Yep. It's true. Global warming is causing more and more pussycats to "get it on." It's true.
Animal Group Blames Cat Influx on … Global Warming
By Monisha Bansal
CNSNews.com Staff Writer
June 11, 2007
(CNSNews.com) - A coalition of animal shelters says there has been a "dramatic" increase in the number of cats brought in - and it blames the trend on global warming.
"Today more than ever, animal shelters across the United States are reporting skyrocketing influxes of cats and kittens being brought into their agencies," Pets Across America said in a statement.
According to the group's president, Kathy Warnick, "many believe global warming is extending cat breeding seasons and causing the cat population to swell."
"Cats are typically warm-weather, spring-time breeders," said Warnick, who also serves as president of the Humane Society of Missouri. "However, states that typically experience primarily longer and colder winters are now seeing shorter, warmer winters, leading to year-round breeding.
"Basically, there is no longer a reproduction lull with cat breeding cycles and unfortunately, it seems more people are bringing boxes of kittens into our agencies during winter now."
Kieran Suckling, policy director for the Center for Biological Diversity, backed up the idea, in principle.
"The assumption that a warming climate will alter the reproductive rates and success of some species is solid and has been demonstrated in a number of species," he told Cybercast News Service.
"Cats, I suppose, will be somewhat protected from these other impacts due to humans - at least in the near future - providing them with relatively stable shelter, food, etc," he added.
Pets Across America reports that animal shelters across the U.S. are reporting "spikes" in the number of cats and kittens they are taking in.
"The organization associates their steady increase of cat intake - a startling seven percent last year alone - to likely be an example of how warmer climates really do affect the number of cats breeding more frequently," its statement said.
Pets Across America says some shelters have experienced an increase of more than 30 percent from 2005 to 2006.
According to the National Climatic Data Center, the mean temperature in the United States rose less than one degree Fahrenheit (0.66) from 2005 to 2006.
Kelli Ferris, an assistant professor at the North Carolina State University School of Veterinary Medicine, sounded dubious about the claims.
"The increase in the numbers of homeless friendly and feral cats in many parts of the country involves so many factors that I think it would be extremely difficult to quantitatively evaluate the contribution of subtle changes in the environment," she told Cybercast News Service.
Ferris noted that increases in human population and the availability of food could be a factor.
She cited "factors of irresponsible pet ownership that are variable between regions of the country and across individual states." Also increased percentages of households that own cats have been documented over the past 30 years - a trend she said means that "there are more opportunities for cats to be released in to the environment."
"Adding to the complexity of determining the possible effects of global warming is that we really don't know the actual population numbers of free-roaming cats over the past five years, let alone the past 50 years, that would allow us to measure true changes in cat numbers," Ferris added.
Myron Ebell, director for energy and global warming policy at the Competitive Enterprise Institute, called Pets Across America's concerns "silly."
"It seems like everyone wants to link their issue or problem or cause to global warming," he told Cybercast News Service. "One basic problem with most of these ridiculous claims is that there is no correlation between local temperatures and the alleged effect."
He noted that in the United States, "lots of places were warmer, but lots of places were colder than the previous year."
Wow...that's all there is to it. Keep on keepin' on.
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