Genie, that attitude to owning a cat is the exact reason why I don't like cats (or rather, why I don't like some cat owners). Ppl buy cats bcos they're perceived as a "low-maintenance" pet - when you go to work or go travelling or whatever, you can just throw them out of the house and leave them to their own devices.

If you live in the country, then fine - there's no-one else around to bother. But if you live in a town, this simply isn't acceptable. This is precisely the attitude which that site talks about, and which gets me angry about some cat owners. If you don't have the time to look after your animal, don't f***ing expect me to look after it for you!

The issue is not that "indoor cats can work well for some ppl". The issue is that if you're living in a town and you don't have the time or space to keep your cats indoors, you shouldn't own a cat!!! Full stop, no arguments, no extenuating circumstances. The various animal shelters accept that fact, which is why they were "snooty" with you. Your neighbours will also understand that fact, since they will be spending some time each week clearing shit out of their gardens which your cat has deposited there. This is particularly bad if your neighbours have children, since cat faeces spread toxicara which causes blindness and death if untreated, and small children who don't understand to avoid cat shit are especially at risk.

It's *not* better to have cats running semi-wild bcos their "owners" can't care for them. If there's more cats than there are homes for them, they need to be culled in the same way as any other animal. Cats get off lightly by having an injection - most other animals are culled with rifles or shotguns.

Grab.