Forget magpies, it’s cats which massacre our birds

(From Wales Online, let's see how Britain's birds are faring...)
Because it’s now official: We can treat magpies as we treat rats and rabbits: shoot on sight. They are avian terrorists, high on the list of suspects blamed for the dramatic shortage of cuter little birds in our gardens.

They eat those other birds’ eggs, they chomp their chicks. So it’s OK to grab an air rifle and ask if there’s any last request.

But hang on. Magpies kill infinitely fewer sparrows than are killed by cats which, at last count, massacre about 50 million birds and small mammals each year.

So if it’s OK for magpies why aren’t we given 007 status, licence to – what’s that, Madam? Your little Tiddles would never, ever harm one hair, or feather on a sparrow’s head, Maybe so.