Re keeping cats indoors: I believe that all animals deserve to be free, and more specifically, that I, as the cat guardian, do not have the moral right to them confined*. I would be interested to hear your counter-arguments, if you would like to share.
My main (maybe virtually sole) concern here is the suffering cats caused. It’s way more than the cat’s suffering being confined.
A few other comments in this post suggests that we can limit a cat’s ability to hunt and kill with certain gadgets, maybe with their use we can still let cats outside without them causing too much suffering. I am not sure.
I would strongly reconsider getting a cat in the first place
I think this is what all cat owners in the world should have done, regarding the overal suffering owning cats causes—Cats cause a lot of suffering.
I think this is what all cat owners in the world should have done, regarding the overal suffering owning cats causes—Cats cause a lot of suffering.
Do you estimate that in most of the world, cats are bought? Meaning, that more adopted cats mean more cats are bred to supply that demand? Otherwise, it shouldn’t make a difference. Quite to the contrary: a house cat that also goes outside does hunt significantly less than a stray cat (though the strays to have much shorter life spans...).
In Israel, where I live, it is definitely not—but I know it is not the case for all places. The vast majority of house cats here are stray cats that were adopted, some of them when they were found as deserted newborn (now there’s an EA dilemma: is it indeed an altruistic act to then adopt the newborn, and spend the vast resources to raise them into a then-hunting cat? ;)).
I know that in Berlin, for example, cats are normally bought and paid for, and also pure-bred (which in Israel would be considered a very immoral thing to do).
My main (maybe virtually sole) concern here is the suffering cats caused. It’s way more than the cat’s suffering being confined.
A few other comments in this post suggests that we can limit a cat’s ability to hunt and kill with certain gadgets, maybe with their use we can still let cats outside without them causing too much suffering. I am not sure.
I think this is what all cat owners in the world should have done, regarding the overal suffering owning cats causes—Cats cause a lot of suffering.
Do you estimate that in most of the world, cats are bought? Meaning, that more adopted cats mean more cats are bred to supply that demand? Otherwise, it shouldn’t make a difference. Quite to the contrary: a house cat that also goes outside does hunt significantly less than a stray cat (though the strays to have much shorter life spans...).
In Israel, where I live, it is definitely not—but I know it is not the case for all places. The vast majority of house cats here are stray cats that were adopted, some of them when they were found as deserted newborn (now there’s an EA dilemma: is it indeed an altruistic act to then adopt the newborn, and spend the vast resources to raise them into a then-hunting cat? ;)).
I know that in Berlin, for example, cats are normally bought and paid for, and also pure-bred (which in Israel would be considered a very immoral thing to do).
What is it like where you live?