Posted on 04/12/2005 11:34:55 PM PDT by flashbunny
Wisconsinites have spoken - at least those who showed up at Conservation Congress meetings - and it's bad news for feral cats.
|
|
 Cat Hunting |
| What's Next |
 The Conservation Congress will vote next month on whether to recommend the proposal to the Natural Resources Board.
|
| Related Coverage |
 Video: TMJ4 Coverage
|
| Recent Coverage |
 3/11/05: Both sides bare claws in debate over shooting feral cats 3/10/05: Cat-hunt plan has promoter in cross hairs |
Vote results released Tuesday show the idea of allowing anyone to kill cats that are not under the control of an owner or who aren't wearing collars passed 6,830 to 5,201 at Conservation Congress meetings held Monday in every Wisconsin county.
Though residents voted in favor of listing feral felines as an unprotected species, cats won't find themselves in cross hairs anytime soon.
Now it's up to the Conservation Congress, a five-person advisory group to the Department of Natural Resources, to vote and possibly pass along to the DNR its recommendation on what to do with feral cats.
Any changes in animal-cruelty laws, however, would require action by the Legislature. That means it won't be open season on kitties, at least not yet.
"OK, we're not talking about shooting cats," said Steve Oestreicher, Wisconsin Conservation Congress chairman. "We're talking about whether they should be classified as an unprotected species."
The Conservation Congress will meet next month to discuss whether it will support the statewide vote. That's likely, Oestreicher said, since the question passed in 51 of 72 counties. It would then be taken up by the Natural Resources Board in May.
Pro-cat groups were disappointed.
"It's appalling news," said Jessica Frohman, of Alley Cat Allies, a Bethesda, Md., clearinghouse for information on feral and stray cats.
"It shows there's a clear need for education in Wisconsin and beyond about what feral cats are and how they behave and how the (cat) population needs to be controlled in humane ways. In one sense, it's a very large vote on ignorance. But in another sense, there was a large margin of people who voted to protect the cats," Frohman said.
Ted O'Donnell, who started dontshootthecat.com in response to the cat-hunting proposal, said he wished the idea had been voted down, but he was heartened by the turnout. He attended the meeting in Dane County where about 1,200 people showed up, including cat people clutching stuffed animals, wearing cat ears and whiskers and holding pictures of felines.
O'Donnell noted the vote margin was much closer for cats than mourning doves. In 1999, tens of thousands of residents voted overwhelmingly in favor of a mourning dove hunt.
"We perceived this as a back-door attack on our animal-cruelty laws. My lack of surprise comes from my understanding of the body," said O'Donnell, who owns Mad Cat Pet Supplies in Madison. "The history is whenever the Conservation Congress wants to shoot something they get it - and this is no exception."
The idea was proposed by Mark Smith, a La Crosse firefighter who wants the state to reclassify stray and feral cats as an unprotected species, arguing that they're no different from invasive species. After news of the proposal hit local and national media, Smith was the target of death threats.
Smith, whose answering machine message said he would not talk about the feral cat proposal, did not return a phone message Tuesday night.
In support of his proposal, Smith cited research by a University of Wisconsin-Madison professor that showed feral cats kill millions of songbirds as well as native species such as pheasants and grouse every year in the state.
Despite the yes vote, the Legislature would have the ultimate authority to change animal-cruelty laws.
"If it ever got that far (lawmakers) would have to declare the animal a nuisance. That will probably not happen," said Oestreicher.
"The thing here is, hopefully we've gotten the attention of the irresponsible pet owners, not just here in Wisconsin but other states, that once you tire of that animal, just don't take it out to the woods and drop it off."
Attendance at the Conservation Congress hearings was 13,281, more than twice the number that showed up last year. The meetings are always held on the second Monday in April. The 20-year average is about 7,000, though more than 30,000 attended in 1999, the year of the mourning dove hunt vote.
Several years ago we had a very bad problem with cats spraying on our property. I put up with it until a cat sprayed our baby's car seat. Then I built a live trap. I captured cats and released them in the desert in an area teeming with coyotes. I call this my feline relocation and recycling program. (I would have dropped them off at the animal shelter, but my work schedule prohibited it.) In about 6 weeks, I relocated and recycled 11 cats. I could have caught more, but the smell of their spray was faint enough to live with.
Keep your cat on your own property.
Oh, I wouldn't say that.......
1. It's impossible to keep a cat on your property, unless you keep it inside all the time.
2. If you keep cats inside all the time, they can't kill vermin.
3. Killing vermin is a Good Thing, and prevents diseases.
4. Ask farmers, they like to have cats on their property. At least the ones I do. A good mouser barn cat is worth its weight in gold.
"3. Killing vermin is a Good Thing, and prevents diseases."
"4. Ask farmers, they like to have cats on their property. At least the ones I do. A good mouser barn cat is worth its weight in gold."
Amen!
"Great, so people will be shooting cats in the middle of the city -- and they will be aiming at cats and probably hitting kids."
Most town have ordinances against discharging a firearm within the city limits.
Ah, didn't see your post!
If I laugh at that i'll get creamed by the feline protection society.
(But it was funny!)
I've adopted several feral cat families over the years. My current four cats are a former barn cat and her three kittens. All four neutered. They are lovely pets.
I also have participated in a program where feral cats are caught, taken to a vet, neutered, and released.
My mother has also taken in feral cats. She is in the process of trying to tame one now. It's not easy, the cat has been lurking under her furniture for months now, but will come out and sit quietly, even though it doesn't want to be petted.
My husband is especially good at taming feral cats.
The most important thing about feral cats is that you MUST get them spayed or neutered, otherwise they will breed. But the life of a cat in the wild is short, so why kill them?
The same thing that's supposed to stop them now - the law.
And four stray dogs.
There are alternatives to killing these animals.
They are domestic animals, not wild.
And you can tell the difference? My cats have microchips and are gonna go nuts in that trap and hiss and spit at YOU because they are scared out of their minds. You gonna get the meter to read the chip? If it's in your bushes just lost asking for food and shelter or help...and it hisses at you(which is what will happen)...you gonna catch it and run the meter over the cat to see if it is just lost?
I never understood how they were going to force those deer to wear condoms. :-)
Every year at my gym, I see a bunch of dead birds under the tree.....for about a week.
They spray the trees to rid of them bugs.
At least a few times a year, the ponds around here are floating with dead fish.
They sprayed the ponds for algae, weed, bugs.
I remember foxes, panthers, herons, storks used to nest behind my moms house.....they're all gone. I saw them dead in the streets and killed off by poisoning from the contractors (it's done all the time to rid the area of animals)...turtles, alligators, even otters on the roads....saw alot of lost foxes running everwhere. Time to build the houses.
There are many reasons why animals disappear. A few homeless cats are not the reason.
"I feed mainly racoons and some coyotes, and some possums, and if the coyotes consume the kitties, so be it. this is nature. Just like when the cats kill the birds."
One difference is cats don't belong in the wild.
I guess your anecdotal reports of a few observations outweigh all the studies done by universities and conservation programs.
What a great idea. We could replace every study in federal and state budgets just by using personal observations of random people. That's very scientific.
Well, just tuned into rush and he too has abandoned logic on this.
I guess when you own a cat and someone talks about killing Feral cats, which are pests, you abandon all logic and just emote away.
Quite depressing hearing rush act like a bliss ninny on the radio. It's rather pathetic in a way.
Just like shooting a cat is.
Just like pesticides and shotguns.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.