By Pesach Benson • 7 May, 2025
Jerusalem, 7 May, 2025 (TPS-IL) — While nearly a third of Israelis routinely feed stray cats, an overwhelming majority also support reducing their numbers, exposing a tension between emotional compassion and ecological concern, according to a study released on Wednesday.
The Hebrew University researchers Dr. Idit Gunther, Prof. Eyal Klement, and Doron Levin surveyed 700 people at major public transportation hubs across Israel and found that 32% of respondents had fed stray cats in the previous month, with more than 11% doing so daily.
But despite this, 77% of all participants — including many of those who feed cats — agreed that the stray population should be reduced. Notably, daily feeders were less supportive of reduction efforts than occasional or non-feeders.
“People want humane solutions,” said Klement. “But those solutions need to be accompanied by greater public awareness of how feeding behaviors affect population dynamics.”
According to the research, which was recently published in the peer-reviewed Preventive Veterinary Medicine, compassion often drives individuals to feed stray cats, but this well-meaning act can inadvertently exacerbate the problem.
“People feed stray cats out of compassion. But they don’t always understand or take responsibility for the consequences,” Gunther said. “Abundant food, together with the cat’s rapid reproductive capabilities, leads to dense and crowded populations. These conditions increase competition, disease transmission, and mortality—raising not only animal welfare concerns, but also risks to public health and urban ecology.”
Cat overpopulation poses serious risks to animal welfare, public health, and the environment. Crowded conditions lead to hunger, disease, fighting, and high mortality among cats, problems that even regular feeding cannot fully prevent. Stray cats also spread diseases such as toxoplasmosis, cat scratch fever, and, more rarely, rabies. Free-roaming cats can also sometimes devastate local wildlife.
While the majority of Israelis expressed concern about overpopulation, most rejected lethal control methods. The study found that 90% of respondents opposed culling as a strategy to manage the cat population. Although Trap-Neuter-Return (TNR) programs were generally supported as a humane alternative, the study noted that the support was not as overwhelming as policymakers might hope. Religious respondents were found to be significantly more hesitant to endorse TNR, suggesting that cultural or religious norms may influence attitudes toward sterilization efforts.
The research also pointed to a potential untapped resource in frequent cat feeders. Many of those who feed stray cats care for multiple animals and sometimes provide medical care. Their deep commitment to the animals, the researchers argue, could be redirected into structured efforts to monitor and stabilize cat populations.
“Feeders already have strong emotional investments and established relationships with these animals,” Dr. Gunther said. “By involving them more formally, we can create more effective and compassionate management strategies.”
The study recommended that municipalities pair sterilization campaigns with targeted public education initiatives. Without addressing the link between food availability and population growth, efforts to manage stray cats are unlikely to succeed in the long term, according to the study.
International comparisons suggest that Israeli attitudes toward stray cats are not unique. Similar patterns have been observed in the United States and parts of Europe, where public compassion for free-roaming cats often coexists with concern about their ecological impact. Like in Israel, TNR programs are widely favored abroad as humane alternatives to culling.
However, the active involvement of cat feeders in management efforts remains relatively rare outside Israel. Additionally, cultural and religious factors appear to play a more prominent role in shaping public opinion in Israel compared to more secular European contexts, where sterilization is typically less controversial, the scientists said.
