Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

Skip to comments.

Wisconsin hunter wants open season on free-roaming domestic cats
WBAY ^

Posted on 03/06/2005 8:32:04 PM PST by esryle

MADISON, Wis. Hunter Mark Smith welcomes wild birds onto his property, but if he sees a cat, he thinks the "invasive" animal should be considered fair game.

The 48-year-old firefighter from La Crosse has proposed that hunters in Wisconsin make free-roaming domestic cats an "unprotected species" that could be shot at will by anyone with a small-game license.

Hunters will vote on the proposal on April 11th during hearings for the Wisconsin Conservation Congress across the state.

Smith's proposal has horrified cat lovers, but some see it as a way of stopping cats from killing wild birds.

Department of Natural Resources attorney Tim Andryk says the vote would simply be an advisory recommendation to state lawmakers.

He says that to have open season on roaming cats, laws that relate to abuse of domestic animals may have to be amended.


TOPICS: Extended News; News/Current Events; US: Wisconsin
KEYWORDS: animalrights; govwatch; hunting; peta; pets
Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first previous 1-20 ... 121-140141-160161-180181-199 next last
To: HAL9000
Because they're cats. Birds are probably pooping in your yard too.

Well, I have a friend with a Mastiff. Let me know where you live, and I'll bring him by to do his business in your yard. He might hump your leg, too. But, as long as there no real injury or property damage, it's OK, right?

You know, because he's a dog.

161 posted on 03/07/2005 6:20:39 AM PST by cspackler (There are 10 kinds of people in this world, those who understand binary and those who don't.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 107 | View Replies]

To: rrrod

Yeah, I've seen that bumper sticker. I also had a cat who was shot full of BB's last April. He never left the yard, being 9 yrs old, neutered, and just plain lazy. He hid somewhere, and finally crawled into the house. By then it was too late to save him. My son wrapped him up in an old blanket and held Angus until he died. The kids had a funeral for him, and my son played "Wish You Were Here" on his guitar. Hehe, you could hear it all the way down the street. He had that amp cranked...


162 posted on 03/07/2005 6:44:17 AM PST by TheSpottedOwl
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 159 | View Replies]

To: Trust but Verify

Our kitties stay in the house. Sometimes they help with the laundry!

163 posted on 03/07/2005 6:52:38 AM PST by Trust but Verify (Pull up a chair and watch history being made.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 143 | View Replies]

To: giznort

"Sick people. I'm embarassed that I live in the same state."

Sometimes I am too, but it's because of the d@mn liberals, never the hunters. :)

I've been listening to my local (Madison) afternoon talk show on this topic. At first it does sound whacked, but in some parts of our state these cats are a big problem. Granted, there are only about 10,000 of them, and you wouldn't think as a whole they'd cause a big problem, but they keep breeding and breeding and breeding, and it should be nipped in the bud before we're over-run with them.

I've lived on my farm for ten years now. Not a year has gone by when someone hasn't dumped an unwanted dog or cat on our property. It's maddening, and it shouldn't be MY responsibility or expense to take care of these animals! I've got enough to do, and already have three dogs and two cats of my own. (All from the local animal shelter, all fixed.)

These ferral cats will never be "rehabilitated" and turned into cuddly-wuddly lap cats, and they'd beat the snot out of any of our Viking Kitties. Putting them down, or trapping them and putting them to sleep are the only solution I can see. If this guy wants to do it, so be it.

We have ferral mink in our area, thanks to PETA Pukes releasing them from a local farm years ago. They kill my chickens, so I've had no problem plinking them off with the .22 from time to time. These cats are in the same category as far as I'm concerned.


164 posted on 03/07/2005 6:59:00 AM PST by Diana in Wisconsin (Save The Earth. It's The Only Planet With Chocolate.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 11 | View Replies]

To: woofer
I honed my rifle skills on feral cats in the pasture and the fields on our farm. If the odd felonious feline wasn't content with a diet of fresh milk and barn rodents and took up the rouge life of an ex-mouser turned rabbit and quail killer, it would be added to the target of opportunity list.

We have a fairly effective feral (and domestic) cat population control device about a stone's throw away. It's called state road 65. Dozens of cats go to the great cat box in the sky courtesy of state road 65 every year just on the mile-long stretch near my home alone.

Most of the time I don't think the drivers are deliberately aiming for cats. But the cats have this extremely dangerous tendency to sprint out into the road just in time to get flattened.

We lost Spooky, our spayed outdoor pet cat of seven years this way last year. Since then, Runt, a neutered gray tom that had belonged to my sister in law, has adopted us as a family. I suspect in time Runt will make the suicide sprint as well.

165 posted on 03/07/2005 7:13:29 AM PST by JCEccles (If Jimmy Carter were a country, he'd be Canada.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 139 | View Replies]

To: henderson field
OK but let's make it a fair fight. Let's have some group populate Madison, Wisconsin with 5000 mountain lions, easily rounded up from Colorado, and allow the hunters only camp knives. You could add a few grizzly bears to the mix, but they're not cats.

Better than mountain lions and bears would be to just re-introduce wolves to the area. That should have synergistic benefits. It would reduce the the feral cat population, and at the same time deal with overpopulation issues which have bedeviled liberals for a half century.

166 posted on 03/07/2005 7:39:22 AM PST by PAR35
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 56 | View Replies]

To: Jonah Johansen; Drew68
Killing someones pet is not funny. Posting clever means to kill someones pet is not the purpose of this web site. Go away

Sound like those pets were on his property.

167 posted on 03/07/2005 7:51:21 AM PST by Age of Reason
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 26 | View Replies]

To: ApplegateRanch

"Feral cats, definitely not welcome, though a neighbor's BARN cat sometimes visits, and Eyeball is welcome to have all the mice, voles, ground squirels, and gophers he can talk Purrsecuted into sharing."


I live in a suburban neighbourhood with an adjacent wooded area. I don't worry so much about the rodents they take, since most of them breed like, well, rodents, and don't appear to be in any danger of disappearing. Many species of songbird, OTOH, have a lot of pressures on them already in terms of habitat destruction, and they don't need the additional mortality of domestic cats killing them.

I had a cat we took in as a stray, who had obviously lived by his wits for a while. That cat was a deadly hunter of all small animals - I think his extra toes on his front paws helped him, he used them almost like an opposable thumb. In his defense, though, as far as we could tell he ate everything he killed, undoubtedly picking up a variety of parasites in the process.

I wouldn't have much of a problem with killing feral cats on sight, except for how can you be sure if a given cat is feral or domestic? I suppose owners could put collars on their domestic outdoor cats. Any new cat I get will probably be strictly a house cat, in any case. Indoor cats don't get fleas and parasites, they don't get into fights, and they don't get run over.


168 posted on 03/07/2005 8:02:47 AM PST by -YYZ-
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 112 | View Replies]

To: cavtrooper21

Sounds like an idea for Winchester! Is the "Crazy Cat Lady" still at it?

Semper Fi


169 posted on 03/07/2005 8:10:28 AM PST by dd5339 (A sheepdog, a warrior, someone who is walking the hero's path.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 21 | View Replies]

To: Lazamataz
Now that's who I want to be when I grow up.

You plan on growing up? ;-)

SD

170 posted on 03/07/2005 8:56:34 AM PST by SoothingDave
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 62 | View Replies]

To: Siamese Princess

agreed.


171 posted on 03/07/2005 9:32:33 AM PST by TASMANIANRED (Certified cause of Post Traumatic Redhead Syndrome)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 127 | View Replies]

To: TheSpottedOwl
Then there was the mouse explosion up here in the desert. The calico cat would dive into the kitchen pantry closet, and went after them. She'd kick canned goods out with her hind legs. It was pretty funny seeing cans come shooting out of the cabinet :)

A co-worker of mine gave away his two cats because he was never home and he thought that is was unfair to them. A very short time later, one night at around 10 pm, he heard strange noises in his apartment -- turned out to be mice. He panicked and called an exterminator to deal with them. He paid plenty got sn exterminator to come in the middle of the night and he admitted that he didn't have the problem until the cats were gone.

172 posted on 03/07/2005 9:37:30 AM PST by Siamese Princess
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 158 | View Replies]

To: Siamese Princess
I'd pay to see that.

Maybe we can contact Burkett, the producer of Survivor and perhaps we can televise it, live and in color. B-) Think he'll go for it? B-)

I don't object to hunting -- my late father hunted and I have hunter friends. I just don't hold with killing a animal for the "fun" of it. If you kill it, you eat it!

My point exactly, I don't object to hunting at all although killing an animal for fun or when there are other ways to deal with it that are available, now that is unnacceptible. I know with the cat and dog problem, we have other ways to deal with that which are better than just killing them, other animals like deer and so on, well, they are not meant or able to be kept as pets on average so hunting is the way to go there.
173 posted on 03/07/2005 10:07:32 AM PST by Nowhere Man ("Borders, Language, Culture!" - Michael Savage)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 130 | View Replies]

To: Mad Dawgg

Anyone who hates cats must have a personality of a Pirannah, and a heart of Tar.


174 posted on 03/07/2005 10:59:01 AM PST by missyme (imho)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 32 | View Replies]

To: esryle; abbi_normal_2; Ace2U; adam_az; Alamo-Girl; Alas; alfons; alphadog; AMDG&BVMH; amom; ...
Rights, farms, environment ping.
Let me know if you wish to be added or removed from this list.
I don't get offended if you want to be removed.
175 posted on 03/07/2005 11:05:37 AM PST by farmfriend ( Why oh why didn't I take the blue pill?!?)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: esryle

checking flights to wiscconsin now


176 posted on 03/07/2005 11:08:13 AM PST by beebuster2000
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: PAR35

My golden retriever used to tree wild cats and my 12 gauge did a good job of taking care of the problem at close range. They never knew what hit them.


177 posted on 03/07/2005 11:19:02 AM PST by westmichman (Pray for global warming. Friend of Ronnie -(stolen from The Patriot))
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 2 | View Replies]

To: Spktyr

There are certain kinds of dogs that have been outlawed in many areas.


178 posted on 03/07/2005 11:20:30 AM PST by westmichman (Pray for global warming. Friend of Ronnie -(stolen from The Patriot))
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 19 | View Replies]

To: HuntsvilleTxVeteran

I agree with killing feral cats. I've seen what happens when they get rabies. I also am a bird lover and have seen what peoples' lovely kitties do to them before they kill them.


179 posted on 03/07/2005 11:24:14 AM PST by westmichman (Pray for global warming. Friend of Ronnie -(stolen from The Patriot))
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 15 | View Replies]

To: esryle
The 48-year-old firefighter from La Crosse has proposed that hunters in Wisconsin make free-roaming domestic cats an "unprotected species" that could be shot at will by anyone with a small-game license.

If this dude were to try this with my wife's cats, he would need to become a protected species. In a hurry.

180 posted on 03/07/2005 11:26:35 AM PST by dirtboy (Drooling moron since 1998...)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]


Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first previous 1-20 ... 121-140141-160161-180181-199 next last

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.

Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

FreeRepublic, LLC, PO BOX 9771, FRESNO, CA 93794
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson