I forgot about my pet rat "Leroy Tyrone". Tame as can be and the 2 times he got out, he came back into the cage himself. But I have no pity of the rats my dogs kill in my backyard. Man they just hate small furry animals.
,,, we have a black cat, a standard black poodle and a gold shih tsu. The shih tsu is a psycho killer. She waits for birds to come near the kennel where her food bowl is. She's amazingly quick. The cat plucks low flying birds out of the air. I've seen him do it twice. This is nature at work, nothing more, nothing less. It doesn't come sugar coated or with Christmas decorations on it.
I'm in New Zealand and as much as tree huggers here love animals, there's a very quick reflex opinion in regard to feral cats and the toll they and stoats exact on New Zealand's incredibly beautiful native birds.