Hey, Mike. Thanks for your service to the country. That said, humane treatment of animals has nothing to do with conservative or liberal. It has to do with ethics, morals, and conscience. (I hope you’re not going to try to tell me that conservatives aren’t supposed to have these!)
Your stance on cats roaming loose makes no sense. You say that because your dogs are kept under control, cats should be, too. So what do you do about birds, who fly free and often defacate on the property (including cars, lawn furniture, and of course swimming pools)? How about squirrels? Do you also kill someone else’s dog if the little guy gets free of his leash? What about children who wander into your yard? Trap ‘em and shoot ‘em?
I have three cats, and keep them all inside, partly because of the coyote and bobcat population out here in the boonies, and partly because you never know when some knuckle-dragger is going to decide to use them for target practice. We’ve had that problem with our cattle already—and on our own land, no less.
As do most people who view the world only in black and white, you have mistakenly labeled me a “liberal”. I am very definitely NOT a liberal, but I have a heart. Unlike the HE-man wannabe, which would be you. I don’t CARE that you describe the feral cats you killed, by L-rd knows what method (probably cruelly), as diseased and full of ticks. Are you also a veterinarian? If someone were hurting, full of parasites and likely abused in the past, they might be kind of testy, too.
The cats should have given to the charge of a reliable animal rescue organization, instead of using them to boost your obviously low self-image of manhood.
And, as others have pointed out, you may have trapped and killed someone’s pet. Now, if you had laid a finger on either of my 2 cats—both of which are indoors-only—you would be in a world of hurt. I once punched a vet across the room when he mishandled a cat of mine which had just had orthopedic surgery in another clinic. I had warned him not to touch the cat’s back legs, and then the imbecile tried to pull my cat out of the carrier BY her back legs. Bad move. He neither listened to my request not to touch her back legs, nor stopped when I shouted to stop as she screamed in pain. That’s when I did what I had to do, and never bothered with that idiot again.
You would probably find a long-lost brother in this sorry excuse for a vet, big “man”. Blam-blam-blam is the only way you can figure out to deal with any problem.