Israelis are heavily divided in their attitude toward the abundance of street cats roaming the holy land, a new study by the Hebrew University of Jerusalem revealed.
The peer-reviewed study, published in Preventive Veterinary Medicine earlier this week, found that nearly a third of Israelis regularly feed street cats, while the majority support efforts to reduce the number of stray felines. 32% of those randomly interviewed at public transport sites said they had fed stray cats over the previous month, while just over 11% said they put out food daily.
While cats are beloved pets by many, 77% of those interviewed agreed that cat numbers needed to be reduced.
While those who left food for stray cats were less likely to fall in line with this position, many still agreed with the majority.
The divide, according to the researchers, highlights the complex realities of Israel, where people balance their ecological concerns and emotional attachments to the animals.
Public attitudes, the study claims, post a large challenge for policymakers working on managing the urban animals’ population in ways that are both humane and effective.
Some 700 people were interviewed in the study conducted by Dr. Idit Gunther, Prof. Eyal Klement, and Doron Levin of the Koret School of Veterinary Medicine.
“People want humane solutions,” said Prof. Klement. “But those solutions need to be accompanied by greater public awareness of how feeding behaviors affect population dynamics.”
“People feed stray cats out of compassion,” added Dr Gunther. “But they don’t always understand or take responsibility for the consequences. Abundant food, together with the cat’s rapid reproductive capabilities, leads to dense and crowded populations. These conditions increase competition, disease transmission, and mortality—raising not only animal welfare concerns, but also risks to public health and urban ecology. Despite widespread concern about overpopulation, 90% of participants opposed culling as a control strategy. Support for Trap-Neuter-Return (TNR) was common but not overwhelming, and religious respondents were significantly more hesitant, possibly due to cultural or religious norms.”
The researchers recommended that municipalities continue sterilization campaigns but also increase public education on issues like food availability and population growth.
International attitudes to stray cats
The public attitude toward stray cats in Israel is fairly similar to trends in the United States and some parts of Europe.
TNR remains the popular choice for reducing cat populations globally, although slightly less so in Israel, as many consider it the humane alternative to culling.
Much like in Israel, the researchers claim that the general public lacks a great awareness on the ecological impact of feeding behaviors.
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