Posted on 04/13/2005 9:10:21 AM PDT by Houmatt
MADISON, Wis. Apr 13, 2005 — Although Wisconsin residents have voiced their support for a plan to legalize wild cat hunting, some legislators and cat lovers say they will continue their fight.
The proposal would allow licensed hunters to kill free-roaming cats, including any domestic cat that isn't under the owner's direct control or any cat without a collar, just like skunks or gophers something the Humane Society of the United States has described as cruel and archaic.
Outdoor enthusiasts approved the proposal 6,830 to 5,201 at Monday's spring hearings of the Wisconsin Conservation Congress, a citizens' advisory group.
The results, released Tuesday by the state, get forwarded to the Natural Resources Board for its consideration. Ultimately, though, any measure would have to be passed by the Legislature and signed by Gov. Jim Doyle.
Already, two state senators Scott Fitzgerald and Neil Kedzie are promising they'll do everything they can to keep the plan from becoming law.
Kedzie, who chairs the Natural Resources and Transportation Committee, called the issue "a distraction from the main tasks we have at hand."
"I don't see a whole lot of momentum for it," Kedzie said. "It's not the responsibility of the DNR to regulate cats."
Fitzgerald, co-chairman of the Legislature's powerful Joint Finance Committee, said he will "work against any proposed legislation to legalize the shooting of feral cats."
At least two other upper Midwestern states, South Dakota and Minnesota, allow wild cats to be shot and have for decades.
Every year in Wisconsin alone, an estimated 2 million wild cats kill 47 million to 139 million songbirds, according to state officials. Despite the astounding numbers, the proposal has been met with fierce opposition from cat lovers such as Ted O'Donnell.
O'Donnell, who gathered more than 17,000 signatures in an online petition to oppose the plan, was joined at Monday's meetings by scores of other animal lovers who held pictures of cats, clutched stuffed animals and wore whiskers.
Even Karen Hale, the head of the Madison Audobon Society, one of the largest pro-bird groups in the country with 2,500 members, voted no. She said the proposal was just too controversial, even though wild cats have reduced the state's bird population.
I don't have any kids; 4 cats, though. They lead comfortable lives and kill rodents but I really don't envision myself serving a life sentence for any of them.
Last year I had a bear wander into my back yard on several occasions. It was very destructive and on one visit it got very close to the screened patio door.
According to the Wisconsin DNR (Department of Natural Resources) or as they are refered to around here, Damned Near Russia, had I killed the bear I would have been subject to hundreds of dollars in fines, confiscation of my firearms, and revocation of my hunting license.
These are the same people who promote killing cats.
The logic escapes me.
Don't be so hard on them pussies, Wisconsin!
Bump for later
"GIVE THE PEOPLE FREE NEUTERING AND SPAYING."
Sounds like "free" health care for cats. That'll be right up there next to all the other "free" services provided by a government that magically farts money to pay for all of these "free" services.
Right.
I will ardently oppose raising taxes to pay for health care for someone's freaking CAT.
"I believe that's a felony."
In California it has been allowed with clarity since 1991 to shoot roving dogs and cats in agricultural and forested areas.
The only way it would be a felony is to shoot the animal to wound it and then deliberately let it suffer. That is just cruelty. A nice headshot with a .45 vaporizes most cat heads on impact and is very humane.
"I'm afraid if I saw you shooting a defenseless animal, I'd have you arrested so fast for animal cruelty your head would spin."
In California if you called the sheriff because I shot your cat on my land they'd come out and ask if it was your cat, you'd stupidly say "Yes" and demand my arrest and then they'd tell you I acted legally and then cite YOU for any damages your uncontrolled animal did on my property.
A friend of mine in Lincoln, CA had almost this same thing happen to him where he shot a golden retriever and several other dogs after they had chased his bull and the bull fell and broke a leg, requiring that it be put down. This arrogant, stupid bimbo from the neighboring housing development called the Placer County mounties and they came out and cited her for the loss of the bull.
She was liable for the total loss of the bull at over $400,000.00
Keep you cats and dogs on your property and you won't have this problem in any state.
"Hey, I AM a responsible pet owner."
Now if only the other cat and dog 'lovers' were as responsible as you we would not need a law to rectify their failings.
Sounds like a DUmmie missed his meds.
Here's something to think about:
"Wisconin's 2 million wild cats kill 47 million to 139 million songbirds"
Birds only make up about one-fifth of a feral cat's diet. The other four-fifths is small animals, mostly rodents.
That means those two million cats also kill 188 million to 556 million rodents.
I grew up on a farm, and that's why we made sure to keep as many of those feral cats around as possible. Remember what happened in Europe when they started killing cats in the Middle Ages?
"So, you hunt quail with a rifle ? Or do you just use that when you're cat hunting?"
I never said that I hunt quail. I use a Sharps .45 and I go after deer. The Sharps (reproduction) is a nice rifle and as a single-shot it is very sporting. You learn to make your shots count.
And if I come across a kitty fifty miles from the closest house I will call it and if it comes I will rescue it. If it does not come then I assume it is feral and I save it from a miserable death. I take it you've never gotten to see a cat eaten alive by a raptor that first shatters the spine of the cat when it crashes into it and then sinks its talons into the cat as it lifts the critter to a tree or telephone pole. And then you get to hear the cat SCREAM as the raptor disembowels the cat alive and proceeds to eat it.
At least hunters know how to humanely put down a cat. Our methods are far nicer than the ones employed by nature.
"So if one of the little darlings gets hit by a car, are ya gonna shoot the driver?"
That's a good question. If you let your kids run in the street these days you would be arrested for negligence and the driver of the car that hits them would sue you for mental anguish.
Perhaps cat owners should be sued for the undue mental anguish they inflict on innocent drivers when their uncontrolled pets run wild on streets and highways.
"I grew up on a farm, and that's why we made sure to keep as many of those feral cats around as possible."
By definition, they were not feral cats.
This lady finally saw the damage her cats were doing.
"My understanding then of predator and prey relationships in nature was simple and misguided. I viewed predation as a natural phenomenon. Predators hunt and kill, and prey utilize evasive maneuvers to avoid getting caught. It's natural for cats to kill and so I thought that birds and other local wildlife had built-in defenses against their predation. I couldn't have been more wrong. My reasoning was missing an extremely important variable called evolution."
http://www.matrifocus.com/LAM02/earth.htm
"At least hunters know how to humanely put down a cat. Our methods are far nicer than the ones employed by nature."
I hunted for many years, cats were never in season. Gave it up when too many yahoo's took to the field. The kind that enjoy killing anything just for the hell of it.
"I hunted for many years, cats were never in season. Gave it up when too many yahoo's took to the field. The kind that enjoy killing anything just for the hell of it."
I don't take more than one deer per season and that is the extent of it. I have to say that I've never seen anyone who'd qualify as a 'yahoo' where I go but I go way the hell out to BF Egypt, then left forty miles.
KEEP YOUR CAT IN YOUR HOUSE.
You can say that again. Why do people have cats and let them out? I have 2 now. They are spayed and they NEVER go outside. I don't understand the problem with keeping them INDOORS.
Here's betting that if this 'shooting cats' is passed, there will be some humans getting shot too. Someone's going to shoot the wrong cat, an unseen collar or something.
Thank you. There is enough needless suffering in the world and I guess my point of view is that a house cat does not belong out in the Sierra Mountains where I like to go.
If you have GPS you'll find me this fall at 38'57'17.47N 119'34'52.13W at 5,671 feet of elevation.
If you've driven Baltimore to Washington then imagine driving the same distance on a BLM gravel (dirt) road before you get to your spot.
And then finding house cats all the way the hell out there year after year.
It is just unforgivable that people treat their animals this way.
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