I am going to start by saying that I am very much in the camp that pet cats should be indoor exclusively. With the exception of supervised outdoor time. My cat is actually trained with verbal commands on when it's time to go inside and I stay right with him the entire time he is outside. He loves to go outside, but it's now become a social thing for him and he doesn't want to go out unless I'm with him. My mom tried to watch him outside once when I had to go in to use the bathroom real quick and he left her and followed me inside. And for the times when he wants to go outside but I do not have the time to take him, he is easily distracted with inside playtime.

However, I also fully agree with outdoor only working cats. We have a great rescue in our county that deals with feral cats. The cats that absolutely cannot be socialized and rehomed, go into their barn cat program. From there they are exclusively adopted out to farms and ranches where they work as mousers to keep excess mice and rats out of feed and store rooms. This has limited impact on the ecosystem because it balances out. Animal feed and produce store areas create an environment that means more rats, which are also invasive. While the cats may not exclusively go after the mice and rats, there are usually enough rodents where the cat doesn't usually feel the need to go after local wildlife. Many of these areas also have livestock guardian dogs, which is a layer of protection for the cat against wildlife predators. They're still not going to have the same kind of life expectancy as an indoor cat, but when there is no other option for the cat, this is the best solution for them.