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.
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 Cat Hunting |
| What's Next |
 The Conservation Congress will vote next month on whether to recommend the proposal to the Natural Resources Board.
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| Related Coverage |
 Video: TMJ4 Coverage
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| 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.
I volunteered my time for stray kittens. Every cat I've ever had was a stray kitten that I trapped.
No problem! When somone abuses this and shoots somone's pet and uses this "law" as an excuse, the perp will be splattered on the pavement. Have fun!
It's called the law.
You see, somone shoots an animal that isn't feral or actually has a collar, it's still against the law. All this law does is put wisconsin in line with the majority of other states that recognize nuisance animals (feral cats) need to be controlled.
Try reading the article and what the law proposes instead of just emoting.
"No problem! When somone abuses this and shoots somone's pet and uses this "law" as an excuse, the perp will be splattered on the pavement. Have fun!"
Thanks again for illustrating the psychotic nature of the cat fanatics. Way to go.
Pfft just because a cat has a collar just not mean its not stray. You have such a one dimensional mind.
Suppose a cat ran away and but had its collar on or was simply lost. Does that qualify as Farel? I think not.
"Love your kitty all you want, just keep it off MY property."
One of my earlier comments was precisely, that the people who abandon the cats are the ones at fault, not the poor cats.
Many cats who have owners, roam the neighbourhood, some of them cause more damage, including killing birds, than any feral cats.
So I guess, let's kill all the outdoor cats.
big bullies. and who exactly is it that forced those little feral kitties to live in the wild to begin with? and now we want to kill them? great. what a nice society.
its not like these poor animals have a choice. plus, there are a zillion domestic cats who are "not under the control of a human" or "wearing a collar" at any given time. so now everyone is forced to keep their domesticated cats inside for fear their vicious anal-retentive feral song bird protecting neighbor will shoot first and ask questions later.
so who said feral song birds should have any more protections than feral cats? don't they attack helpless little feral bugs? i say this is the anti-cat lobby at work. their sincerity doesn't pass the sniff test.
"I remember somewhere, possibly on Fox News when they were talking about it, that they said that a cat can be shot if it's not under direct control of an owner. I suppose that means if Boots jumps out of your arms, anybody could legally blast 'em with their shotgun. =P"
No. Try reading the articles on this. There are plenty. This does not open up cats roaming in your own yard to other people, no matter how many here would try to twist it to say it does or will.
"In my opinion, they're nuts."
Hey, thanks for projecting.
Are the majority of states that treat feral cats in the way this law proposes nuts?
Thanks for admitting the fact that people will abuse the law for their own ends. Way to go.
Nam Vet
So when are they going to pass a law to kill abandoned dogs?
They did that in Bucharest, Romania, rounded up all the stray dogs and killed them. Brigitte Bardot protested it.
Actually, that was more humane, than allowing people to kill them by whatever means they feel like it -- what they are doing with these alley cats, that they named feral cats, to make them sound less lovable.
Housecats are a threat to the environment whether or not they belong to responsible owners (I saw a documentary about a study conducted in England fifteen years ago that demonstrated this convincingly; the average indoor/outdoor housecat has a dramatic effect on local wild bird/rodent populations). If you genuinely fear for the ecosystem you would do well to advocate the end of pet ownership(as PETA and other such organizations do). Somehow I doubt that's your agenda.
In any event, responsible folk who find truly feral cats ought to take them to a shelter where they can be treated and put up for adoption and then put down humanely if those efforts are unsuccessful. Allowing people to shoot any stray cat who wanders through their yard is plainly wicked.
Especially sexual offenders! :D
For pete's sake, doesn't any of the cat contingent ever read the articles? Or even the posts?
There are certain conditions that have to be met before a cat can be shot. It will not allow shooting in suburban yards where shooting firerams is already illegal. Nothing changes that. This is a tool for property owners in rural parts of the state (and wisconsin had plenty of those) who know their property to get rid of pests that shouldn't be there.
Like Nam Vet said, sure is easy to tell the city folks on the thread.
And who can tell the difference between a farel and a stray? You have the Power of the Force or somthing? hmph
"In any event, responsible folk who find truly feral cats ought to take them to a shelter where they can be treated and put up for adoption and then put down humanely if those efforts are unsuccessful."
Uh, yeah, you go out to a rural county where a third generation feral cat who has never been declawed or touched by humans lives. Talk in a soothing voice to the cat as you attempt to pick it up. Feel the cats claws in your legs and or/ stomach as you realize it doesn't want to go with you.
Besides, a guy living out in the country who has a chicken coop now has to take a couple hours out of his day to pick up a cat and take it to a shelter because some idiot from the city dumped his unwanted litter of kittens off in the country several years ago?
Sorry, what a wimpified nation this has become. For hundreds of years land owners who encountered a pest that was harming his land and property dispatched the pest in a human way- with a shot of lead. They weren't "plainly wicked". They possessed more knowledge of nature and common sense than the cat fanatics do.
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