Cat People and Bird People, Still Going at It

Good piece by Jessica Pressler at New York Magazine on the rage the cats vs. birds debate inspires in some humans. Novelist Jonathan Franzen:

The bird community’s position is, we need to get rid of the feral cats, and that means cats must die. We feel bad about that, but we can morally justify that position, with all of the birds that they are indirectly killing.

And then there's Becky Robinson, president of Alley Cat Allies, who says the bird crowd is motivated by an irrational hatred of cats: "It’s like speciesism, racism, whatever other-ism." She responded to that study earlier this year on the number of small animals killed by cats in North America like this:

This study is part of a continuing propaganda campaign to vilify cats . . . a veiled promotion by bird advocates to ramp up the mass killing of outdoor cats.

I am most puzzled by the people who refuse to admit that cats actually kill birds:

My best friend is a CAT. How dare you suggest that CATS are killers.

But then people can be highly irrational about those they love.