Editor, Gazette-Journal:

I was mortified to read in your newspaper that the Gloucester-Mathews Humane Society was planning to release into Gloucester and Mathews counties a foreign invasive species. Cats were domesticated over 4,000 years ago in Egypt and they have not lost their ability to hunt and kill in order to eat.

Feral and domestic cats kill hundreds of millions of birds each year in the United States. When free roaming cats hunt, 20 to 30 percent of their kills are birds. But the G-M Humane Society obviously does not believe that this slaughter of birds is enough. Their program will kill more birds by releasing more feral cats. The Society’s decision indicates that they have a hierarchy of importance of animals and the wants of domestic animals rate higher than native animals such as birds.

A more balanced approach to the feral cat problem is needed. As I sat on my deck and listened to the songs and calls of birds, I could not but think that maybe there will be n...