And, more importantly, do our feline friends a favor.
If you are going to have a cat, please get them spayed or neutered, and get them their vaccines and proper health care.
And for God’s (or the Flying Spaghetti Monster’s) sake, if you decide that you can no longer take care of your furrie, and cannot find a friend who will take in your kittie, do not, I repeat, DO NOT, take your cat out to the country and let it go. You may think that you are doing the cat a favor, as opposed to taking it to the shelter because you fear that the cat will be put down.
But trust me on this. We have a huge number of feral cats out here in the boonies. They wind up getting run over, getting feline leukemia virus, feline distemper, rabies, etc, and dying a horrible death, getting savaged by stray dogs (or coyotes) and so on.
We are tired of trying to deal humanely with these feral cats. We try to feed them (and many of them look half starved) and then if we can, tame them enough so that we can get them spayed/neutered and get their vaccines. Or at the very least, take them in to the animal shelter.
But this is not always possible, because most of them are too wild. We just had to bury yet another feral cat, who we were trying to tame, but which was so sick, she died in our back yard. Poor kitty.
This makes us feel so very bad. Spay or neuter your cats, get them vaccinated, and don’t let them run wild! Take responsibility!
I swear, if you don’t, I will give you the Greek Evil Eye! So beware!
Politicians Are Poody Heads 
I grew up on a farm, so I can attest to the fact that the problem of which you speak is an old one. However, since retiring and moving into the big city (I live in a townhome community now), I’ve discovered that it’s not just a country problem. Our own community has a feral cat population (which Momma Bear feeds). And we have a coyote problem, which feeds on more than rabbits, I think. In fact, it’s probably the coyotes that keep the cat population down, since feral cats tend to pop out babies pretty often.
Momma and I have discussed trying to catch, spay, then release the local cats, but they are just too wild. So, even though the local homeowner’s association have a “rule” that nobody gets to feed the cats, everybody does, because, other than the rule makers, nobody around here is willing to watch an animal starve.
There is only one solution, and that is personal responsibility (i.e., don’t “free” your cats). A “pet” is as much a responsibility for life as a child.
Yes, DB, personal responsibility is the answer. Unfortunately, way too many humans have no sense of responsibility.
And I realize that there are feral cats in urban areas, too.
I can’t blame the coyotes for going after the cats, they are just doing what wild animals do.
Cats are not wild animals any more, haven’t been for millennia. They are domesticated. We have a responsibility towards them.
And I am betting that a lot of the people who take little or no responsibility for their cats, or their dogs, also take little responsibility for their children. 😢
Yeah I tried to say that “taking care of your pets should be as important as taking care of your children” but then I realized that I see an awful lot of kids running around in traffic in my neighborhood as well…
😦
Yes, I see those kids, too. (Or riding their bikes, in heavy traffic, without helmets.)
I don’t mean kids that are old enough to go to the local park and play, old enough to know how to stay on the sidewalk and look both ways before crossing the street, kids who have been taught a sense of personal responsibility, and safety. We all did this when we were kids (although, nowadays, in some areas, the police or CPS come in and investigate the parents for “neglect.” My parents would have been up on charges if the cops did this back-in-the-day).
I’m talking about parents who totally ignore their kids, don’t teach their kids, kids who run out in the street randomly, kids who throw bricks or rocks at passing cars, kids who bully and beat up on other kids. Essentially, “feral children.” Or semi-feral, at any rate.
It breaks my heart. 😪
Me too…
😦