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Given the huge ecological impact that domestic cats can have on their surroundings, why don’t we domesticate more rats as our family pets, rather than vilifying them? (continued)

Josephine Dundas
Perth, Western Australia

If we are to give up cats as pets because of their ecological impact, I suggest that we give up dogs too for the same reason. Research shows that dogs walking in forests stress native animals, resulting in lower reproductivity and a host of other effects. A of owners’ observations of wildlife predation by their pets shows that similar numbers of animals are caught by both dogs and cats.

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