Some cat lovers reacted emotionally to this month’s decision and put the lead scientist behind it on the defensive. Wojciech Solarz, a biologist at the state-run Polish Academy of Sciences, was not prepared for the disapproving public response when he entered “Felis catus,” the scientific name for the common house cat, into a national database run by the Academy’s Institute. Nature Protection. The database already had 1,786 other items listed without objection, Solarz told The Associated Press on Tuesday. Invasive alien species No. 1,787, however, is a creature so beloved that it is often honored in Polish cat and dog cemeteries. Solarz described the growing scientific consensus that domestic cats have a detrimental effect on biodiversity, given the number of birds and mammals they hunt and kill. The criteria for including the cat as an alien invasive species is “100% met by the cat,” he said. In a television segment broadcast by the independent television network TVN, the biologist last week confronted a veterinarian who questioned Solarz’s conclusion about the dangers cats pose to wildlife. Dorota Suminska, author of a book called “The Happy Cat,” pointed to other causes of shrinking biodiversity, including polluted environments and urban building facades that can kill birds in flight. “Ask if man is on the list of non-invasive alien species,” Suminska said, arguing that cats have been unfairly over-blamed. Solarz told the AP that some media reports about the listing created the false impression that the institute was calling for feral and other cats to be euthanized. Earlier this month, his institute published a post on its website citing the “controversy” and seeking to clarify its position. The institute stressed that “it is against any cruelty towards animals”. It also claimed that its classification was in line with European Union guidelines. Regarding the categorization of cats as “alien”, the institute noted that “Felis catus” was probably domesticated about 10,000 years ago in the cradle of the great civilizations of the ancient Middle East, making the species foreign to Europe from a strictly scientific point of view. view. The institute also stressed that it only recommended that cat owners limit the time their pets spend outdoors during the bird breeding season. “I have a dog, but I have nothing against cats,” Solarz said.
