Among the pigeons : why our cats belong indoors
Read, John L.2019
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During the last century, global domestic cat numbers rocketed past 200 million, along with a surge in cat diseases and numbers of feral cats and sick, injured and malnourished cats. Cat shelters are overflowing. Hundreds of thousands of cats are euthanised every year by despondent animal welfare workers. Misplaced sentimentality, sometimes promoted by corporate greed of cat food companies, has exacerbated this situation through promoting irresponsible feeding of strays. Ecologist and author John Read has travelled the world consulting cat experts and collating the most recent science. In "Among the Pigeons" he balances the allure of indoor cats with the animal welfare, human health, and conservation issues they create when allowed to roam. But he also presents solutions, from breeding ideal indoor pet cats to development of humane and targeted tools to control feral cats. In striking parallel to the repercussions of human-induced climate change, warnings about the damage wrought by free-ranging cats have been largely denied or overlooked. But we ignore these issues at our peril. For our own mental health and endangered wildlife worldwide, time is running out.
Among the pigeons : why our cats belong indoors / John L. Read.
Mile End, South Australia : Wakefield Press, 2019.
xv, 347 pages : illustrations, portraits ; 22 cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
Preface -- 1. A tale of two cats -- 2. Survival of the fittest or subliminal genocide? -- 3. Feeding cats birdseed -- 4. Bells and whistles -- 5. Stealth and subterfuge -- 6. More than meets the eye -- 7. I was cruel once too -- 8. Catastrophic cats -- 9. Someone else needs to solve my problem -- 10. Trap, neuter, then? -- 11. When giving is taking -- 12. Protecting cats or duping cat lovers? -- 13. "Misplaced sentimentality" -- 14. Compassionate conservation -- 15. Goodnight kitty -- 16. Michael the wonder cat -- 17. While the cat's away ... -- 18. The sounds of silence -- 19. On a hot tin roof -- 20. No silver bullet -- 21. N=1 -- 22. Lap cats, the purr-fect domestic cats -- Conclusion.
9781743056141
636.8
English
354463
Location | Collection | Call number | Status/Desc |
---|---|---|---|
Brighton Library | Adult Non Fiction - Animals | 636.8 REA | Available |