Kill the Cat That Kills the Bird?

This is a link to an article in the NY Times that very much reminded me of the cat/bird dilemma we talked about in class on Monday. It's an interesting story that brings up big environmental ethical dimensions.

To summarize, Jim Stevenson, an ornithologist and huge bird lover, shot a feral cat that was attempting to eat a piping plover, an endangered species. Stevenson comments, “The American taxpayers spend millions of dollars to protect birds like piping plovers and yet here are these cats killing the birds, and nobody’s doing anything to stop it.” However, a tollbooth attendant (of the bridge where the cats live) considered those cats “his babies” and called the police on Stevenson. He was caught and thrown in jail.

If you want to see what happens in this ethical clash between cat lovers and bird enthusiasts, read on…..

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/12/02/magazine/02cats-v--birds-t.html?pagewanted=1&_r=1&sq=kill%20the%20cat%20that%20kills%20the%20bird?&st=nyt&scp=1