the polarising indoor/outdoor debate with cats
I just wanted to broach a discussion to poll people on their thoughts, on an issue that I'm currently wrestling with my cats.
I have two cats: Starbuck and Kipper. I left my abusive marriage and, when it became clear they were not in a good situation either, they went into foster care with two strong AR minded vegan friends who were used to fostering animals. They have done an excellent job of caring for them and have been the most loving foster mothers I could have asked for.
My cats have been indoor cats their whole lives. I recently moved into a sharehouse on the understanding that my cats could finally return to me because everyone was ok with the cats being inside. However, it appears there was a breakdown in communication and some people were not ok with this.
They are not ok with this from a staunch AR position of "animals should have the right to free reign of the outdoors". Freedom of movement, etc, and that keeping them indoors was cruel. They proposed that everyone pull together to gradually introduce my cats to the outdoors through training. I am still deciding how I feel about this.
Personally I have always felt that allowing cats to roam is not only cruel to them - given baiting, FIV, fighting, cars, sadists and trapping for sale to testing facilities - but to any wildlife they may encounter and kill.
How do people feel about this debate? Where do they stand? What have your experiences been? And if they've trained previously indoor cats to be outdoor cats, how did that go?
I have two cats: Starbuck and Kipper. I left my abusive marriage and, when it became clear they were not in a good situation either, they went into foster care with two strong AR minded vegan friends who were used to fostering animals. They have done an excellent job of caring for them and have been the most loving foster mothers I could have asked for.
My cats have been indoor cats their whole lives. I recently moved into a sharehouse on the understanding that my cats could finally return to me because everyone was ok with the cats being inside. However, it appears there was a breakdown in communication and some people were not ok with this.
They are not ok with this from a staunch AR position of "animals should have the right to free reign of the outdoors". Freedom of movement, etc, and that keeping them indoors was cruel. They proposed that everyone pull together to gradually introduce my cats to the outdoors through training. I am still deciding how I feel about this.
Personally I have always felt that allowing cats to roam is not only cruel to them - given baiting, FIV, fighting, cars, sadists and trapping for sale to testing facilities - but to any wildlife they may encounter and kill.
How do people feel about this debate? Where do they stand? What have your experiences been? And if they've trained previously indoor cats to be outdoor cats, how did that go?