While we at 10,000 Birds wouldn’t advocate taking such an approach, it is not without its merits:

Nico Dauphine told a D.C. superior court judge in response to the allegations, “absolutely not, no I did not.” The Ph.D. Smithsonian Institute researcher is accused of trying to poison street cats outside her apartment building on 15th Street in Northwest.

Dauphine works at the National Zoo studying wild birds, where her research has focused on one of birds’ enemies: cats.

An online lecture by Dauphine is entitled “apocalypse meow – free ranging cats and the destruction of American wildlife.” Prosecutors argued in March that the woman put rat poison and antifreeze in food dishes meant for the neighborhood cats.

There is apparently no physical evidence involved, just a video that is not entirely clear. Here’s hoping that Dauphine has her name cleared.

But this does beg the question – What is an acceptable approach for a private citizen to take when their neighborhood is inundated with feral cats?

Written by Corey
Corey is a New Yorker who lived most of his life in upstate New York but has lived in Queens since 2008. He's only been birding since 2005 but has garnered a respectable life list by birding whenever he wasn't working as a union representative or spending time with his family. He lives in Forest Hills with Daisy and Desmond Shearwater. His bird photographs have appeared on the Today Show, in Birding, Living Bird Magazine, Bird Watcher's Digest, and many other fine publications. He is also the author of the American Birding Association Field Guide to the Birds of New York.