I saw a post in my local Facebook group where someone called out a person for letting their dog off leash to go for a swim. They said the dog was stressing out a duck and her 14 ducklings and told the owner they should be ashamed. Everyone was enraged in the comments of the post.

I get that there’s a leash law in Norway from April 1 to August 20. It’s meant to protect wildlife during breeding season, and I understand why that matters. But I’ve been thinking about something. Cats are allowed to roam freely all year with no supervision, and from what I’ve read, they actually do a lot more harm to wildlife than most dogs. So I’m honestly trying to understand why the rules and reactions are so different.

Research backs this up. While dogs can disturb wildlife, especially birds or deer during nesting season, actual cases of dogs killing wild animals are rare. The real issue is short-term disruption, not serious harm. And in the case of dogs that are supervised, the risk drops even more. A 2020 study found that off-leash dogs who stay close to their owners and are under voice control cause very little impact. In fact, supervised off-leash dogs have not been shown to cause real harm to wildlife. Most incidents that do happen involve dogs that were totally unsupervised or out of control. Well-managed dogs are not considered a threat by environmental agencies in Norway.

Cats, on the other hand, are responsible for a lot of direct harm. Outdoor and feral cats regularly hunt and kill birds, rodents, reptiles, and other small animals. A 2023 report from the Norwegian Scientific Committee for Food and Environment (VKM) stated that domestic cats pose a high risk to biodiversity, especially for red-listed species in forested and coastal areas. Another study published in Conservation Science and Practice showed that cats are active in Norway’s boreal forests and are likely affecting native wildlife there as well. Despite all of this, cats are allowed to roam freely with little to no regulation.

Cats are much more effective hunters than dogs. Domestic cats have a hunting success rate of about 32 percent, and in open areas it can reach up to 70 percent. Dogs might chase animals, but they rarely catch or kill them. Their success rate is so low it is barely even studied, which shows how different their actual impact on wildlife is.

This became even more real to me the other day. On my way to work, I saw a crow standing on the side of the road and a cat slowly creeping toward it in full hunting mode. I rolled my car forward just enough to make the crow fly off before the cat could grab it. It was a small moment, but it really stuck with me. If that cat had killed the crow, no one would have said anything. If a dog had done the same, even without catching the bird, I think people would have reacted very differently.

So I guess I’m just trying to understand the logic here. Why is there so much focus on dogs, even when they are supervised and not doing any harm, while cats that actively kill wildlife every day seem to be overlooked? I’m not trying to argue against leash laws. I understand why they exist. I just don’t fully understand why we treat these two animals so differently when it comes to their impact on nature.

EDIT: JUST TO CLARIFY THIS POST IS NOT SAYING DOGS SHOULD BE OFF LEASH DURING LEASH SEASON.
I’m pointing out the inconsistency in how we treat supervised dogs versus free-roaming cats, even though cats cause far more harm to wildlife. The issue is about balance, not ignoring leash laws.

If I’m missing something, I would genuinely like to know.

Sources:
• Study on dog walking and disturbance:
https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC7132425/
• News in English Norway on leash laws and wildlife:
https://www.newsinenglish.no/2024/01/24/leash-patrols-aim-to-protect-wildlife/
• VKM Report on domestic cats and biodiversity in Norway:
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/385097696_Assessment_of_the_risks_posed_by_domestic_cats_Felis_catus_to_biodiversity_and_animal_welfare_in_Norway
• Study on cat occurrence in boreal habitats (Conservation Science and Practice):
https://conbio.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/csp2.13270

by ExcitementEconomy542

10 comments

  1. While i disagree that dogs should be off leash in this period i do agree that cats also shouldnt be allowed to roam free 🙂

  3. Your grievances with cats don’t make the leash laws unnecessary. 

    As a dog owner, yeah, I would also let him swim in a secluded spot off the leash. Bu if my dog were ever disturbing wildlife I’d put him on a leash in a heartbeat. Also in situations where there are other people and other dogs. It’s just politeness.

  4. Cats do a lot of harm, but the outrage is not necessarily about wildlife. Dogs off leash kill a lot of sheep and causes sheep to leave their pasture in the mountains and head back to the farm early causing a lot of headaches for farmers.

    This [NRK](https://www.nrk.no/trondelag/polarhunder-har-sterkt-jageinstinkt_-rasen-tar-flest-sau-og-lam-1.16764324) article claims that over 1000 sheep are injured or killed every year by dogs off leash. You have completely skipped this point in your analysis.

  5. One major difference is that cats are generally bound to their home, and have a certain range beyond that in which they will move. A dog on the other hand will go wherever the owner goes, which could mean walking far into the forest, thus getting much closer to more wildlife than what you would find within the are around a cluster of houses.

    But a much more important factor is that the actual motivation behind the law is not really concern for the well being of wild animals as such, but human interests. Specifically, the interest in those animals that humans want to be able to hunt, such as deer and moose. A cat will not be able to meaningfully disturb these animals and their young, but a loose dog may were well be able to stress them, or even kill a young deer or moose if it catches it away from its mother.

    The same principle applies to farm animals, who are generally out in the fields during the time when the leash law is in effect. The same logic applies, farmers might lose money if unleashed dogs start chasing their animals around.

    These are the main reasons we have a leash law.

  6. I always laughed when people said put cats in leash or put a bell on them. But now getting older and having couple cats I understand why. They’re practically tiny tigers with an Airbnb. They do a lot of harm. Good too regarding mice. But cats doesn’t need to hunt they have food in their hotel room. The bird life really suffer due to those psychotic mini lions

  7. I’m pretty much against dogs being off the leash at all except in enclosed spaces or remote areas, especially larger dogs – I’ve lost count of the times that we have been out walking with our small terrier in the local forest (more park than forest tbh) and we’ve had a huge mastiff, rottweiler or similar come bounding up to us off the leash. I mean WTF people! And we are dog lovers – can’t imagine how people and their kids who are scared of dogs must feel in such a situation. They should not have to deal with other people’s animals.

    Edit: our dog is a puppy and we had and incident when he was off the leash and ran at some kids to play. It was not good, some of the kids were frightened and, totally understandably, the parent was pissed. We don’t leave our small dog off the leash at all now unless we are sure there are no people around and we can control where he goes.

  8. Lokal story time: A few years ago a couple lost their dog, claimed it broke the leash but most probable was let loose. The dog went into the mountains and terrorised livestock in a large area, killing lamb, sheep and several cows(chasing them off clifs and stessing the into heartstop). The loss of livestock exceeded 300.000 NOK. The lokal farmers had to organise hunting parties and a “shoot on sight” practise for several months until the dog was killed.

    Not the first time, luckily no humans was attacked this time. As was the case a about 4 years ago, when a 2 year old was maimed and an adult was injured trying to stopp “the nice dogs that dosent need a leash”.

    The mayham a dog causes when they become feral after running away can’t compare to a cat any way you look at it.

  9. I do think you’re comparing broccoli and tomatoes here with cats and dogs. Then you could do the injustice and saying dogs should spend all their time in a fenced in cage like rabbits/hamsters/etc. and only be let outside in the garden since that is how we treat those animals.

    There is also a matter of size, dogs do tend to be way bigger than cats and even if your dog is well trained the leash law is mainly enforced for the untrained dogs(which there are many of).

    To give an example of how people tend to react. I was walking on the beach during the middle of summer(as many people do) a few years back and saw a guy with his dog(no leash). He would walk about 30 meters away from it(while the dog sat patiently waiting) when it was all clear he gave the signal for the dog to come to him. No one batted an eye, on the same trip there were alteast 4 dogs having barking matches and trying to either fight or play.

    My point is that no one bats an eye for a well trained dog. The issue is that very few dogs are at this level. Hench the leash law.

  10. Anecdotal evidence from the other side: We don’t have crows nearby. But here the magpies pester the cats not the other way around 🙈

    I think the issue your see is a historic one. Cats were used as pest control while dogs are more related to protecting duties.
    Therefore it feels natural for many people that cats roam free and go hunting.

    In the rural areas it’s still like this. We use cats to get ride of rodents and even praise them if they bring mice or rats. While the dogs are just with the livestock to control and protect them.

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