Cats and Birds Can Coexist: Here’s How Shelters Can Help

How do we in animal welfare balance the needs of cats and birds? Can that challenge only be met for birds at the expense of cats, or of cats at the expense of birds?

In one of the most-loved Million Cat Challenge webinars, Cats, Birds, and Animal Shelters, KSMP Director Dr. Kate Hurley sets out with an open mind to explore the experience of those on the front lines of cat management, investigate the science and research, and examine the role of “catch and kill,” eradication, TNR, confinement, and other approaches to community cat management and the welfare of birds and other wild animals.

What Dr. Hurley discovers may surprise cat and bird lovers alike. Luckily, cats vs. birds is one thing we don’t need to argue over this Thanksgiving—or any day. Instead, we can be grateful that we don’t have to choose between the welfare of cats and the welfare of birds. Community cat programs that practice spay/neuter and return to home for healthy, free-roaming cats are a win for shelters, a win for the public, a win for cats, and a win for birds and other animals.

As Dr. Hurley says, “Here’s to common ground.”