Cat Wars

September 12, 2016
Marra, director of Smithsonian’s Migratory Bird Center, and travel writer Santella (author of the Fifty Places travel guides) thoughtfully examine the severe ecological damage caused by feral cats and outdoor pet cats. Their highly readable explanations show how cats became an invasive species in fragile ecosystems such as New Zealand and the Revillagigedo Islands and discuss the damage caused by diseases that cats can spread to humans and other animals. Cat lovers are presented in a sympathetic light throughout, making the book worth reading no matter a reader’s position on free-ranging cats. The authors suggest reasonable solutions—backed by scientific studies—to end feral cats’ devastation of birds and mammals while sparing thousands of unwanted cats from suffering short and difficult lives.

September 1, 2016

In 2013, Marra (director, Smithsonian Migratory Bird Ctr.) authored a headline-grabbing predation study estimating that 60 to 100 million outdoor cats (any cat outside, whether owned or stray) kill around a billion birds and mammals a year. Marra and coauthor Santella (The Tug Is the Drug) cite this statistic as the primary reason that free-ranging cats should be eradicated by any means necessary, including large-scale euthanasia, shooting, and poisoning. In addition, the authors claim that cats pose an imminent public health threat (because of rabies, plague, and toxoplasmosis) and could be the final blow to species already on the brink of extinction. To a great extent, Mara and Santella exaggerate the "looming" public health and extinction threats posed by free-ranging cats in this country. By repeatedly referring to the domestic cat as a plague and an invasive species, they make mass eradication seem an appropriate punishment for bird-killing cats, but no animal welfare organization endorses such action. They also fail to disclose that Marra is one of the authors of the 2013 cat predation study. VERDICT This book is not recommended on its own merits, but the pitting of cat lovers against bird lovers is the kind of polarizing approach that draws media attention, so there may be demand for it among those interested in the topic.--Cynthia Lee Knight, Hunterdon Cty. Historical Soc., Flemington, NJ

Copyright 2016 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

August 15, 2020
Bard College classicist Romm continues his ongoing project to reintroduce the Roman philosopher Seneca to modern readers. Seneca's reputation has long been tarnished by his association with the emperor Nero, who made him fabulously rich and then, jealous and mad, contrived to force him to commit suicide. Thinking it would stave off that unhappy end, Seneca offered to give up his wealth, to no avail. He had clearly been thinking about the whole business of giving and receiving, as Romm's bilingual assemblage of documents, including the essay "De Beneficiis" ("On Benefits"), makes clear. Writes Seneca, "Here's the mark of great and good hearts: To seek good deeds for their own sake, not for the profits that flow from them, and to look for good people even after meeting bad ones." There's a lot to unpack there, but the driving idea is that a gift given in expectation of some favor or return isn't a gift at all. Continues Seneca, "No one writes down good deeds on a ledger or calls them in by day and hour like a greedy collection agent. A good person never thinks of them, unless reminded by the one making return; to do otherwise is to make them into a loan." Then there's another sort of demerit, namely the shame attendant in choosing the wrong person--an ingrate who doesn't properly acknowledge and appreciate the effort--to receive one's gift. Gifts must be chosen wisely; you don't give "books to a simpleton, or nets to a scholar." In a helpful running commentary that accompanies his vigorous translation, Romm glosses Seneca to mean that the best gifts are given anonymously and received gratefully. And as to the real return? Well, there's definitely a payoff: "A good conscience." For the stoically inclined, a fine vade mecum come donation time.

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