Research shows that cats kept indoors live longer than cats left to wander outside. I love my cat enough to keep her indoors.
Cats do "pest-control" in their "near area?" They do more damage than good, over a wide area, and are a threat to birds, who aren't pests at all. They are a formidable force in driving out native species. Read this story in the New York Times.
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/21/science/21birds.html We should leave cats run free, because that's their nature? Does that argument hold true for dogs? They are natural, outdoor animals, too. Perhaps we should allow all dogs to run free, unrestricted by fences or other devices, because it's their nature to protect their property (or what they think is their property.) We should let them dig in neighbors' gardens, soil their yards, and tear through all the trash that's set out in bins or bags, because that's part of their nature, too. That's what free-roaming cats do. If you want cats to be able to do all that damage, then you should allow dogs to do the same.
