107 



City cats should not be taken to the country in the summer and 

 there permitted to run at large, to prey on birds and game, nor 

 should they be abandoned and left to their own devices at the 

 close of the season. This is both cruel and unlawful. 



IMany people do not keep cats. Rats and mice are disposed of 

 by ratproofing buildings and food receptacles and using traps. 

 (See Economic Biology Bulletin No. 1, "Rats and Rat Rid- 

 dance," published by the Massachusetts State Board of Agri- 

 culture.) The utility of the cat in destroying rats and mice has 

 been both overrated and understated. The testimony of cat 

 lovers and cat owners, taken during a canvass in several counties 

 of Massachusetts, seems to indicate that only about one-third of 

 the cats kept in the country towns are known to catch rats, and 

 that only about one-fifth of them are efficient ratters. The num- 

 ber of mousers is larger, but mice may be readily disposed of by 

 traps. It is probable that one-fifth of the cats kept in the coun- 

 try, properly selected and restrained, would accomplish as much 

 in killing rats and mice as do those now kept, and possibly the 

 requisite number might be still further reduced by careful 

 selection and breeding. 



Apparently the cat has few legal rights. In most countries 

 the law seems to regard it as a predatory animal which any 

 person may destroy when found doing damage on his premises. 

 In Massachusetts and some other States the laws protect it 

 from cruelty and abuse. People killing cats should observe all 

 laws or ordinances in regard to trespassing, cruelty, shooting, 

 trapping or poisoning. A cat apparently has some rights on the 

 property of its owner that are denied it when on the property 

 of others. 



There are laws to protect insectivorous birds against gunners, 

 snarers and trappers. Birds of prey and wild predatory animals 

 are proscribed by law, and bounties are offered on the heads of 

 some. Many States offer bounties for native wild cats, but there 

 is no law to check the ravages of the wild house cat, — a far 

 more numerous animal. A man may be fined $10 for killing a 

 songbird, but he may keep any number of cats and may train 

 them to kill many birds weekly. Hardly a hand is raised to stay 

 the destruction of valuable wild life by hundreds of thousands of 

 vagabond or wild house cats. Hunters and trappers have little 

 incentive to kill them as the fur is of small value. Legislation is 

 needed to check this evil. 



It is undeniable that cats may carry such infections as small- 

 pox and scarlet fever, but the subject requires careful investiga- 

 tion before exact statements can be made. The evidence thus 



