A revered Polish scientific institute has labeled home cats as an "invasive alien species," citing the injury they trigger to birds and different wildlife.
Some cat lovers have reacted emotionally to this month's resolution and put the important thing scientist behind it on the defensive.
Wojciech Solarz, a biologist on the state-run Polish Academy of Sciences, wasn't ready for the disapproving public response when he entered "Felis catus," the scientific identify for the frequent home cat, right into a nationwide database run by the academy's Institute of Nature Conservation.
The database already had 1,786 different species listed with no objections, Solarz informed The Related Press on Tuesday. The uproar over invasive alien species No. 1,787, he mentioned, could have resulted from some media reviews that created the misunderstanding his institute was calling for feral and different cats to be euthanized.
Solarz described the rising scientific consensus that home cats have a dangerous impression on biodiversity given the variety of birds and mammals they hunt and kill.
The factors for together with the cat amongst alien invasive species, "are 100% met by the cat," he mentioned.
In a tv phase aired by impartial broadcaster TVN, the biologist confronted off final week towards a veterinarian who challenged Solarz's conclusion on the risks cats pose to wildlife.
Dorota Suminska, the creator of a guide titled "The Glad Cat," pointed to different causes of shrinking biodiversity, together with a polluted atmosphere and concrete constructing facades that may kill birds in flight.
"Ask if man is on the record of non-invasive alien species," Suminska mentioned, arguing that cats had been unfairly assigned an excessive amount of blame.
Solarz pushed again, arguing that cats kill about 140 million birds in Poland annually. By comparability, home cats kill as much as 4 billion birds yearly within the U.S., in keeping with the College of Texas Biodiversity Heart.
Earlier this month, the Polish Academy institute printed a publish on its web site citing the "controversy" and looking for to make clear its place.
The institute harassed that it was "against any cruelty in direction of animals." It additionally argued that its classification was in step with European Union pointers.
It additionally mentioned that authorized provisions "together with the elimination, isolation and management of the inhabitants, don't apply to the home cat."
So far as categorizing cats as "alien," the institute famous that "Felis catus" was domesticated in all probability round 10,000 years in the past within the cradle of the good civilizations of the traditional Center East, making the species alien to Europe from a strictly scientific perspective.
The institute additionally harassed that every one it was recommending was for cat homeowners to restrict the time their pets spend outside throughout fowl breeding season.
"I've a canine, however I haven't got something towards cats," Solarz mentioned.
