Roaming cats killing too many birds, says Nature P.E.I.

Nature P.E.I. is continuing its efforts to protect birds by asking cat owners to keep them indoors or on a leash and hopes a guest speaker next month will help refuel the conversation.

Thegroup's October meeting will feature a presentation by Dr. Dave McRuer, a wildlife health specialist based at the Atlantic Veterinary College, who has participated in several studies on indoor cat ownership.

Keeping cats indoors, that's an easy one. Rosemary Curley

"Here in Canada, [bird mortality]was estimated at around 185 million, and in the States it was in the billions,"annually said Nature P.E.I. PresidentRosemary Curley,citing a 2013 Environment Canada report.

Curley said studies showmany bird species are in rapid decline and cats are estimated to be the largest human-caused source of bird mortality.

Robins, sparrows, warblersand nighthawks are in the most troubleand are among the most likely to be killed by roaming cats, she said.

'Doing something for birds'

Curley said it's not just cats that put birds in danger they are also dying due to collisions with everything from cars to windows to communication towers.

But the group saidgetting cat owners on board would help.

"We've taken it on as something that's important because we think we should be doing something for birds and this is perhaps one of the easiestto address," said Curley.

If people don't want to keepcats indoors, keeping them on a leash would also help protect birds, she said.

"Removing communications towers is not easy, the same with the driving vehicles, not so easy to address because people do want to drive their cars. But keeping cats indoors, that's an easy one."

'He would just be so unhappy'

Not so easy, says cat owner Louise Pollandof Charlottetown, whose 12-year-old cat Depis used to being outdoors every day.

"He spends a lot of time outdoors," said Polland. "He would just be so unhappy, I just couldn't bear the moaning if I kept him in. He's been used to it for his whole life.

"It's one thing with a kitten, you just train them to stay indoors, but for a fully-grown cat, it's not possible."

She said Dep enjoys visiting with neighbours and sticks close to home. She admits her cat enjoys watchingbirds, but said she's never seen him chase or kill one.

Pollandempathizes with those concerned aboutbirds, but said she believes it's too late to train her senior cat to embrace indoor living. She said the fact that her garden is always full of birds suggests to her that they don't see Dep as a threat.

"I could believe it if they avoided my house, but they don't," said Polland.

"There's always a lot of them around, and they seem quite happy, and none of them seem particularly scared of him in the least."

More P.E.I. news