed-feral-cats-within-the-city-limits/805526/40 "2017-12-31T06:28:15Z")
It’s against the law in many cities to feed the pigeons, does anyone think that works? You cannot eliminate feral cats. A good and well-publicized TNR program can help keep the population under control. Feeding them keeps them from eating (as much) wildlife (although we had a semi-feral in our yard that we fed, and she liked to hunt gophers for sport, a practice of which I was greatly in favor). As for those who let their house cats run around outside unsupervised, well, here in San Francisco we have an increasing coyote presence, which has rightly made many cat owners think twice about that practice. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-it-be-a-crime-to-feed-feral-cats-within-the-city-limits/805526.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-it-be-a-crime-to-feed-feral-cats-within-the-city-limits/805526.md?page=3)