Cats also "torture" and kill rodent vermin. I live on a small farm, and we keep outdoor cats to keep rodents from making dirty messes in our feed and such, I can't imagine what a problem we'd have rodents if we didn't have outdoor cats, as I refuse to put out poisons for the number of other animals it can affect. We don't have all of those wonderful outdoor herps here in Iowa, what we do have they don't mess with (salamanders and toads and such)but I still enjoy listening to the songbirds (and the chickens crow in the morning, lol). And I'd be pretty ticked off if someone decided to "pop" them just because they were outdoors and not indoors. They are also spayed/neutered and well-fed enough so that they don't wander.
That said, it IS a different situation living in town, as I believe Steve does. There is no reason for someone who lives in town to have multiple only-outdoor cats. However, there is no reason for the cats to be caused to suffer, either. It's not their fault that the humans who own them are too stupid to keep them at home. That was my whole point. If you need to get rid of them, just do it humanely.
