ARE YOU KITTEN ME?

Cats Are an Invasive Alien Species, Polish Institute Says

Because domestic cats enjoy chowing down on the local wildlife and are not considered native to Poland, apparently.

The Institute of Nature Conservation in Poland has declared war on a furry enemy: Felis catus, or the domestic cat. The Associated Press reported Tuesday that the venerable establishment, a branch of the Polish Academy of Sciences, moved to classify domestic cats as an “invasive alien species” this month. Their addition to a list of 1,786 other animals considered foreign to the nation caused an immediate backlash among cat-lovers in Poland. In response, the institute published a blog post addressing the “controversy,” seeking to clarify that the organization was not calling for the destruction of a beloved household pet. Instead, the institute argued, the domestic cat is an alien “from a purely scientific perspective,” having emerged from the Middle East roughly 10,000 years ago. In addition to being non-native to Europe, cats are considered by experts to have a highly destructive impact on local biodiversity, institute biologist Wojciech Solarz told the AP. In a televised debate with Solarz last week, a local veterinarian pushed back on the criteria for classification, asking him to consider “​​if man is on the list of non-invasive alien species.”