A good case can be made that pet cats should not be outside unsupervised. Our neighborhood is a textbook example of why not.
First of all, irresponsible pet owners do not get their cats spayed or neutered. It's a real minority that actually do. So, our neighborhood has scores of feral cats who live in the drainpipes and emerge at night to fight, spray, and otherwise annoy me. These cats can be dangerous to children and can spread disease.
Second, when about 3/4 homes have a cat and that cat is outside most of the day there is a very unnatural predator/prey balance. There are NO small birds in my neighborhood. None. Cats love to kill birds and they do it with startling efficiency. The only birds that live anywhere near my home are the kind who stay high in the trees or are quite large (blue jays).
I know that part of the allure of cat ownership is the fact that you can kick their butt outside and they are self sufficient. But I think it has consequences for the natural balance of wildlife. I wish cat owners would keep their cats indoors or supervised.
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