FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE,
Catprint.ca - Institute for Responsible Cat Ownership
Thursday, 22 March, 2007, 17:43,
Delisle, SK, Canada

Here at Catprint.ca, we are noticing a disturbing trend. It seems that some nefarious souls are beginning to attribute the so-called songbird problem to cats. Some are even suggesting that we do away with cats in general.

Now, while we appreciate the attempts by certain entrepreneurs to harness a potential business opportunity with The Cat Ownership Offset™ and the Cat Sequestration Project™ we really must take issue with the spreading of scientifically dubious data regarding causation for the dwindling stocks of songbirds.

It's our opinion that there are reasons for the songbird issue beyond the feline footprint, indeed, it may actually be a human problem. Consider, the 2004 StatsCan Rain Gutter study [Ed: hmm, can't find the link, but I know I saw it somewhere] absolutely proved that humans don't like cleaning their rain gutters in the fall. As most of the build-up in rain gutters comes from trees, humans were then found to be removing trees from their property. No trees, no songbirds. Even more poignant is that those who claim cats to be the culprit counted songbirds in urban areas only! The exact same areas of urban deforestation. Coincidence? We think not. This supposedly sound data can not be accurate as the computer models interpolated urban songbird populations across the whole country. They don't take into account much larger populations of songbirds in wilderness areas. The songbird lobby rigged their study.

Think about it. The last time you were camping, do you remember thinking . . . "Oh, listen, what great music!", or was it more along the lines of "Shut the hell up, you sonza-bitches! It's 4 in the god-damned morning!" Do you say that in your house? No and it is no because there are less songbirds near houses.

Secondly, while songbirds do offer an occasional treat to cats (we don't dispute that!) its been recently found that mice and other small soon-to-be dead animals provide the vast majority of diet to healthy free-range cats, not birds. Birds are just too much work. Therefore the population loss in songbirds can not in total be attributed to cats.

Perhaps most telling is that while the songbird sub-population seems to be dwindling, the overall bird population hasn't gone down! As there are many, many types of birds, all of which provide a nice lite snack, if cats were the cause then the whole of the bird population would be declining. That simply isn't so. The urban pigeon population in particular seems to propagate without limit in urban areas. Those nasty cats aren't doing their job!

Fourth, as little as five years ago, urban planners were convinced that birds were a problem. They introduced owls and hawks to urban areas in an effort to control the bird problem. We bring this up to highlight other potential causes of the songbird stock problem as well as to demonstrate that the supposed scientific consensus has changed its collective mind more than once. Could it be that they are wrong now, too, about the songbird issue?

It is our opinion that Canadian consumers have no need to jump on the The Cat Ownership Offset™ band-wagon because we already have a solution. De-clawing. For years, responsible cat owners have been de-clawing their cats in an effort to distance themselves from the stigma of cat-ownership. We have been reducing the intensity of the songbird catprint for years and no one has noticed.

It's time for the song bird lobby to start telling the truth about their incorrect conclusions, stop falsifying their data, stop ignoring existing solutions, and to stop turning a scientific debate into a political debate. Rhetoric has no place here!

Cheers,
Catprint.ca

Disclosure: it should be noted that while Catprint.ca does accept a small tithe from the Russian Blue Feline Federation, it's such an insignificant amount that it in no way affects the objectivity of our opinions.

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