"The contentious phenomenon of identity politics isn't limited to Democrats and Republicans"................ "A national survey shows that "cat people" and "bird people" have heated differences of opinion, complicating the challenge of managing more than 50 million free-roaming feral cats while protecting threatened wildlife"............."Bird conservation professionals, whose focus is on protecting species from extinction in the wild, see feral cats as threats to the survival of wild birds"............."Cat colony caretakers, on the other hand, dedicate themselves to caring for neighborhood animals they see as abandoned and neglected by others".................We have to find some way to get these two divergent groups to collaborate on a true solution to Cat wildlife predation............It's a real conundrum and a tough path to collaboration between the two groups as "only 9 percent of cat colony caretakers believed cats harmed bird populations and only 6 percent believed feral cats carried diseases".................. "Colony caretakers supported treating feral cats as protected wildlife and using trap, neuter and release programs to manage feral cat populations"............... "Many bird conservation professionals, meanwhile, saw feral cats as pests and supported removing and euthanizing them".............. "Within both groups, women and older respondents were less likely to support euthanasia"

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/09/120906181643.htm#.Vp1j7o4BPEk.mailto

Why claws come out over feral cat management: Finding common ground among 'cat people' and 'bird people'