Posted on 03/10/2005 11:57:10 AM PST by ButThreeLeftsDo
Cats have amazing ablities for survival and people want to kill them because of what?
I'm not an eco-terrorist but my cats are ready to kill.
Even their northern neighbors are sharpening their claws.
Australian proposal would wipe wild cats from continent March 14, 1997 Web posted at: 8:05 p.m. EST (0105 GMT)
From Correspondent John Raedler
SYDNEY, Australia (CNN) -- Australia is home to many unique species -- the kangaroo and the platypus counting among the best known.
But have you ever heard of the Brush-Tailed Bettong? The Eastern Barred Bandicoot? The Bilby? All are among Australia's endangered species, and according to Australia's government, their reduction is the fault of wild cats.
So, despite fierce criticism and lack of support from government, one Australian politician is standing by his controversial proposal to eradicate all cats from that country. Richard Evans says cats, a species not native to Australia, are eating all its animals.
"Cats are known to kill and eat more than 100 species of birds, 50 species of mammals, 50 species of reptiles," Evans told Parliament.
And Dr. Tim Flannery of the Australian Museum says the native animals aren't equipped to fight with cats. "We've done some tests with our native animals to show that they don't recognize cat scent, for instance, as representing a threat," he said.
Late last year, Evans decided enough was enough, and called for the "total eradication of cats in Australia."
Evans believes there are 10 million to 12 million feral cats in Australia -- each of them, on average, killing three native animals a day. If those estimates are accurate, that means a mind-boggling massacre of about 12 billion native animals a year.
Animal welfare specialist Charles Wright says the proposal is mad.
"You'll never wipe out all cats," he said. And, he said the estimates of how many animals a cat kills daily were manufactured "by a farfetched politician who just wants to obtain some sort of publicity for his own end -- at the expense of the poor old cat."
Evans told CNN that domestic cats are as big a problem as feral cats.
"A domestic cat could be considered feral once it steps out of the back door. Domestic cats are only one good meal away from being feral," he said. But he was vague on how total eradication would be achieved.
"Shooting might be a solution, trapping, baiting. There's a whole range of different things," he said.
Shooting has been tried before. In the early 1990s, Australian soldiers were called in to get rid of troublesome feral cats in the Outback.
But even in cities, there is an abundance of cats. Thousands of cats have to be destroyed each week at animal welfare centers throughout the country.
However, Evans' proposal is unlikely to be passed, because all levels of government have dismissed the idea of eradication.
They agree with animal-welfare authorities that rather than a quick-fix solution to the cat problem, all that is possible is better management through measures such as mandatory desexing and keeping domestic cats from roaming.
I hear plain old asprin works good at poisoning them.
Crush the pill up and feed it to them in some ground beef.
Yep. There is something fundamentally wrong with the character of a person who would kill or threaten to kill another human being over a cat. I own a cat and if I thought killing my cat would save another person's life I would do it in a half second-not that I want to kill my cat...I don't. I am merely isslustrating a point. People matter. Animals do not deserve to be nor should they be elevated to the level of humans.
Maybe there should be a special edition kitty caption... cats and the gunowners that love them.
And lace rawhide bones with arsenic or cyanide, too.
Mine is just as tongue in cheek as yours.
Cats don't have owners, and they're impossible to control.
Leave out some kitty dishes w/antifreeze.
Cat the OTHER WHITE MEAT!!!
I use .22 shorts. They dont make much much noise and are very effective.
Live cats are great gater bait or so I have heard.
Nah! Thirty 10 year old boys armed with Crosman 760's. & a .177 pellet out a Crosman 760 makes little noise too!
Come to think of it, my Sheridan 5mm pellet gun would be most efficacious.
The impact of the high-velocity bullet kills kittens. Hehe.
I hear plain old asprin works good at poisoning them.
Crush the pill up and feed it to them in some ground beef.
And lace rawhide bones with arsenic or cyanide, too.
This is only one of the more pathetic anti-cat threads I've seen on FR the last few days, and here are just a few examples from this thread. I'm disgusted. Your comments are not commensurate of that of a FReeper, Republican, or conservative. You embarrass the rest of us who happen to regard LIFE, whether it is a kitten, unborn, dog, or even a dem. Just because I don't agree with every action of a pet or politician does not mean I want them dead.
This thread reads more like DU. I guess I have two choices, I can leave FR for a more mature forum or I can take on you idiots above, one by one.
(Thanks as always for the ping S&A).
Excuse me, but my comment was a snotty comment to the person that wanted to feed cats antifreeze. Nothing more. I would not lace a rawhide bone to kill a dog, unlike those that want to shoot cats.
Indeed, the greater the sarcasm, the greater the risk of misinterpretation. So sorry if I missed the context of your individual post. The overall intent of mine stands.
Ummm...you're welcome.
Take your newbie code words elsewhere, your child-like psychiatrist hat isn't working.
Go for it, tough guy.
"I they shoot it, they should have to eat it."
Down at the Dragon Palace.
Paging Kat Kong...
I own two lovely cats, but they're neutered, and it pisses me off BIG TIME when I read stories like yours. I had a friend who thought it was "cute" that her kitty kept having babies.
There are ways to keep cats in your yard. It is not animal cruelty either to keep them indoors at all times. I don't think there should be hunting seasons for domestic animals... too much potential for abuse... but you should have the right to (humanely) kill anything that crawls on your property.
Both my cats have herpes from ONE encounter with a former roommate's outdoors-loving cat.
Why do you think this?
Feral cats are at best a non native invasive species, at worst vermin.
Wisconsin already has a number of wild animals (lynx, bobcat, coyote, fox, weasel, raptors, snakes) which serve as a control to the wild rodent population.
The feral cats are unnecessary and should be removed.
Shoot, shovel, shut up !
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