[bmer]

Can we just eradicate all foreign comers in the last 200 years from Australia? Perhaps one of the worst losses in Australia has been the near extermination of the native human population by a vigorously violent outside group of humans (who also were the ones that brought along the cats).

Note: this comes from an animal lover (and sure, I have a soft spot for cats) who finds flippant regards like "their complete eradication from the continent".

Nothing should ever be considered for eradication. The lazy solution is to eradicate. The hard solution is to "empathize" (i.e. study the 'problematic' component within a complex system) and figure out how to create a new space for it within the system/reconfigure the system around it.

[lolc]

Cats once had a function in pest control. These days, we're keeping cats solely for our pleasure. We can be the ones to not keep them anymore.

I find that people who lock cats inside don't empathize with them much. And those who let them roam don't empathize much with wildlife. The best system may be the one where cats are not considered pets anymore.

[malvosenior]

Don’t people still keep cats for pest control? They’re really good at it.

[upvotinglurker]

Small farms that keep grain-fed livestock absolutely do.

[lolc]

It is rarely a consideration.

[malvosenior]

You must not live in a place with a lot of rodents. Cats are regularly employed to help keep them out of your house. This goes for the city and country. Cats are super useful in New York for instance.

[jaclaz]

Well, it depends on where you live.

In the country having a few cats means no mice, no rats, no snakes around the house.

[thatcat]

You could say the same for dogs though right?

[lolc]

Absolutely. Using dogs for hunting is considered barbaric these days.

[malvosenior]

Dogs are still very useful as home protection.