The trouble with something having no value:

If you've ever heard the saying worked like a 50 cent mule you will understand that something with little value is disposable, usually readily replaced with another "50 cent mule." Which brings me to the topic of the most neglected animal in all of America. The cat. Cats are by in large worthless. They serve no value to humanity, all the touted benefits of cats are by in large lies told by cat ladies and shelter association ethicists. They tend to attract rats and mice rather than repel them. They are also next to humanity the biggest cause for extinction of wildlife than any other species on the planet. There is nothing a cat can do for humans that a guinea pig can't except perhaps spread more disease to humans.

To double up on it - cats are worthless. How worthless? Go to your paper, craigslist, or any other animal swap or shelter and try to find a free cat. How many did you find? Could you pick the free cat you wanted by color? size? age? At what point in the selection process did you actually have to pay money for a cat?

Here if I wanted a cat - I would never pay for one. I can get a free cat - contract free - any sex or color - any coat type - any age -spayed or not - microchipped - and vaccinated free of charge. There is literally no barrier to owning one because there are too damn many of them. As a result they are very typically treated as lower than goldfish and typically neglected as a norm. An animal which has value even if it's just a few dozen dollars tends to receive better care as a norm than an animal that is without value. This is evident in the surrender statistics at shelters and abandonment rates.

Where but in cats could I allow my free roaming pet to be killed in traffic, wholesale slaughter wildlife, be eaten by coyotes and raccoons, spread disease, and defecate all over my neighbor's property and still be an ok responsible pet owner who tells people I love my pet? It is a form of insanity which funny enough may actually be caused by cats.

Now before you accuse me of cat hate - I actually don't hate cats. I do have a fair amount of loathing for most cat owners.  I have compassion for feral and free roaming cats as in my opinion no domestic animal should live this way but there is not enough money in the universe to save them all. We continue to flush good money down a hole to attempt to appease insane feral and freeroaming cat lovers who think TNR is a solution when it has never solved the problem anywhere.

 So I have a solution for the cat problem -

Better confinement laws and mandatory ID laws.
Fine people for animal cruelty/neglect if their pet is killed on the public road.
Pet licensing/taxes based on dependence on the public dime.
Shoot loose cats preying on wildlife and encourage their take by trappers through a bounty system.
Poison feral cats with a species specific poison campaign.
Normalize cat habitats for those who insist on keeping them outdoors. It is after all the only responsible way to keep a cat outside.

Now I realize this post might not be popular among the cat lovers and TNR crazies but my solution results in less death and suffering in the long run than the continued cycle of abandonment and re-abandonment.  The life of a feral cat is a life spent dodging cars, disease, starvation, and coyotes and typically is a abbreviated one that ends poorly.