this post was submitted on 21 May 2025
525 points (85.0% liked)

memes

14893 readers
4789 users here now

Community rules

1. Be civilNo trolling, bigotry or other insulting / annoying behaviour

2. No politicsThis is non-politics community. For political memes please go to !politicalmemes@lemmy.world

3. No recent repostsCheck for reposts when posting a meme, you can only repost after 1 month

4. No botsNo bots without the express approval of the mods or the admins

5. No Spam/AdsNo advertisements or spam. This is an instance rule and the only way to live.

A collection of some classic Lemmy memes for your enjoyment

Sister communities

founded 2 years ago
MODERATORS
you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
[–] drmoose@lemmy.world 75 points 1 day ago (10 children)

Bigger issue imo is cats destroying wild life not the wild life destroying cats. Either way, keep your cat inside.

[–] AnUnusualRelic@lemmy.world 16 points 1 day ago

So, now you're starving coyotes?

[–] Korhaka@sopuli.xyz 17 points 1 day ago (8 children)

Some of us live in countries that don't really have dangerous wild life and cats have been allowed outside for over 1000 years.

[–] starman2112@sh.itjust.works 8 points 18 hours ago (1 children)

>countries that don't really have dangerous wildlife

>cats have been allowed outside for over 1000 years

Sounds like your country does have dangerous wildlife, you just like the predator more than the prey

[–] Korhaka@sopuli.xyz 1 points 14 hours ago

Sure it used to but we killed them off centuries ago

[–] kunaltyagi@programming.dev 38 points 1 day ago (2 children)

Humans can sustain a large density of cats that wasn't possible in the wild. If it's a pet cat, don't let it hunt. It will imbalance the ecosystem by adding too many predators who don't depend on the prey for sustenance

[–] unexposedhazard@discuss.tchncs.de 43 points 1 day ago (19 children)

I always love bringing out this good ol chart.

[–] tinyvoltron@discuss.online 11 points 1 day ago

Fake news. Birds aren't real.

[–] jumping_redditor@sh.itjust.works 6 points 1 day ago (2 children)

so... cats are the most effective way to combat birds?

[–] starman2112@sh.itjust.works 4 points 18 hours ago

Bro someone send this chart to Australia, they can win EW2

load more comments (17 replies)
load more comments (1 replies)
[–] drmoose@lemmy.world 12 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago) (1 children)

cats have been allowed outside for over 1000 years

That's simply not true. There were never as many outdoor cats as there is today and cats used to have natural predators everywhere to keep environmental balance which is lost today. Keeping all of your pets indoors (or at least backyard) is the only ethically viable position.

[–] pulsewidth@lemmy.world 16 points 1 day ago (3 children)

Downvoted by people who don't like facts. There isn't a country in the world with a domestic cat population that wouldn't see a huge benefit to their native wildlife by keeping those pets inside or in a pet run. But people don't like the change or the effort of doing so, so they ignore this inconvenient fact.

[–] drmoose@lemmy.world 11 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago) (4 children)

Indeed, pet owners simply don't want to hear the truth which is incredibly irresponsible.

Even if you really must let your cat out there are things you can do like colorful collars with an attached bell which:

The BBScc reduced the number of birds brought home by 37% (probability of reduction of 88%). The number of mammals brought home was reduced by 54–62%, but only with the additional bell (probability of reduction of >99%)

https://zenodo.org/records/15210938

I've never seen a cat owner who cares enough to even do that when we have clear evidence this works. The naturalist argument of "oh they are local animals" is such an irresponsible cop out where they can't even bother to put a collar on to diminish the damage. It's inexcusable laziness, nothing else.

[–] Crazyblu@lemmy.zip -2 points 21 hours ago (1 children)

Strap a collar so that your cat ends up crazy or hanged surely there wont be any animal cruelty after that right guys right ??

[–] drmoose@lemmy.world 2 points 17 hours ago

I bring you evidence you bring me imaginary anecdotes. OK.

load more comments (3 replies)
[–] kreskin@lemmy.world 1 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago)

We really are a bunch of dumb apes, and we are doomed as a species. Its just a matter of time.

load more comments (1 replies)
[–] rektdeckard@lemmy.world 6 points 1 day ago (6 children)

Yeah I always found the argument absurd as I live on a paved over rectangle with a few square feet of grass my cat likes to poop on while he hangs out with the local squirrels. He is far too lazy to hunt anything, he killed a mouse that was actually inside the house many many years ago but has been a pacifist since. He is 15 he literally wants to sit in the sun and do nothing.

Of course there are some cats who will hunt, and their owners should not allow that. But the blanket statements about environmental impacts, while they cool their house with AC, burn fossil fuels to heat food and go to work, order crap on Amazon...just lacks perspective.

[–] Woht24@lemmy.world 15 points 1 day ago (1 children)

As a cat owner who works in the animal industry, you're suffering from 'my personal experience is reality-itis'.

You can't 'not allow' your cat to hunt. The only chance you have is to keep it inside. Your old cat likely doesn't hunt outside but to think it killed a single mouse it's entire life, is delusional.

[–] rektdeckard@lemmy.world 5 points 1 day ago (2 children)

I don't understand people like you. Can you not accept that there are shades of gray, and exceptions to every rule? I'm simply arguing that not all cats MUST be kept indoors no ifs ands or buts. I concede that many cats, young ones in particular, will kill small animals. My (rescue) cat was an indoor cat for most of his 15 years and only when I moved from a major urban city apartment building to a slightly less-urban city single family house did I let him outside under controlled circumstances. I straight up know he isn't going around killing things. I didn't go out and BUY this cat, I'm not actively contributing to breeding or anything. I have an animal that deserves to enjoy his old age.

I should probably not engage with you people and just keep my truth to myself.

[–] Woht24@lemmy.world -4 points 21 hours ago

keep my truth to myself.

Deluded.

load more comments (1 replies)
[–] FinnFooted@lemmy.world 10 points 1 day ago (7 children)

Cats don't always show you what they kill. I had a roommate that kept letting my cats out. Never saw them kill anything. Then my neighbor told me about how they were little murder machines while I was out at work. Tried taking out a whole near of baby birds.

[–] rektdeckard@lemmy.world 2 points 1 day ago (1 children)

I have cameras, and I work from home. He literally does not leave a fenced-in rectangle. I know for a fact he doesn't kill anything.

[–] FinnFooted@lemmy.world 4 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago)

It very well could be true. But I also don't really think you've been able to watch your cat every moment of his outdoor life to know he literally never goes anywhere and has never killed anything. My cats are indoor only in a tiny apartment and I frequently can't figure out where they are, even when I worked from home.

load more comments (6 replies)
load more comments (4 replies)
load more comments (4 replies)
[–] Anomalocaris@lemm.ee 0 points 18 hours ago (1 children)

tbf, in most urban/sub urban areas, it's too late already.

[–] drmoose@lemmy.world 2 points 18 hours ago

Its not, nature can recover very quickly given the right respect

load more comments (7 replies)