Tooth and Claw: Kill Kitty? Question Has the Fur Flying In Critter Crowd...

Wall St Journal (subscription req'd) ^ | 10/11/02 | Correspondent

[lds23]

OLD BRIDGE, N.J. -- Skunk work is a breeze for Frank Spiecker. Removing chimney raccoons, no sweat. When he turns up in his Garden State Pest Management pickup to trap a wild animal, he often receives a hero's welcome. Many residents of this leafy suburb are newcomers from cities, and they are terrified of the wild animals that live among them.

[lds23]

Disclaimer: I have, in the past, been guilty of feeding stray cats.

[I still care]

We have 4 cats, 3 of them rescues, 2 of those found running loose. We took in an old cat that they would have euthanized. He has half an ear, cataracts, and no teeth. We call him Old Scrub. He is way past chasing birds, but he did kill a rat in the backyard. (Fruit rats like my orange trees). I wouldn't change him for love nor money.

[lsee]

Feral cats have all the negatives associated with them that rats have...They carry disease, create filth, are a hazard to other animals and humans. We feel pity for them because we know what great pets cats can make and how hard the life of a stray is. We remember the success stories of stray cats becoming cherished pets, forgetting that these cases are the exception. Many more feral cats can never become "tame" and create nothing but trouble in the areas where they live. I love cats, but have no problem with feral colonies being destroyed. Domestic animals don't belong loose in the streets.

[strela]

The screamers I can handle," he says. "It's the quiet ones you have to watch."

So true, bruddah - so true. Never sleep with anyone crazier than yourself.

[MichiganConservative]

they are terrified of the wild animals that live among them

I live in the country. If there's an animal problem, you just get your .22 out and take care of it. These people are terrified?

All of our cats just appeared on the front steps one day. They kill rabbits, mice, other small rodents, and birds. Good kitties!

[kaktuskid]

Any Chinese restaraunts in the area?..problem solved!!

[boris]

I have two cats--indoors because (unlike many others) I obey the rules of my homeowners' group.

But I had a friend who lived in a trailer park. Her 'homeowners' group' voted to have feral cats removed. She warned them against doing so. They did it anyway.

Suddenly they were overrun with mice and other rodents. Big surprise, eh?

--Boris

[blackdog]

The same liberal brain dead idiots screaming to not hurt kitty are the same SOB's who drive along a country road, pull up to our farm, and toss kitty and her band of kittens in our barn area. Last year I was rained on with cats this way to the tune of 14 little felines. These are not stray cats. Most get stepped on by horses, chewed up in tractor driven cutters, and other really nasty machinery, drown in livestock water tanks, and so on..... We have a spaying/neutering party twice a year for the ones who survive to that point. The vet comes over and we do em in an assembly line on the kitchen table.

God Damn city do-gooders. The current orphanage population is around 30. Many of them get farm smart and spend the warm months in the fields eating birds and mice. Once that frost comes though, they all show up in the barn where they live until springtime. Our dogs have given up even chasing them. The dogs have broken spirits over the excess of cats and their inability to do much about it.

[FeliciaCat]

Sad article. As a cat owner and lover (indoor cat) I hate to see them killed, but strays are destructive and often diseased.

[PatrioticAmerican]

bump

[rintense]

I agree with you. But the leg traps have got to go. I also used to trap feral cats for redomestication, and used live traps. Cats are suckers for raw chicken and tuna.

[smoking camels]

I use foothold traps. What are leghold traps?

[DETAILER]

Mr. Spiecker was hired to trap strays for $50 apiece.

WOW! I only got $1 each for shooting them with a pellet gun at my grandfather's trailer park.(digging in the trash)

And BTW, I love my two indoor cats. They're family.

[Gigantor]

Cats belong indoors. I can understand a farm having cats roming around, but I think anyone who allows their pet to roam outdoors freely is an idiot.

[lsee]

leg traps have got to go

Oh, I agree, and was unaware of cities using leg traps for catching cats. I've only seen live-trap cages used. We have a few local animal rehabilitators, but I have mixed feelings about the lengths and expense some people will go to in order to "save" an old, sick, or seriously injured stray dog or cat when there are healthier, younger, and more adoptable animals needing care who are euthanized for lack of funds.

I admit to having had an indoor-outdoor cat in my childhood and he was a real killing machine when it came to birds and lizards. Later in life, when I had cats, they were indoor only. At that time, I was plagued by a neighborhood outdoor cat who used my flowerbeds as a litterbox. Stunk to high heaven in hot weather, but I never thought of calling animal control. The only way I got rid of that annoyance was by moving away.

[NEWwoman]

Good for you! You have a good heart.

[Hemlock]

Any Chinese restaraunts in the area?..problem solved!!

Mmm.... Kung Pau Kitty.

[Britton J Wingfield]

Not all strays are truly feral. Some are simply between owners. I'm an avowed cat person, and have 3 of them , but some do need to be rounded up and euthenized or neutered.

Fix-and-return programs have proven successful in a number of places. Simply removing strays permenantly results in a higher birth rate among the ones remaining. Leaving fixed strays in places keeps that down, which helps in the long run.

[Renatus]

Any cat that ends up in my yard is trapped and taken to the country to be devoured by coyotes. Sometimes I just shoot them with my 22 rifle. Cats do love tuna. Works every time.
I hate cats.

[Black Agnes]

ping!