I am a feral cat

I am a feral cat. I live in a colony in the island of Hawaii with my friends and family. There are some good humans with big hearts who take care of us. They make sure that we have plenty of food, water and shelter, and they help us heal when we get sick or injured.  We cats have lived with you humans for many thousands of years. You took us with you in your travels around the world. We have kept your homes free of pests. We have enriched your lives with our beauty, our grace and our intelligence.

It is not our fault that many bird and other small animal populations are in decline. Blaming us for this catastrophe is hypocritical. Do you want to know who is responsible for causing one of the largest and fastest mass extinctions in the four billion years that our planet (ours as much as yours) has had life?  Look in the mirror. Making us the scapegoats for your actions, and for the inevitable effect of your mindless population growth rate, will not solve any problems. You are the ones who are driving polar bears, pikas, whales, most of my large feline cousins and many many more species to the brink of extinction. You are the ones that caused the extinction of many large mammals in North America when you invaded that continent 15,000 years ago. You are the ones that caused the extinction of the moa, the dodo, the Tasmanian tiger, the passenger pigeon. You are the ones who exterminated grizzly bears, wolves and buffalo throughout most of the American West.

I also want you to understand that each of us is a sentient individual, just as you. We are able to understand other beings intentions, suffer pain and fear, and feel joy and contentment. No matter what your cognitive scientists and philosophers tell you, that makes us sentient, just as you. We have the same right that you do to live happy lives free of fear, hunger and pain. You are the only species that kills for the sake of killing.  If we kill it is only because we are hungry, and because we evolved to be ultra-specialized carnivores, unable to digest anything but meat. We have neither malice nor cruelty. Perhaps we are better people than you are.....