WARSAW, Poland –
A respected Polish scientific institute classifies domestic cats as an “invasive alien species,” citing the damage they cause to birds and other wildlife.
Some cat lovers reacted emotionally to this month’s decision and put the key scientist behind it on the defensive.
Wojciech Solarz, a biologist at the state-run Polish Academy of Sciences, wasn’t prepared for the disapproving public response when he entered “Felis catus,” the scientific name for the common domestic cat, into a national database run by the academy’s Institute for Nature Conservation.
The database already has 1,786 other species listed without objection, Solarz told The Associated Press on Tuesday. The uproar over invasive alien species No. 1787, he said, may be the result of some media reports giving the false impression that his institute is calling for feral and other cats to be euthanized.
Solarz describes the growing scientific consensus that domestic cats have a detrimental impact on biodiversity given the number of birds and mammals they hunt and kill.
The criteria for listing the cat as an invasive alien species “are met 100 percent by the cat,” he said.
In a television segment broadcast by independent broadcaster TVN, the biologist confronted a veterinarian last week who challenged Solarz’s conclusion about the dangers cats pose to wildlife.
Dorota Suminska, author of a book titled The Happy Cat, pointed to other reasons for the decline in biodiversity, including polluted environments and city building facades that can kill birds in flight.
“Ask if the human is on the non-invasive alien species list,” Suminska said, arguing that cats are unfairly given too much blame.
Solarz hit back, claiming that cats kill around 140 million birds in Poland every year.
Earlier this month, the Polish Academy Institute published a post on its website citing the “controversy” and attempting to clarify its position. The institute stressed that it was “against any cruelty to animals”. It also claims that its classification is in line with European Union guidelines.
As for the categorization of cats as “alien”, the institute notes that “Felis catus” was domesticated probably around 10,000 years ago in the cradle of the great civilizations of the ancient Near East, making the species alien to Europe from a strictly scientific point of view .
The institute also stressed that all it recommends is that cat owners limit the amount of time their pets spend outdoors during the bird’s breeding season.
“I have a dog, but I don’t mind cats,” Solarz said.
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