Wandering Kitties

I have a cat named Bentley. Meg and I rescued him from the local animal shelter last year.

You can’t see me
He’s a good-natured kitty who gets along well with everyone. He even has a fondness for the dog, even though the dog is rather apathetic about him. He eats a half-cup of kibble a day and spends half his day sleeping.
The one thing we don’t do, though, is let him go outside. Whenever a door is open, we make sure we know where he is. When we first got him, he escaped into the garden twice, but once outside, seemed quite shocked at how big the outdoors was and wanted to go back inside. He’s quite content with living inside now, and only watches while we open the door.
Why not outside? Well, for his safety mostly—there are coyotes, snakes, hawks, and owls on the other side of the garden wall, and we prefer that Bentley remains in one piece.
Ecology
But cats are also a danger to ecology, doncha know. Take, for example, the Stephens Island Wren:

I shall chirp no more
Historically found on only Stephens Island near New Zealand, it is now remembered as the only known species to be almost entirely wiped out by a single living being, the local lighthouse keeper’s cat, named Tibbles. In 1894, Tibbles started to bring carcasses to the lighthouse keeper’s housings. It was soon discovered to be a rare species of wren. By the next year, the cat retrieved the last known carcass of the bird, and the Stephens Island Wren was extinct for the rest of history.
Tibbles gets a bad rap, and may not be the only cause of the species’ extinction—it may have happened because of other feral cats on the island.
Spay and Neuter
Chances are, cats aren’t native to your local ecosystem. Setting them loose outside will inevitably cause the local ecosystem harm from their predator instincts. Worse, some owners don’t spay or neuter their cats.
Last week, one of Meg’s coworkers remarked sadly that she hadn’t seen her cat come back home for several days. He’s an indoor-outdoor cat, but usually returns home every day, except this week. Meg commiserated with her—while silently wondering why her coworker would let her cat outside.
Several days later, the coworker followed up by saying that she’s was in her yard with the back door open and the cat had appeared and raced inside. All was well again. The coworker added that her cat wasn’t neutered, so he was probably out impregnating cats the last few days, hah hah.
Come on, people! The world doesn’t need more cats than it has already. One trip to the animal shelter will show you cages and cages of cats and kittens waiting to be adopted. And feral cats roam the streets, at least in warm climes like Tucson, San Juan, or Tel Aviv, surviving off the scraps that they can find. The Humane Society estimates that the United States alone has 50 million feral cats.
So What Can You Do?
Three things. 1.) If you love cats, adopt one or three from your local animal shelter. The shelter will make sure the kitties spayed or neutered before they go to your lovely home. Don’t buy; adopt. 2.) If your cat isn’t fixed, pop ‘round to the local vet and they’ll be happy to do it for you. As much as everyone loves cats, the world doesn’t need more Mr. Muffins. 3.) Don’t let them go outside. Cats are quite content staying inside. Just ask Bentley.

If you touch my belly, I will transform into a bear trap