Save birds, but don’t ban cats
A report by the independent Scottish Animal Welfare Commission contained numerous proposals for curbing the problem of domestic cats killing about 27 million birds across Great Britain each year. The proposals included vaccinations and neutering, but the most controversial online was the suggestion that cat ownership be limited in certain areas that are home to endangered species of birds. Rumors circulated online that Scotland was planning to ban pet cats. First Minister John Swinney was forced to issue the statement after a report by independent experts branded felines a threat to Scotland’s wildlife and suggested “containment” measures be considered to reduce the damage. “Let me just clear this up today. The government’s not going to be banning cats or restricting cats. We have no intention of doing so and we’ll not be doing it.”
The commission advised the government to consider a range of measures, including keeping domestic cats indoors or on leashes, to protect endangered species such as Scottish wildcats. The report said “cat containment” measures could also include “restrictions on introducing cats to households in vulnerable areas” -– interpreted by some as effectively a ban. The Scottish government said it would “fully consider” the recommendations. The Daily Mail reported: “Fury as households in Scotland could be banned from getting a pet cat.” The Scottish Daily Express branded the idea a “madcap scheme.” Cats Protection, the U.K.’s biggest cat charity, gave the idea of draconian containment measures short shrift, saying “pragmatic solutions like keeping cats indoors at dawn and dusk can balance the needs of domestic cats and wild animals.”
The Feline Frontier responded to these threats:
“Scotland is a nation of cat lovers,” said Alice Palombo, the charity’s advocacy and government relations officer for Scotland, with almost a quarter of Scottish households owning a feline pet. Cats can learn words faster than human babies, a new study has found. Previous research has indicated that cats possess various cognitive abilities. They can follow human pointing gestures, recognize their names, and even identify familiar cats and people. The research led by Saho Takagi, cognitive scientist from Abazu University in Japan and the lead author of the study, suggested that cats might be “hard-wired” to learn aspects of human language. “I was very surprised, because that meant cats were able to eavesdrop on human conversations and understand words without any special reward-based training,” he said. Takagi and his team designed an experiment with 14-month-old human babies. The infants typically begin to associate words with objects after hearing them repeatedly, and it usually requires around 16 to 20 exposures for them to remember the terms. In their study, the researchers tested 31 adult pet cats. Each animal was placed in front of a laptop displaying two short cartoon animations. Scientists noted that “most cats habituated to the stimulus pairing after four trials,” a process shorter than what is typically afforded to infants in similar studies.
Banning humor
A clever Russian is planning on a streaming service exclusively for banned films.
He’s going to call it Nyetflix.
Why was the cat banned from running the race?
Because he was a cheetah.
Did you hear the Karen was banned from the zoo?
She took a fence.
President Trump just banned shredded cheeses.
He wants to Make America Grate Again.
February 6th Birthdays
1951 – Natalie Cole, 1986 – Crystal Reed, 1999 – Aviva Mongillo, 1917 – Zsa Zsa Gabor
1911 – Ronald Reagan, 1890 – Babe Ruth, 1986 – Kris Humphries, 1981 – Bob Marley