SCOTTISH Wildcat Action's Trap Neuter Vaccinate Return programmes are holding the frontline against further hybridisation of the wildcat. Congratulations are due to that group for the massive ground area covered and the meticulous attention to doing this to the highest standards.
Currently pet charities report that 13 per cent of Scotland's cat owners still keep their cats un-neutered.
The owned cat population is doubling every four years as a result, adding 1,144,000 new cats every four years (ignoring offspring reproduction), at a time when available homes are on the decrease or level. This flood adds to the existing large stray and feral cat populations. With its significantly greater reproductive capability the domestic cat colonises territory faster and more effectively than the Scottish wildcat.
We could choose to ignore the facts and leave the tap open for the flood to continue. If we do, we should expect to lose the Scottish wildcat in its free-ranging state, and to lose much other wildlife to the spreading colonisation of our environment. We shall have failed our farmers and land managers who are on the receiving end of cat colonisation, and the important cat-loving public who feel great distress at the thought of homeless cats and their offspring enduring atrocious conditions that they wouldn't inflict on their own pets at home.
If this were a referendum, 90 per cent of cat owners would have voted “neuter” and “microchip”. Yet the actions of the small minority completely outweigh the good work of the vast majority.
It's a strange kind of democracy when the deliberate choices of a few undermine the well-being of the majority – and the health of our natural environment.
Dr Ellie Stirling,
Hillhead Farmhouse, North Mains of Kinnettles, Forfar.
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