Are you really going to make me break my promise not to keep getting on my soap box and offending people who have the bad luck of expressing an opinion that so greatly goes against my grain?

Originally posted by lorettalyn:
Sad thing happening in my city, the city council is going to set about writing a "cat leash law". It boggles the mind to think that they think this could possibly work or be humane to cats. It is in response to the very vocal "cat haters" in the city.

If they manage to pull if off, I hope that they will be over-run with mice and rats. This is what happened in an exclusive part of Toronto, where they had all sorts of "bylaws" including what time children were welcome in the area to visit.
I beg to respectfully differ. First of all, the "leash" is a euphemism of sorts for "indoor only". No one who endorses leash laws truly expects to see cats being taken for "walkies" the day after it passes. Maybe knowing that, your mind will be unboggled. Further, I truly doubt the roaming cats make any noticeable difference in the rodent population, since all but the ferals are well-fed and only "hunt" for the sport. And it boggles MY mind that people can really think that letting a cat roam is humane! How is getting smashed on the road by a car humane? How is getting shot by some clod who also likes to "hunt" humane? How is getting shredded by the next roaming cat who happens to be bigger more humane?

And as far as it being the "cat haters", more than likely it's also cat lovers who are just trying to protect the poor cats whose owners won't protect them themselves. I am more than a cat lover, I am also a supporter (time, money, and material donations) of abandoned cats, but I too support leash laws. Why? Not only the above mentioned, but to try and prevent something my INDOOR ONLY cats (and I) had to go through not long ago with the neighborhood unneutered, unleashed tough guy who would come onto MY property and proceed to fight my INSIDE cats through the window until he smashed it! I had to replace two windows and I lost track of how many screens because of the yahoo that owned this bullycat. Thank God no cats were hurt by the broken glass! I don't blame the cat, in fact I cried in pity for him, and he eventually quit coming around (I'm sure he was either run over or shot by another annoyed neighbor - very humane). I blame his irresponsible, uncaring, INHUMANE owners.

I'm sorry, I know I will catch it for "flaming" you, but I cannot let these comments go unchallenged. I know you're well-meaning, and I know you love your cats (if you have any, it's not clear from your posts). And before you even say it, no, I don't think you are a bad person, I just think you may have received some incorrect or incomplete information along the way about what life is like for an outdoor cat. But this is only my opinion - maybe after few hours volunteering at your local shelter and seeing all the unleashed cats being gassed (alot are abandoned or surrendered, but many are pets who got lost or trapped when allowed to roam)it will become your opinion, too. This indoor/outdoor thing was a very hot topic in a recent previous post, so others share your opinion, as others share mine. But since I'm often one of the people lending a hand in picking up the pieces of the roaming cat's lives, I will never get off my spay/neuter/confine soapbox. In the meantime...

...have a nice day.