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Abandoning cats to the scant mercy of a Chicago winter is cruel, no matter who does it. It's cruel when done by a negligent owner who, for whatever reason, no longer wants to care for a pet. And it's cruel when done by a supposedly humane organization -- even more so because it should know better.

In Jim Ritter's alarming report in the Sun-Times Monday, someone from one of the private groups that trap, spay and then release hundreds of feral cats said the cats "have a right to live out their lives." If only it were that simple. What about the smaller, native animals -- such as birds -- hunted by the cats, a non-native species? What about the homeowners inconvenienced by them? What about the cruel death -- by automobile, by cold, by hunger, by abuse -- that awaits many of them? We understand that the groups releasing cats are well-intentioned, but we wish they'd put their energies into helping owners spay and neuter their pets, the most important step in reducing the 25,000 or so animals that are put to death in Chicago every year.

# posted by Medical Information : 3:15 AM