Jury still out on whether cats are killers, but prison is on the cards
Calver, M.C.ORCID: 0000-0001-9082-2902, Dickman, C., Grayson, J. and Lilith, M.
(2012)
Jury still out on whether cats are killers, but prison is on the cards.
The Conversation, 25 July
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Abstract
In “The Tragedy of Pudd’nhead Wilson”, Mark Twain equated keeping a cat to domestic bliss:
When there was room on the ledge outside of the pots and boxes for a cat, the cat was there – in sunny weather – stretched at full length, asleep and blissful, with her furry belly to the sun and a paw curved over her nose. Then that house was complete, and its contentment and peace were made manifest to the world by this symbol, whose testimony is infallible. A home without a cat – and a well-fed, well-petted and properly revered cat – may be a perfect home, perhaps, but how can it prove title?
But not all pet cats sleep innocently in the sun all day. Many are accomplished hunters at some point in their lives. The cumulative effect of their occasional hunting is substantial wildlife mortality.
Item Type: | Non-refereed Article |
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Murdoch Affiliation: | School of Biological and Environmental Sciences |
Publisher: | The Conversation Media Group |
Copyright: | The Author |
Publishers Website: | http://theconversation.com/au |
URI: | http://researchrepository.murdoch.edu.au/id/eprint/29979 |
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