I know I shouldn't question. I should know already how all species are safe in the hands of humans. What a great job done already of looking after the planet and all it's occupants. 
Can you imagine what a turn around if there was a global increase of the rat population, a new breed of plague carrying rodent totally unaffected by our poison's? Would the stray cat then be elevated to 'protected' status. There would be all sorts of breeding programmes. The truth is humans are fickle when it comes to animals. Humans know best.
Shitty thing is that a lot of the rodents are getting immune to our poisons, where as the pets catching the rodents are not. So, they may die of internal bleeding, doing their job.
Read a book about how a few centuries ago every household in a city 10 km away from here was obliged to have two cats minimal, as pest control.
