Our kitties stay in the house. Sometimes they help with the laundry!
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.
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.
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...
Our kitties stay in the house. Sometimes they help with the laundry!
"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.
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.
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.
Sound like those pets were on his property.
"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.
Sounds like an idea for Winchester! Is the "Crazy Cat Lady" still at it?
Semper Fi
You plan on growing up? ;-)
SD
agreed.
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.
Anyone who hates cats must have a personality of a Pirannah, and a heart of Tar.
checking flights to wiscconsin now
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.
There are certain kinds of dogs that have been outlawed in many areas.
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.
If this dude were to try this with my wife's cats, he would need to become a protected species. In a hurry.
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