Are you a cat person? Maybe you are or are not, but either way, cats have their place.

Cats (and dogs) are a rarified family of animals that humans have deemed appropriate for domestication. This domestication has been great for us, (you would have to ask the cats their thoughts on how great the arrangement is), but it has sometimes led to overpopulation.  Overpopulation is managed by public health animal control departments.

Since cats are natural predators, if left unchecked, their overpopulation can lead to a negative imbalance of birds and rodents in the environment. It also can lead to noise disturbances and infectious disease transmission through territorial disputes between feral and homed cats.

Cats are public health. (But again, we should ask them whether they agree to this.)