I believe we live in a society that does not value our birds or our right to enjoy those birds in peace. I wonder what boom boxes do to our birds? We know noise hurts birds in many ways. I planted bamboo around my yard to block noise, provide habitat for fledglings, and block entry to cats. Cats still come into our yard & killed 8 or 10 fledglings and nestlings this year. They often face a furious Airedale! Our city does not take free roaming cats serious and as far as I can tell neither does any city in Texas. Lake Jackson, home to the Gulf Coast Bird Observatory(members of ABC's Cat Indoors! policy board)and numerous refuges and sanctuaries has an exemption they refuse to change allowing cats to roam free legally. Only when a "cat becomes a nuisance" can you file. Then they refuse to do anything but bring a trap most cats will not enter. If Lake Jackson changes the law it will not fix the problem. Many cities who have strict leash laws do not enforce laws against cat owners. However, it will send a message to citizens they are breaking the law. It will also send a message to birders. Although some members of the Brazosport Birders, as private citizens with avian expertise, asked the city to change the law,the group as a whole voted to ignore the city policy allowing cats to roam free in Lake Jackson. Since many of them are cat owners who allow their cats to roam free there was a strong group against change. Thsi is a problme throughout the birder world. A good example is , curiously, the Gulf Coast Bird Observatory, who remained silent despite the fact they are on Cat indoors! policy board. So with situational ethics in play all over Texas, we remain stuck in a position of cats trespassing and killing at will with govt sanctions of two years in jail if you kill one. A Galveston birder many of us like and admire would now face two years in jail for his remedy. Someone should sue the city of Galveston for allowing city workers to feed ferals so near an obvious habitat for endangered species. The city did not see it that way. As far as I know the city still allow those cats to be fed. After 10 years of working this issue I am ready to start an effort to change the laws and the habits of Texans where cats are concerned. I hope to have your support when it comes time to face Alley Cat Allies who bragged in their newsletter this year of protecting feral cats in Texas by forcing Senators to adopt a letter of intention stating feral cats would not be put on the invasive species list where they belong. Thanks for your tireless work to protect our environment.