YouTuber's "Cull Stray Cats" Video Sparks Fierce Debate

[Kim Eo-jin / YouTuber 'Bird Duck': "Now it has become clear who the culprit was that killed the ruddy shelducks, so what should we do now? Cats. They need to be caught."]

This is a video recently posted by a YouTuber.

Arguing that stray cats prey on wild animals, especially birds, and disrupt the ecosystem by calling for their total eradication, the claims have met with counterarguments from all sides, fueling a growing controversy.

Addressing the issue, YouTuber 'Bird Duck' and veterinarian Yoon Hong-joon met on SBS News Hunters to debate the matter, engaging in an uncompromising war of words.

[Kim Eo-jin / YouTuber 'Bird Duck': "This is not a question of whether you like birds or dislike them. Nor is it a question of whether you like cats or dislike them. I like cats. I am a cat owner who adopted a stray cat. However, liking cats is one thing, and solving a problem is another. We must separate public matters from personal feelings. First of all, cats are an invasive species. This is not just my personal opinion; they are designated as an invasive species by our country's Alien Species Information System. That is because humans brought them here. In fact, most livestock are also invasive species. The problem is that when cats, as an invasive species, kill our native wildlife, it is not the order of nature, but an ecosystem disturbance. It is the same as nutrias or bullfrogs."]

[Yoon Hong-joon / Veterinarian / Director, Seoul Veterinary Medical Association: "Cats tend to hunt birds quite a bit. However, birds are not their main diet. When actual investigations are conducted on cats in urban areas, about 92 percent of their main diet comes from food provided by humans, based on stomach contents and feces analysis. Rodents and insects account for another 8 percent, and less than 1 percent is actually found to consist of birds, according to survey results."]
While local governments are currently implementing Trap-Neuter-Return (TNR) programs to control the stray cat population, YouTuber Bird Duck maintained his stance that 'culling' is the only solution, while veterinarian Yoon countered, saying, "Culling is an unverified method."

[Kim Eo-jin / YouTuber 'Bird Duck': "First, you need to know that stray cats, or cats as an animal species, have a really fast population growth rate. They can become pregnant from 4 to 6 months of age, giving birth to anywhere from 7 to 8 kittens at most or 3 to 4 at least. Because they can give birth all year round, if the timing is right, they can litter up to 2 to 3 times a year. Therefore, theoretically, just two cats can multiply into dozens within two years. Because they are such animals, I said that stray cats need to be culled, but this isn't because we dislike or hate cats, or because they catch birds. It is really dry, simple, and a technical problem. Since humanity still lacks a technology to keep up with the reproduction rate of stray cats other than culling, I explained that various management measures including culling must be implemented."]

[Yoon Hong-joon / Veterinarian / Director, Seoul Veterinary Medical Association: "You are now arguing that we should spend over 10 years and enormous costs to kill millions, over 1 million cats. There is no country in the world that has succeeded in culling. In other words, it is an unverified method. Australia also culled more than 1.5 million cats. That too over a span of 5 years. The method Australia used was quite extreme. Since it was mostly in non-urban areas without people, they used firearms and deployed poison to kill 1.5 million cats, but the result afterward—the government's own official announcement—was simply, 'We cannot tell whether cats actually decreased.' And most scholars currently view it as a failed policy."]

Regarding the controversy over 'feeding stray cats' that even led to opposing national petitions, the two agreed that indiscriminate feeding should be restricted and that managed feeding stations need to be operated.


[Kim Eo-jin / YouTuber 'Bird Duck': "First of all, even if people feed them and they are full, cats have a habit and instinct of hunting, and that is the biggest problem. You said there is no causal relationship showing that feeding increases the population, but that is actually really basic ecology. When food resources are abundant, animals reproduce. Therefore, what I posted in the petition is not to cull stray cats, but to restrict people from feeding them indiscriminately. If you are going to feed them, do so with permission in that designated space, and establish legal grounds so that you can be held responsible for the problems caused by feeding. Right now, people feed stray cats while problems occur, people suffer damage, and lives actually lose their souls, yet the people feeding them bear no responsibility. That is the biggest problem, and I posted a national petition to resolve that."]

[Yoon Hong-joon / Veterinarian / Director, Seoul Veterinary Medical Association: "I also agree with the operation of restricted feeding stations. Through the operation of restricted feeding stations, mass trapping and TNR (Trap-Neuter-Return) of cats are possible, so maintaining effective TNR actually helps maintain feeding stations. There are many examples in Gangdong-gu and Incheon where numbers were effectively reduced by inducing TNR through feeding stations. Efforts where responsible people manage cleanliness at restricted feeding stations, identify individual cats, and take responsibility for neutering are definitely necessary and helpful, I believe."]

Amid repeating public conflicts surrounding stray cats, experts advised that the government and society should seek balanced solutions to prevent the issue from escalating into a controversy of hatred.

(Planned by Yoon Sung-sik | Video edited by Lee Yu-jin | Screen courtesy of News Hunters | Produced by SBS Digital News)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.