

How Far Do Your Cats Roam? - psibi
http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2014/08/140807-cat-tracker-pets-animals-science-gps/

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timr
I don't understand why people are allowed to let their pets roam free. I grew
up fishing feral cats out of places they weren't supposed to be, and it drove
me _crazy_ that people would just let their un-spayed, un-neutered cats wander
around to become their neighbors' vicious little problems.

Even if your kitty is fixed, she's plenty destructive to the local wildlife,
not to mention a disease risk when she gets in fights with raccoons and other
animals that carry rabies. Dogs aren't allowed to run free, and cats shouldn't
be, either.

~~~
sjtrny
Because most of the time they hang around the house. If you read the article
and watch the video they say that a small minority go exploring. Most people
also keep them inside at night. Furthermore since they are generally fed well
by owners they have diminished interest in hunting. Keep in mind that dogs are
locked up because they are usually a lot larger than cats and can attack
people. It also helps that they aren't as good at jumping and climbing as
cats. If dogs could jump and climb like cats then people wouldn't own them as
pets.

~~~
timr
...and yet, clearly, enough roam that it becomes a problem. I have the scars
to prove it.

In any case, all of those things apply to dogs, as well, but we're not allowed
to let our pet dogs roam.

~~~
sjtrny
Yes but dogs can attack strangers that encroach on their territory. That's why
they need to be fenced. Cats can't really do the same to a human.

~~~
timr
My direct experience trumps your theory. Cats can do plenty to attack people
when they feel threatened.

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cremno
The BBC has an article about tracking cats (from 2013), although the animation
could have been better.

[http://www.bbc.com/news/science-
environment-22567526](http://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-22567526)
(animation)

[http://www.bbc.com/news/science-
environment-22821639](http://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-22821639)
(actual article)

The accompanying documentation can be found on YouTube:
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JPthfv1XL_w](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JPthfv1XL_w)

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bluewolf
If you have a cats that roams outside, beware of bunchers. Bunchers are
thieves that trap and steal domesticated pets and sell them to laboratories to
be experimented on:
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buncher](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buncher)

An RFID microchip combined with a GPS collar (Pawtrack.com has a good one) may
help prevent such a terrible outcome, but there are no guarantees.

~~~
personZ
Interesting consideration, but is it a legitimate concern? For the actual
"Bunchers", it seems like there are much easier ways of acquiring cats than
trying to steal domestic cats. And for cat owners, free roam cats face an
endless array of very serious perils, including disease, cars, malicious
neighobors/teens, dogs, coyotes, etc. I can't imagine that people stealing
cats for research account for much more than a blip compared to the completely
banal sources of imminent mortality when a cat runs free.

~~~
bluewolf
If it happened to _your_ pet, it would be a legitimate concern.

