PETA calls on Welsh county’s residents to keep cats indoors as ten go missing

Stephen Price

Following reports that around 10 cats have gone missing from a Welsh county in the past year, with many disappearances occurring in recent months, PETA is responding with a red alert, calling on all residents in the area to keep cats indoors.

Ringo, who went missing from the Garth Owen area of Newtown, Powys, last October, was reunited with his guardian several months after being found more than 30 miles from his home, while two cats named Snuggles and Nyla are still missing.

Powys Animal Welfare charity confirmed that another missing cat was found dead.

Speaking to the BBC, Aldwyth Bates, founder of Powys Animal Welfare charity, said she first became aware of the issue when a number of “distressed” members of the public started getting in touch saying their cats had gone missing.

“We started to be very suspicious, particularly as it was concentrated in one area over a few months,” she said, urging owners to be careful.

Ms Bates said that some cats had been returned thanks to microchipping, but others were still missing and one cat was found dead.

She added: “Cats go missing, of course they do, but this was an abnormal number in a cluster around a certain part of an estate,” she said.

“It’s too much of a coincidence – it doesn’t happen like that.”

She urged the police to investigate, saying she hoped “some people get their beloved animals back”.

In addition to risking being abducted, PETA say cats who are allowed to roam outdoors are in danger of sustaining injuries – either by accident or by the cruel and deliberate actions of callous people – or ingesting poison, contracting fatal diseases, becoming lost, and facing many other hazards.

“These disappearances are a reminder that it’s never safe to let our animal companions roam outdoors unattended, even for ‘just a minute, ’” says PETA Vice President of Programs Elisa Allen.

“Cats count on us to protect them, and the best way to do that is by keeping them safe indoors.”

Wildlife impact

Echoing PETA’s calls to keep cats indoors for their own safety, and that of other animals, Chris Packham has urged both the RSPB and RSPCA to speak out about the havoc wreaked by cats on garden birds for years now, but so far his calls have fallen on deaf ears.

He told Yahoo! News: “Most people would agree that if you’re taking 60 million songbirds out a year from one source, that’s 60 million deaths you don’t need.

“When it comes to cats it’s relatively easy to reduce that total. I don’t dislike cats, despite the reputation I have – it’s not the animal’s fault. Cats can end up in the hands of people who keep them out of habit and don’t always look after them.

“If there are fewer cats there is less of an impact on wildlife.”

He says that keeping cats in at night would reduce predation rates on birds and animals by 50%, while giving cats collars would take the number down by 45%.

The effect of these ‘relatively easy’ measures could save tens of millions of birds and small mammals each year, Packham says.

“Killing machines”

According to People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, free-roaming cats are responsible for the deaths of 2.4 billion birds and 12.3 billion mammals in the United States alone each year, but other studies suggest this figure is much higher.

They say: “People wouldn’t dream of opening the door and letting a toddler wander onto the road. Yet every day, cats are run over, poisoned by anti-freeze, or die at the hands of cruel humans – because their guardians do just that.

“If you love your cat (and care about other animals), for goodness’ sake, keep them indoors. Make your house their home, with views to enjoy, things to play with, and your love and attention.”

In the UK alone, cats in our suburbs may be killing up to 270 million animals per year, a study suggests.

Suburban cats living on the edge of natural areas kill an average of 34 animals each per year, according to the research.

Those living in suburbs but surrounded by other houses and further from natural habitats killed an average of 15 each.

Cats in both types of areas killed similar amounts of birds, but those on the edge of the green spaces killed more mammals, the researchers from the University of Reading and Royal Holloway University of London discovered.

In terms of the types of birds killed, the cats with easy access to the natural land killed far more robins, while the others killed far more blackbirds.

Wearing a bell was no deterrent, with these cats actually bringing home the most prey, the study found.

Dr Rebecca Thomas, from Royal Holloway University of London, who was part of the research team said: ‘They are a non-native species. ‘They reach incredibly – and unnaturally – high densities, especially in suburban environments.

‘They get fed by their owners and given veterinary care so you could consider them mini super predators.’

“Fear effect”

And it is not just the direct killing of prey that is the issue, said the lead author of the study Dr Tara Pirie, who is based at the University of Surrey.

The mere presence of cats in an area can have what is known as a ‘sub-lethal fear effect’ which then has consequences for animal numbers down the line.

Dr Pirie said: “Just the presence of a predator can cause wildlife to change their behaviour either reducing feeding through heightened vigilance or staying away from a nest leaving it exposed, for example.”

“This can reduce the survival of both adults and offspring.

“Cats can also carry diseases such as Toxoplasma gondii which can be transmitted to wildlife, again reducing their survival rate.”

Writing for the Guardian, with an Australian perspective, Calla Wahlquist said: “I am not here to make the case that cats should be kept indoors for the sake of local wildlife – that case has been made over and over and over and over again.

“Cat owners know these arguments, and if they have not been persuaded by the fact that cats kill more than 6 million native animals in Australia a day they will not be persuaded by me.”

Wahlquist goes on to describe how a previous cat killed a ‘microbat’ and numerous mice, and hits on an important point in the debate about keeping cats indoors or not – and that is that it is for the cat’s safety as much as for the safety of our delicate ecosystems.

She says: “Nugget was the first cat in our family to die of old age. The two before her and Elmo were hit by cars, three before that simply disappeared. If Nugget hadn’t lost the leg and decided to stick closer to home, I doubt she would have lived past five. That is the average life expectancy for an outdoor cat in Australia. Indoor cats live into their late teens.

“Laurie, by mutual agreement, will live forever. As I write she’s snoring gently on a pile of heated pads that have been stacked, Princess and the Pea-style, on her bed next to the fireplace. She is safe and fulfilled, and the birds outside the window have no fear of anything stalking through the bushes. Keeping cats indoors is a rare solution where everybody wins.”

PETA – whose motto reads, in part, that “animals are not ours to abuse in any way” – points out that Every Animal Is Someone and offers free Empathy Kits.

They say that the best way to maintain cats’ health and safety is to keep them inside with plenty of toys and catnip, a clean litter tray, and an easily accessible cat scratcher.

For more information on how to keep cats happy indoors, visit PETA.org.uk or follow PETA on Facebook, X, TikTok, or Instagram.