• Otkaz@lemmy.world
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    2 months ago

    How are cats bad for the environment? Sorry, first time I’ve ever heard someone claim this.

    • Sylvartas@lemmy.world
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      2 months ago

      Cats that are allowed to go outside are an absolute menace to small wildlife. They hunt and kill to play, so no matter how well fed they are they will still do it, and they are quite good at it. This is why only indoors cats are allowed on some islands with a fragile ecosystem

      • Otkaz@lemmy.world
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        2 months ago

        Fair enough, but I would compare someone who owns a fat lazy cat to rollin coal assholes.

        • Sylvartas@lemmy.world
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          2 months ago

          Yeah the comment you replied to is hyperbolic for sure, but even as a cat person I can see where they’re coming from. At the very least a lot of cat owners have a hard time recognizing the (iirc, scientifically proven) fact that the average outdoors cat kills a lot more small wildlife than they would ever require to survive, and by these numbers, it doesn’t take a ton of them to have a noticeable impact on an ecosystem, especially if you take into account the fact that they usually easily outnumber their natural predators since they are such a popular pet.

        • mhague@lemmy.world
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          2 months ago

          By roll coal types I mean people who feel indignation when told they’re doing something harmful to the environment. There’s usually a bit of eye rolling involved.