This will be my first post to the NS forums, in fact to any forum in a looong time.
So I used to study environmental topics and I think this one from memory could provide some humorous options for a nation states issue. I am not the best creative writer but hopefully this will suffice as a good enough first draft and sound like a real NS issue.
[DRAFT 2]
Headline: Environmental Cat-astrophy?
Description: A recent study has concluded that feral domesticated cats are likely responsible for the recent extinction of the rare Green-footed Booby Bird in @@NAME@@. The report also adds that free-roaming felines are likely killing upwards of hundreds of millions of @@NAME@@ wildlife each year and have brought several other critically endangered species such as the @@DEMONYM@@ Rain Frog to the brink of extinction.
Validity: Average environment, (Capitalism, Genetic modification legal, option 3), (Private firearm ownership legal, option 4)
Option 1: Your environmental minister @@RANDOMNAME@@ remarks "We cannot deny these little furballs have naturally evolved to become especially efficient killing machines, but we as humans are also responsible for breeding them and bringing them into our homes. Lets outlaw non-licenced breeders and fine those who don't keep their non-spayed and neutered cats indoors. Sure the latter point will probably result in more carpet stains and scratched furniture, but that is a small price to pay to protect our native wildlife, plus those licences should help to bring in some much needed revenue."
Effect: missing cat posters have been replaced with wanted posters for their owners
Option 2: Overhearing the conversation your aunt, who coincidentally lives with half-a-dozen cats, interjects; "Oh you can't murder my beloved moggies for being themselves! they are purrfect pets who provide love and companionship and are excellent for pest control! In fact I think we need to encourage cat ownership and maybe lower those expensive veterinary bills? After all didn't Gandhi say a nations greatness is proportionate to how it treats its animals or something?" she adds somewhat missing the point.
Effect: the absence of birdsong has left the skies of @@NAME@@ eerily silent
Option 3: "I have a modern solution," declares famed geneticist @@RANDOMNAME@@ Crick who owns a pet cloning company. "We have the technology to modify cats in a whole variety of ways now, we can make them far less effective killers without needing to do anything silly like strap cumbersome bells around their necks. Just send a significant amount of funds our way and make it a legal requirement for all cats to be purchased from us and we will sort this problem in no time. Getting a cat might be a tad bit more expensive now but owning pets has always been a luxury."
Effect: glow in the dark cats across @@NAME@@ have reduced late night traffic accidents
Option 4: @@RANDOMNAME@@ a lobbtist for the National Rifle Association of @@NAME@@ manages to chamber a meeting with you; "You know feral cats aren't exactly endangered themselves... why not legalize hunting of them to regulate the population? We could even have a yearly festival! The Great Annual Cat Kill! or something similar. Plus a bounty system for the other months will help keep their numbers in check."
Effect: cat brisket is a popular delicacy in the rural corners of @@NAME@@
Option 5: A scruffy looking individual comes bounding into the room through an open window and barks their solution: "We need to exterminate all cats from @@NAME@@! They think they are all high and mighty the way they strut around like they own the place, this is dog country! We... uh I mean dogs are mans best friend! Outlaw cat ownership and turn the remaining ones into dog food!" you watch puzzled as he launches back out the window to chase a squirrel.
Effect: children across @@NAME@@ cry as kittens are exterminated en masse
The closest other issues i could find are 431 and 1007 but i don't think the above contradicts either, hopefully haven't missed any that do.
[EDIT]
OK so I have made some alterations. I Put more emphasis on other endangered species and I changed the extinct bird to something more specific but still a fictional species. I actually wanted to put Blue-footed Booby Bird but hilariously that species actually exists, I thought I had pulled Booby Bird out of thin air but clearly I had heard it somewhere before. Also added @@DEMONYM@@ Rain Frog as another endangered species as these frogs sound like actual cat toys which might help reinforce why they are endangered in this issue, although most most won't know that unless they look one up, seriously give rain frog a google you wont be disappointed. I'll happily swap the frog out for something else or add in another silly animal reference if anybody has a good suggestion.
Changed 'chimed in' on option 1 to 'remarks' and changed option 2 from 'too many' cats to 'half-a-dozen'. Fixed the validity for option 3. Added gun ownership validity for the new 4th option.
Rewrote option 1 to add bits about licenced breeders and spayed and neutered cats. Frieden-und Freudenland makes a good point about feral cats, I have added option 4 specifically to address this but i'm not sure how to address it in option 1, having more neutered cats interacting with the feral ones will help somewhat with cat population but it doesn't address the existing feral populations breeding with each other. Same issue with option 3 not really addressing this. I'll keep thinking about these.
Added option 4 about legalized hunting to directly address strays. I think it is suitable for this option to only be available to nations that allow private gun ownership. Maybe this option should be about some new government taskforce for nations that ban private gun ownership? I put the effect as more people eating cat but this is probably gonna be an issue for nations that ban the consumption of meat, would it repeal that? maybe I should make the cat consumption bit more obvious in the option itself.
Bumped up option 4 to 5 and added a line about outlawing cats completely to differentiate it more from the new 4th option.
Changed the line about internet sites to remove internet references and make it even more morbid.
Finally I am still considering if/how to work in the whole pest control angle, but at the moment all I can think is to add some reference to it in option 2.
