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A review by spockcrig
Cat Wars: The Devastating Consequences of a Cuddly Killer by Peter P. Marra, Chris Santella
4.0
This book has been on my radar for a very long time. Perhaps not because it seems to have seriously ruffled the feathers of a great number of obdurate cat-owners, but because it presents an argument that I’d never really stopped to consider myself until the media furore that followed its publication exploded over social media a few months ago. Indeed, since then I’ve read several reviews in an attempt to gauge the general feel of this book but so polarised are opinions left in its wake, I’ve had no choice but to read it myself – and what a surprise it turned out to be! I have to say, I thoroughly enjoyed it – not because I hate cats – but because it was massively enlightening. Sensationalist title and inflammatory opening aside, the book explores a number of implications of growing “unowned, free-ranging” cat colonies stateside, from health implications (the best chapter in the book centres solely on cats as hosts of zoonotic diseases, with a focus on the protozoan Toxoplasma gondii) to the ethics of such colonies and, of course, the devastating effect that such populations can have on local fauna – particularly if that fauna is endemic to an isolated habitat such as an island.
The authors present some pretty mind-boggling numbers - all derived from statistical modelling - but overall the science was not as compelling as I had hoped it to be. Presenting such massive numbers without context is unhelpful when encouraging someone (the reader) to form a balanced opinion (though I'm pretty sure that was not the author's intention). I'd have liked to have seen comparisons of number of birds/reptiles/amphibians/mammals killed per week per cat with the number of birds/reptiles/amphibians/mammals killed per week by traffic or habitat destruction/growing urbanisation or perhaps other invasive species. The pandemic of invasive species - aptly named by Elizabeth Kolbert as 'the new Pangaea' - is heavily emphasised in the book but only from a feline perspective. Just how damaging are cats to the natural environment when contrasted with goats on the Galapagos, Stoats in New Zealand or the European Red Fox to Little Penguins on Middle Island, etc? It's evident when reading that a significant bit of cherry picking has gone on in order to push an agenda and, although I actually do agree that cat owners should keep their cats indoors and 'feral' cat colonies should be culled, it's no more agreeable to me than the culling of American Grey Squirrels in the UK to make way for the native red, and so on and so forth. This 'cat epidemic' as it is so named in the book is yet another example of anthropogenic activity negatively affecting wildlife but, in my opinion, there are far more pressing matters to be not only focusing on but encouraging people to direct their energy at. Of course conservation starts at home and perhaps the publication of this book will affect positive change in at least some cat owners but ultimately, conservation starts with empowering people to understand the implications of their decisions through information and 'Cat Wars' does a disservice to that ethos. It's enjoyable and informative at times but the agenda it really tries to hammer home is too often misleading.
The authors present some pretty mind-boggling numbers - all derived from statistical modelling - but overall the science was not as compelling as I had hoped it to be. Presenting such massive numbers without context is unhelpful when encouraging someone (the reader) to form a balanced opinion (though I'm pretty sure that was not the author's intention). I'd have liked to have seen comparisons of number of birds/reptiles/amphibians/mammals killed per week per cat with the number of birds/reptiles/amphibians/mammals killed per week by traffic or habitat destruction/growing urbanisation or perhaps other invasive species. The pandemic of invasive species - aptly named by Elizabeth Kolbert as 'the new Pangaea' - is heavily emphasised in the book but only from a feline perspective. Just how damaging are cats to the natural environment when contrasted with goats on the Galapagos, Stoats in New Zealand or the European Red Fox to Little Penguins on Middle Island, etc? It's evident when reading that a significant bit of cherry picking has gone on in order to push an agenda and, although I actually do agree that cat owners should keep their cats indoors and 'feral' cat colonies should be culled, it's no more agreeable to me than the culling of American Grey Squirrels in the UK to make way for the native red, and so on and so forth. This 'cat epidemic' as it is so named in the book is yet another example of anthropogenic activity negatively affecting wildlife but, in my opinion, there are far more pressing matters to be not only focusing on but encouraging people to direct their energy at. Of course conservation starts at home and perhaps the publication of this book will affect positive change in at least some cat owners but ultimately, conservation starts with empowering people to understand the implications of their decisions through information and 'Cat Wars' does a disservice to that ethos. It's enjoyable and informative at times but the agenda it really tries to hammer home is too often misleading.