cats are natural preditors and keep the rodent population at bay would you prefer to be overun with rodents or put up with a bit of cat poo?
I simply don't think this is true.
We're not talking about feral "mouser" cats on farms who don't get much other food. These cats are overfed with cat food.
Plus cat interbreeding for asthetic reasons is interfering with this.
While a cat will take young/ill rats, I doubt whether they'd have much success with a full grown rat. I've seen rats as big as cats.
Cats kill the birds/mammals that we actually want in the garden.
Having cats around discourages birds which means they're not in your garden to eat pests.
I think its much more to do with not leaving food around and providing good physical barriers to stop rats getting in.
I know people who've had both; a load of mess from neighbours cats and mice/rats.
The organic/green method of control (rather than poison) is traps not cats.
Running a cat is extremely costly in terms of the environment.
The neighbours aren't providing a service with their cats, its antisocial behaviour far worse than a few kids with nothing to do.
The methods mentioned haven't worked for me.
We found as soon as you miss one log it starts a snowball effect attracting more and more pooing.
We've had moderate success with electronic scarers and rechargeable batteries but this is only a temporary solution.