[Spooky23]

I blame online communities for this.

Cat ladies are insane and organized now. In my city, there’s a group distributing shelters and placing them in various outdoor areas to keep feral cats alive over the winter.

They are as nutty as the pigeon feeders, except the cats kill everything in sight.

[pirate787]

We have a group like this, which feeds a couple dozen feral cats on "Kitty Cat Lane." Of course there is science behind the insanity -- toxoplasmosis infections from the cats they love.

[Spooky23]

Our local Nextdoor exploded when some particularly nutty cat vigilante started stealing cats and spaying them.

I think as society sprawls out and folks have fewer kids, this stuff gets escalated.

[jollybean]

These comments are disturbingly out of touch.

'Neuter and Release' programs are common, supported and sanctioned by animal shelters, usually local vets provide their services for free, and the point is to provide basic medical for the animals while at the same time trying to control excess populations.

Calling them 'Nutty cat lady vigilantes' would be like calling people 100 years ago providing shelter for abused women 'Marriage Wreckers'.

[Spooky23]

This particular group of self-described activists were running a squeegee guy scam with cats.

They were stealing pets and shaking down the owners for cash.

[jollybean]

Enough with the petty, denigrating attacks people helping mostly harmless animals, which is a generally good thing. These rescuers/helpers run 'neuter and release' programs and are keen on having population control, not increasing the number of rogue cats.

[thatguy0900]

Mostly harmless to you... What a strange thing to call what is effectively an apex suburban predator that is known to kill for fun with no intention of eating.

[jollybean]

They are animals like any other, and this notion of 'apex suburban predator' is nonsense.

[thatguy0900]

What's nonsense about it? These aren't raccoons digging through people's trash and scavenging, they hunt wildlife for food and are protected from everything that would hunt them in return, even getting food and water and potentially shelter in the worst months.

[Spooky23]

No way. Cats eviscerate bird population.

[cmurf]

Feral cats should be euthanized from a distance. Ask any infectious disease doc about cat bites. And think twice about feral kittens being all innocent, their teeth are like hypodermic needles, and can inject shit into joints. You can lose life and limb from kitty cat bites. These are not cool animals.