Owners should keep cats inside in order to protect songbirds

Ah, beautiful spring with its sights and sounds of birds. We Americans love birds. We also love cats, and with an estimated population of more than 100 million cats in this country, outdoor cats have a devastating effect on wild birds, especially songbirds.

Birds are in the greatest danger from cats during the spring and summer breeding season. If parent birds manage to avoid cats while they are sitting the nest, the babies may be killed when they first leave the nest, as they often cannot fly and must hide and hop in low bushes for up to two weeks while being guarded and fed by the parents.

It is estimated that cats kill hundreds of millions of birds every year in the United States and Canada. Through the program "Cats Indoors! The Cam-paign for Safer Birds and Cats," the American Bird Conservancy, in partnership with the Humane Society of the United States and the American Humane Society, is trying to keep cats indoors where they are safer, and where they cannot harm birds.

If you love your cat, please do not let your cat out. It will be safer from predators like wildlife (with the potential threat of rabies) and cars, and the songbirds will continue to brighten our lives.

Patrice J. McCoy

Freehold