I’m assuming it’s because most people do not keep their cats indoors here. This is a very agricultural area. So quite a lot of cats are shop/barn cats. The cat I adopted in this state is actually tattooed, but I adopted him from a shelter a little over 200 miles away and things start becoming much more urban the further in that direction you go from my “city”.

The cheaper (or often free) cat sterilization clinics near me clip ears instead of tattoo even if the animal is owned and indoor only.

Just “Small Government™️” things

Yeah, there’s a reason that story lives rent free in my head 30 years later lol. Totally horrific, and also totally something I would do.

When I was in elementary school, one of my classmates went to the hospital because of those things. She was picking them out of her dog’s fur and putting them in a cup.

Unfortunately, her cup of water was right next to it, and she swallowed a bunch of these bastards instead of a nice sip of water.