[alt text: a two panel comic. In the first panel, a doctor is talking to a patient, and the patient is holding her head. The doctor is saying, “Does it hurt?”, and the woman is replying, “Yes…”. In the second panel, the doctor is replying, “Keep your cat inside or I’ll punch you again”. ]
I find this to be a very cultural thing as to whether it’s acceptable or not. Where I live cats roam the streets, if an American visited here they would be horrified.
Definitely. In the UK it’s generally normalised that letting your cat roam outside is the more humane way of keeping them. The majority of cat owners have “moggies” (unknown mix) and only people with purebreds tend to keep them inside for fear of theft.
This is relatively modest compared to e.g. Istanbul where there’s essentially an informal arrangement to look collectively after the semi-feral cat population.
The US anti outdoor cat thing strikes me as a very suburban HOA viewpoint.
cats in this way of living have literally exterminated entire species
Ok I will grant that in areas where cats were more recently introduced because of colonisation the indoor cat drive may have more merit