Posted on 03/30/2005 7:01:57 AM PST by rellimpank
Feral cat nuisance plan under attack By Robert Imrie, Associated Press Writer
WAUSAU, Wis. — A La Crosse firefighter who as a youngster cared for a cat named Fluffy ignited a firestorm by proposing that free-roaming wild cats be declared an unprotected species in Wisconsin — just like skunks. People could shoot them, drown them or kill them by any means without being charged with a crime.
(Excerpt) Read more at rapidcityjournal.com ...
We also lived in an area where the city folks loved to dump their unwanted dogs and cats. Little girl up the road contracted some skin disease from one of the stray dogs. Almost killer her. We now shoot to kill and ask questions later in order to protect ourselves and our neighbors children.
Exactly. These feral cats carry many diseases that can even be fatal to a pet. Their in-breeding makes them almost impossible to domesticate. All in all, a no win situation.
Legislation about domestic cats living in the wild? These people have w-a-a-y too much time on their hands and
w-a-a-a-y too much money. Feral cats have a very valuable role to play in nature -- unless someone else wants to go out and get mice to keep them out of my house.
The sick person is the person who feeds cats and takes no responsibility for them. That is the person who causes dead cats on the roadside, as sure as if he ran over them himself.
I work for buildings and grounds in a large former military site, now occupied by various government agencies and government contractors. When I started here, we had about twenty people feeding cats and about 200 cats on site. We had diseased and dying cats all over the place. We would have a dead cat on the road out front pretty much every day of the week. But we had not a songbird, chipmunk or squirrel for as far as the eye could see.
The first thing I did was run an education campaign to explain the facts of life to our ever-so-compassionate cat feeding folk. A few weeks later I boarded up every location where cat feeding was going on, and got management on board from each group to eliminate the feeding thru threats of personnel action. Finally I got a animal control contractor to trap and euthanize the remaining animals. We were down to about 60 cats by then, 50 of which were trapped. We made the trapped animals available to the people who had been feeding for all those years, and only one cat was taken home.
I was not a popular guy when all this was going on, but it had to be done. Now, several years later, I have no cats whatsoever. They are simply not a part of the wildlife mix if nobody feeds them. But I do have songbirds, raptors, wild turkeys, fox, chipmunks, squirrels and just about every other critter under the Sun. It was a choice between dying and diseased cats and a healthy mix of diverse wildlife. Which one would you choose? Which choice is cruel and sick?
As for that one cat taken home? I still have him today.
If we are concerned about "invasive" critters let's look at the hispanics, africans, europeans and asians.
WOW! There weren't any zoning restrictions you could've have used?
Oops. I must have a typing stutter. Ignore "have."
There was a feral cat living under the shed behind my house in Durango. She would have five kittens in the spring, the coyotes would eat them all, and she'd have another five the next spring. The cycle of life and death continues. People have imaginings about 60 cats in two years should get out of the city and expose themselves to life.
Oh by the way people can get heart worm from their animals and other diseases (tape worms). Feline Cat leukemia is contagious to humans. Get rid of the damn cat.
Thanks for that link. The Trap/Neuter/Release programs look very interesting. I'll have to see if I can find one in my area.
Feeding fetile wild cats leads to a heck of a lot of dead cats in a fairly short amount of time. Whether it is 30 or 60 or 120 or it takes two or three years to reach the "too many" plateau is not really all that relevant.
A friend of my sister had a similar experience. The county animal welfare people refused to do much. Luckily, the state stepped in and closed the place down. The state used health and environmental reasons, not animal welfare. The owners had been dumping feces, etc. at the back of the property and it had washed down and contaminated a creek.
And a log home too! You have my sympathy. That is the one house I hated to leave. But my ex was transferred so we had to sell. I loved telling people my cat was climbing the walls!
Trapping on my property is impossible. I own dogs, cats, chickens, guineas, pea fowl, turkeys and goats that I let roam my property freely. I would only end up trapping one of my own animals. I did redo my fence with a smaller wire mesh that keeps the dogs and other larger animals out, but it doesn't stop the cats.
As for the bridge animal dumping, you should contact the SPCA or Humane society. If that gets you nowhere, then maybe try calling animal rights groups like PETA.
A few years back several of my neighbors took the problem to the County Commission, SPCA and the Humane Society. The HS said it had no funds for such things, SPCA and County Commission said that they would prosecute but that it was up to us to report on who was dumping. My neighbor living closet to the bridge went so far as to set up a video camera and recorder to catch these guys. After taping about twenty of them he took the footage to SPCA and County Commission. Since all the dumpers were out-of-staters (we live only a mile from the state line) and dumping animals only a misdemeanor no authorities could do anything.
As for PETA, they would be more concerned that I raise my hogs in a pen or that I raise animals for slaughter, than they would about the city folk setting domestic animals free to roam the wild.
Possibly an open season on them?
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