I'm writing in response to the letter published in the Cornish Times recently, titled 'We need cat protection for ourselves!'.

While I am a firm believer that everybody has a right to their own opinion, this particular opinion of cats infuriated me.

It is brought to our attention that cats carry Weils and Lyme disease, has it not escaped your notice that there are many other species of animal that also carry deadly diseases that we share our environment with? The letter seemed to suggest that our feline friends and their owners are responsible for crimes that even the most hardened criminal would blush at.

I'm sure that the writer's utter dislike of cats has blinded his or her sense of judgement, basing resentment on a few statistics and a clean garden. Have you ever considered that there may be an even greater threat on this planet other than cats, a threat that spreads and carries more deadly diseases than other creatures, a threat that kills innocent creatures, including cats, indiscriminately.

I would ask the writer to look a little closer to home before slating cats, as that threat is none other than the human race, of which you are part of my friend!

Each year billions of animals in Britain alone suffer at the hands of humans, again cats are included in these statistics. The letter says that cats account for the deaths of 300 million small animals and birds a year, but you fail to mention that cats kill on a natural instinct. If anyone is so concerned with the welfare of these small creatures and birds perhaps they would like to stop the culling of Seagulls, Pigeons, Starlings and other small creatures, that are considered vermin and are killed by humans not cats.

As for cats trespassing on peoples property, I never heard such a ludicrous statement, I was not aware that the environment we live in belongs solely to us.

Cats were here in some form or another long before people, I'm sure they weren't pleased when the humans turned up and started fouling on their territory either. Another statement I found ridiculous was and I quote, 'Yet many cat owners who doubtless condemn fox hunting let their cats out on a killing spree every day of the year'.

This is an unfair comparison, as many cat owners are animal lovers who would not wish to see any animal suffer at the paws of a cat, but one cannot change nature and natural law. It seems humans do not possess any concept of this as fox hunting is cruel and displays an utter disregard for nature.

Your indirect insult to the 'Cats protection league' was in bad taste, I take my hat off to charities that care for and help find loving homes for unwanted animals. Theirs is an arduous task and an up hill struggle, but they do a marvellous job in protecting animals from cruel individuals who have a modicum of intelligence, but find pleasure in the suffering of animals.

If it is a clean disease free environment writer wants, then might I suggest they live in a bubble as you will not stop cats or any other animal from sharing a tiny part of the world, after all its not the cat owners you should be having a pop at, maybe you should look to a much higher source to blame as it was God who created the earth for all to share, not just keen gardeners who like a neat flower bed.

I am truly sympathetic with the writers concerns about the environment, but if they looked further and saw the bigger picture, then I'm sure they would agree that cat owners are the to blame for all environmental hazards mentioned in your letter.

The human race creates a planetary threat that is becoming viral.

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