OUR native bird populations are in desperate trouble.

We have far too many cats, and numbers of free ranging cats have never been higher.

The Daily Echo letter of April 12 from Cat’s Protection quotes 500,000 cats were purchased last year alone.

The devastation they inflict on songbirds and wildlife is unforgivable.

Mammals from frogs to field mice populations are all severely affected.

Cats kill 55 million or more birds in the UK each year. It may be “in their nature”, but cats are especially cruel, often toying with their prey before their final torturous kill.

They have no need to hunt, having no hunger to satisfy. This torture is solely for their own sadistic amusement.

The RSPB say that of the millions of baby birds hatched out each year, the vast majority will die before they get the chance to breed.

House sparrows are in serious decline with so many cats tipping them over the edge into likely long term extinction. This level of killing and cruelty is clearly unacceptable.

Cat’s Protection recommend several ways to reduce the chances of your cat becoming a serial killer.

Fitting a bell to your cat’s collar, neutering to stop them wandering off and adding to the feral population, and keeping them in at night.

PETA People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals) advise cat owners to have a secure ‘catio’ – a garden enclosure from which cats cannot escape.

I am a responsible dog owner and I religiously clean up after my dogs. Cats oddly, can and do defecate wherever they please. This threatens human health by passing on serious infections such as toxoplasmosis, which can be easily spread because of the cat’s preference to defecate on loose soil.

Therefore, they often choose places like gardens and children’s sandpits to leave their faeces, putting every user at extreme risk.

Toxoplasmosis can cause miscarriage if it infects a pregnant woman, and it has been linked with anxiety and depression, not to mention blindness.

Therefore, there really do need to be rigorous controls on the expanding cat population for these reasons and the aspects of cruelty mentioned earlier, or we will continue to see our bird population and other precious wildlife decline where the number of cats are bringing a tsunami of violence and death.

For those who want their cat to roam and explore, please keep it to the confines of your own gardens by using pet friendly garden fencing.

Your cat’s call of nature is not appreciated elsewhere.

DYEOMAN

Hilltop Road, Ferndown