Cat Facts of Life

I’m sorry that Fred Dickey lost his pet squirrel (“It Was the Cat . . . ,” Jan. 5), but to print an essay about cats based on this one experience, and written with such acrimony, was irresponsible. Cats’ hunting skills historically have kept diseases, such as the plague, at bay. Rodents, such as the squirrel, carry rabies and other diseases. Would Dickey have felt differently about the killing if the squirrel were a rat? To waste space on this essay was ridiculous. It seems that it was a forum for Dickey to express his hatred for this wonderful, independent creature that lives by its instincts.

Patty Wheelock

Brentwood

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Cats don’t kill millions of birds and small mammals per year. They kill hundreds of millions of birds and small mammals per year. This is according to many organizations that try and educate reluctant pet owners to keep their cats indoors--not only to protect other species, but also for the health and safety of the cats.

Garry George

Vice President, Los Angeles Audubon Society

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While cats may kill prey, they don’t wage ideological wars, as humans do. So before you condemn cats for doing what they are genetically programmed to do, perhaps you should do a little essay on human killing, which is justified and rationalized in the most extraordinary ways every day in the press.

Margaret Warren

Los Angeles