We tried to adopt a cat once from a local shelter. If there was <i>any</i> indication that you would let the cat outside, for any period of time, they would reject the application. Also, if there was any indication you would ever leave the cat alone for 10 hours or more, they would reject the application. So, we left all those cats in the shelter, where there were almost certainly terminated, and bought a kitten from some random people on craigslist.<p>After that cat passed, we tried to adopt a dog from the local shelters. All required an interview and house visit, with random unscheduled visits within the 6 months after. We bought a puppy from some random kid.<p>edit: "any indication that you would let the cat outside" and "outdoor cat" are not the same thing. I failed because I said we had a patio we would let the cat sit on, in nice weather, on the second floor, or because we were going to see if we could leash train it (my friend had with his cat). I don't know, the lady seemed very angry the whole interview. The leash training failed before it made its way outdoors, but the sun was enjoyed.
The reason for all the friction is that terrible people did terrible things to shelter animals. Is it perfect? No, but it is a situation with few better paths forward.
When I was a kid we adopted two kittens from a local cat rescue. They made us sign a document saying we would never allow the cats outside. One got out when she was a few months old, and she developed an obsession with the outdoors and would spend hours each day scratching at the door and licking her fur off, and occasionally she would escape and us kids would chase her around the yard until we could get her back in. We did the exact same indoor cat enrichment activities with her and her sister, who never developed a desire to get out.<p>Eventually we took the one with the outdoors obsession to the vet who told us we could either put her on Prozac or start letting her out. At that point we started letting her out (in our quiet suburb nowhere near a major road), and she instantly became an extremely happy cat. Her sister lived as a happy indoor cat, while she would go out during the day and come in at night. She came back every night and they both lived to pass of kidney disease when they were 15.<p>I know a lot of people are extremely against cats going outside, but compared to some of my college friends who kept "emotional support" cats in minuscule dorm rooms, I would much rather let a cat out than imprison it. I don't really buy the songbird thing in built up suburbia.
Not all cats can even hunt. They all like to think the could, yelling at birds, but its an actual skill. Of all 10 cats I had over my life only 1 could actually hunt at all. Even that cat’s own brother could not hunt at all.
I don't get it. I sooooo don't get it. I grew up in a rural area, we had many cats and we really loved all of them. Cats had complete freedom - they'd leave whenever they'd feel like it, they'd go wherever they wanted to go, engaged in social life with other cats including fights over territory and mates, hunted, played, explored, sometimes they'd be gone for days, but they'd always return, love us, stay with us and enjoy our company. I was so happy to let the cats be cats and I am not getting a new cat because I live in an apartment complex and I cannot let it be a cat there, I'd feel horrible about confining it to 40 square meters. I really like to think that the cats I owned got to be cats to its fullest. Unfortunately, they also haven't lived for long, with 4 years being tops due to stray dogs around, cars, other cats, etc, but I'd rather have it that way than treat it like a house fixture.
Oh, and we never took a cat from a shelter or from some other institution, we exclusively either adopted stray cats or took one from friends whose cat gave birth. We haven’t sterilized or castrated our cats either and were very responsible about giving away born kittens to people that will take care of them.
You're allowed to lie on your application to the shelter. But you should also not let your cat outside because cats are bird murder machines.<p>A house visit to adopt a dog seems excessive. But this might be organizational scar tissue: mentally ill people adopting and hoarding animals, for example.<p>Depending on the jurisdiction, any adoption contract that says you have to allow unscheduled visits 6 months after may not be enforceable. Treat your adopted pet well and tell anyone who interferes to f off.
Cats are non-trivial to contain in the owner's yard, and will attack other animals. Sometimes that is the intention (e.g. barn cats), other times is unwelcome attacks on wildlife (e.g. birds). My family also had to deal with vet bills due to a cat that attacked our dog. While I wouldn't consider letting a cat outdoors abusive, it is certainly disrespectful to neighbours.<p>The other thing about shelters is they often deal with animals from abusive or neglectful homes. Random visits are likely excessive, but they are just trying to prevent the animal from enduring the same situation with new owners (and likely trying to ensure the new owners can handle an animal that has a history of being abused).
The shelter is doing its job: outdoor cats live a shorter life due to fights, cars, disease, predation, etc. And not only that, but they also decimate the local songbird population, which is already in great decline.
Outdoor domestic cats are a crime against nature (and songbirds).
Cats are a part of nature.<p>In some parts of the US outdoor cats are an essential bulwark against rodent invasion. It is healthy for the cats and very effective organic rodent control. They do get some birds but the bulk of their activity is rodents. There are places you can’t live without them.<p>Depending on the situation, outdoor cats can also live a long time. We had farm cats when I was growing up that spent a large part of their time outdoors during the day. They were smart, social, and typically lived 15-20 years before old age caught up with them.<p>Predation mostly impacts cats that are either obviously stupid or aggressively anti-social in my experience.
> Outdoor domestic cats are a crime against nature (and songbirds).<p>As much as red tailed hawks are. And crows (which I've watched eat songbirds).