the Scottish government's put the cat among the pigeons considering a ban to stop moggies from attacking birds and wildlife yes this is a serious report from the Scottish Animal Welfare commission which suggests setting up containment zones where owners would be forced to keep their pets indoors to stop them hunting should cats be banned to protect birds and other Wildlife joining us to discuss this journalist and cat owner Flora gild who says it is cruel to keep cats contained but Jennifer white from the Animal Rights group Peta thinks it is better for wildlife well it's definitely
better for wildlife I would agree Jennifer because cats do in some cases kill animals but isn't that part of the circle of life well this is also better for cats because we know that when cats are allowed to roam unsupervised outside they end up in really dangerous situations whether this is being hit by cars attacked by dogs I'm not sure in anti there are so many dangers that face cats when they're allowed to roam and then of course they are also responsible for Ming and killing billions of native birds and other small animals and of
course these animals are not prepared to defend themselves against this non-native Predator okay so that's why the best thing that we can do for wildlife and cats is keep cats so you're saying cats should only go out on leashes on leads or people can make Catos which are fenced in areas in their Garden where cats can roam but they just can't walk so they should all cats should be chained or encaged they can live very happy lives in homes and you have to remember that cats did not choose to be domesticated by people we have
got into a situation where from our actions are responsible for keeping cat safe and the best way to keep cat safe is by keeping them indoors cage them up it's not a cage is your home a cage we're talking about creating a stimulating and you know very safe environment for cats indoors 700 million vertebrates a year in in the UK is the actual number number of wild prey killed uh by cats according to this official report Flora yeah if you lived in Scotland and this proposal came in as a law MH what would happen to
your cat he would be absolutely miserable I mean he wouldn't I'd be sneaking him out and I'd be protesting but I I think it's cruel to not let cats that want to be outdoors be outdoors they're much happier they're much healthier indoor cats when they've been Outdoors can can do damage to themselves and I think it's ridiculous to suggest that that we keep them on leads which if anyone has a cat has tried to put them on a lead most do not accept it is your cat a killer my cat has killed a couple animals
that I've seen and I'm I'm sure it's more but I think that that's a small price to pay and I think do you find that upsetting or do you feel in you know it's go get them no I don't I don't I don't I don't love my cat killing animals I particularly don't like him bringing in mice but uh I think it's disingenuous to suggest that you're that you your problem that you're trying to help or protect cats but because cats are much happier when they're outdoors and even if that was the case I think
that's a decision for the owners of cats to make not for the government to force well I mean the reality here is that many cats who are allowed out unsupervised do not return home and I'm sure we have all seen posts you know on lamp post missing cat posters and it's absolutely heartbreaking the owner Peter we hear every day horror stories of cats who wandered off and ended up in the wrong hands and they've been burned tortured strangled shot you know there are horrible that is we should stop the horrible people in the same way
that the answer to stopping crime might be to lock all men indoors but I wouldn't suggest that also when you consider that 630 cats are hit by cars Every Single Day in the UK and it is not a legal requirement for people to stop if they hit okay well let me ask you then Jennifer the because part of this report says that in some areas people would be stopped from owning cats all together there would be a cat ban I mean I think we all surely the safest way to protect is to stop people having
them all together I mean the headlines think have sensationalize this issue quite a lot and I think it's highly unlikely that the S&P are ever going to ban people from having cats of course people should be able to have cats in their homes rescue shelters are filled with homeless cats who are just looking for their forever home and of course you know we need to make sure that that can still happen but you can create a very stimulating and enriching environment in your home cat sorry but this isn't this isn't an exaggerated headline this is
a suggestion in this report Commission by the Scottish government that in new housing developments in rural areas a stipulation could be added that cats may not be kept at all and the benefit of having a cat is huge it reduces stress it can reduce anxiety and also if you look after your cat in if you look after your cat and feed it a meaty diet and play with it it's much less likely to go out and Ma and kill I mean these things still happen but I don't think we we wouldn't argue that we section
off areas of wildlife to protect all animals from Hawks and other Predators these happen well how many um animals do foxes kill well foxes are a natural predator for Animals well cats are not native they're you know humans domesticated cats and now we've set them outside and we put them in front of all sorts of danger pretty well integrated now aren't they well the the the thing it's not safe for cats to be outside we are putting them in dangerous situations um and as I've said you know 630 cats every day are being hit by
cars there reason are you fundament let's be honest here let's be honest are you fundamentally a dog person no I love cats and if you TR love cats you want what's best for killing the birds they're happy on a lead I mean aren't you basically saying dogs not cats what we are talking about here is putting cats best interest first you know you can make the best environment in your house you can get very simple toys cat scratches a cat tree you can make a ctio in your garden fenced off area but they're all cage
the cats I'm not sure it's a great slogan we don't not everyone has a big garden and lots of space and the the cats are just happier outside well um Ed were you trying to indicate that fundamentally you have a view on this which is down to whether you're a cat person or a dog person um what would you think if you were told you're not allowed a cat I would think yes because you are very much a dog person thank you both very much indeed right we asked you the viewers do you think pet
cats should be banned to protect wildlife and almost a quarter of you agreed cats should be contained sorry three qus of you disagreed yes yeah that that's how polls work uh thank you both very much indeed
