Not always welcome when he visited around Waterbury village, Benny the cat has settled into a new home in Randolph. Courtesy photo.

A precocious cat wandering through downtown Waterbury recently made friends with some villagers, irritated some others, and sparked some debate about outdoor cats before he was successfully relocated to Randolph.

This story began in a thread on Waterbury Front Porch Forum titled “Is Your Cat Missing?” when a concerned resident wrote about an orange-and-white male cat they thought might be lost or stray.

Benny’s owner at the time was village resident Carolyn Gaeckle who chimed in with a post titled “The Tiger that Can’t be Caged” where she explained that the cat, named Benny, was an outdoor cat with a loving home and that he knew his way back.

“We had just moved to the area after living on quite a bit of land at the end of a dirt road,” she explained later in an email. “Benny was used to being a primarily outdoors cat and I was wondering how the transition to ‘city life’ would be for him.”

Many writers on the thread spoke of Benny’s friendliness and affectionate nature. He was known to wander into local houses and offices, befriending many humans in the community. However, his presence was not well-received by all.

One South Main Street neighbor, Jack Centonze, was wary of the cat wandering into his yard and home. He and his wife keep birdfeeders in their yard and welcome a variety of songbirds.

When Centonze saw Benny swipe at -- and narrowly miss -- a bird in the yard, he posted that he felt Benny’s owners should try to curb the feline’s antics.

“I wish you would control your cat,” he wrote in a post on the thread addressed to Gaeckle. “It is often in our yard stalking birds and being a general nuisance.”

In addition to bird-stalking, Centonze said that Benny was misbehaved on his property. The cat had jumped into his wife’s car on one occasion, and on another had attempted to walk into their house, he said.

Though Benny did not succeed in killing any birds on Centonze’s property, he said that other wandering cats had done so in the past and had also left waste in his yard. “I didn’t care to have an encore performance of those scenarios,” he said.

For other residents, outdoor cats are a broader environmental concern, as they are estimated to kill between 1.4 and 3.7 billion American songbirds each year, according to a 2013 study by Scott R. Loss and the Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute.

Dr. Richard Burgoyne, a local family medicine physician, also expressed concern in the forum about cats contributing to songbird deaths, as well as cats’ ability to spread harmful parasites such as toxoplasmosis to humans. Both are reasons why owners should keep their cats indoors, he said.

Toxoplasmosis is a common parasite which can be spread to humans through cat feces. Though it is often asymptomatic in humans, it can be dangerous to pregnant women and those with weak immune systems, according to the Mayo Clinic.

A check of local regulations shows that owners of felines are not required to keep their cats inside or on their property. “There’s very little ordinance, in any town, concerning cats,” said Andy McMahan, Waterbury’s animal control officer, whose position focuses primarily on issues relating to dogs. In Waterbury, dogs must be licensed with the town; cats are not licensed.

It is in violation of Section 4 of the town of Waterbury’s 2015 Animal Control Ordinance for owners to allow their “domestic pets” to “run at large,” or roam around town unsupervised and/or without restraint. The ordinance, however, defines domestic pets as dogs and wolf-hybrids. No mention is made of cats.

“It’s just nature. Cats are going to kill small prey,” McMahan said. She recommends that owners choosing to keep outdoor cats take precautions to prevent their pets from killing wildlife.

Several in the forum suggested that Benny’s owners provide him with a specialized collar cover to protect the birds he encounters.

Birdsbesafe, a company located in Duxbury, makes brightly colored cat collar covers. Songbirds have a keen eye for bright colors, so the collars help them notice the presence of a cat quickly and flee to safety, according to the company’s website. Studies on such collars have been shown to reduce bird fatalities by 87 percent.

But the attention and concerns from neighbors led Gaeckle ultimately to decide that the best course of action was to rehome Benny rather than try to retrain the lifelong outdoor cat who is happiest wandering outside.

It wasn’t difficult to find a taker for Benny, either. Former Waterbury resident Crystal Currier, who still works in town but lives in Randolph followed Benny’s exploits online. She stepped up to take Benny in.

“He is now enjoying a life of leisure in Randolph where he can roam freely on a few acres, with no bird feeders to tempt him,” Gaeckle said. “We miss Benny no doubt, but are happy that he is in a home that can provide him with the environment he needs.”

Currier said the friendly cat has been a good addition to her home. “The neighbors love him too,” she said.