Open season on cats in Wisconsin?

[Eric McTavish]

OMG! :shock:
Open season on cats in Wisconsin?

Proposal would allow hunters to shoot feral felines
Updated: 12:15 p.m. ET March 9, 2005

A proposal that would allow hunters in Wisconsin to shoot and kill feral cats is causing, well, a hissy fit.

“It’s entirely cruel behavior to have an open season on cats. Just because a cat doesn’t have a collar doesn’t mean a cat has no owners,” said Jessica Frohman, community outreach and policy coordinator for Alley Cat Allies, a group which espouses no-kill methods of controlling wild felines.

Opposition is coming in “from all over the country ... surprise, shock, horror,” added Adam Bauknecht who along with others has put up a Wisconsin-based Web site calling attention to the issue.

The site — http://www.dontshootthecat.com/ — drew 35,000 hits on Monday alone and has received more than 800 e-mails since it was activated three days ago, Bauknecht told Reuters on Tuesday.

At issue is an advisory question that is among dozens to be aired in public debate next month at wildlife-related meetings in all of Wisconsin’s counties.

The Wisconsin Conservation Congress which conducts the sessions uses them to give advice to state regulators on such weighty matters as changing the date for applying for a bear hunting license to banning electronic decoys in turkey hunting.

An 'unprotected species'
The cat proposal, simply put, would reclassify free roaming, domestic feral cats as an “unprotected species” that could then be shot by anyone with a license to hunt small game. The rationale is that wild cats prey on songbirds in disproportionate numbers.

Not so, says Frohman of the Maryland-based Alley Cat group. Man is a far worse predator, she said, with skyscrapers and other man-made structures killing countless migrating wild birds in collisions each year.

The true solution to the country’s millions of feral city and country cats, she said, is to trap them, have them spayed or neutered and then released back into the wild. Killing them, she said, only causes colonies of existing cats to expand in size to take up the territory of those that have been eliminated.

[Lady Laurel]

What are they going to do next. This is unthinkable

[Lady Laurel]

http://www.dontshootthecat.com/ —

I read thier bill and emailed them what I think about it.

[KissMeKate]

I'm surprised they only brought up the issue of songbird fatalities. Wisconsin, and the Milwaukee Metro Area in particular, has a HUGE problem with feral cats. The native population of feral cats are carriers for feline leukemia. They don't tend to get sick, but non-native cats will if they come in contact with a non-immunized native. It's not a pretty sight either, my family lost one of our favorite cats to the disease.

An acquainance up there had a co-worker who took in a stray kitten. She didn't take it to the vet straight away. Within two days, she had to have the kitten and her older cat euthanized because of the infection.

Keeping all that in mind, that is still not a valid reason to go take pot shots at stray cats. It's a problem all over the nation. And although trapping and euthanization might be done "humanely", it will not make that much of a difference in the population size.

Another option might be something similar to research being done in deer. Spiking food with birth control substances. By limiting the chances of feral cats to have litters might reduce the overall population in a few generations. The problem is that there has not been a safe formulation that will have a long term effect. And sending someone around to trap and inject stray cats with kitty depo-provera could be just as stressful (to everyone involved).

[LashaLaRouge]

i know our local shelters use the capture release program, they will capture the ferals in human cages, the ferals are then taken in and tested for fiv (feline lukemia and aids) if healthy the are spayed/neutered by the shelter vet, kittens young enough to be tamed are kept at the shelter to be rehomed, those too wild but healthy and fixed are released back into the colony. this doesnt fix the problme right away of course but over the next few years the colonies will die out.

that proposal is discusting, i agree feral cats are a problme but the solution is not to shoot them.
esepcaiily when there are so many cats with homes roaming lose, cat collars are made to break away if the cat gets caught on a branch or fence or somehting, whats to say that little cat the hunter just shot wasnt some nine year olds playmate...

seems the line of animal cruelty is becomming a little blurred these days.

they just got a nice little email with my peice of mind...

[Mistress Kath the Innkeep]

Regardless of your own personal opinions on cats might be...firing guns in a residential area doesn't strike me as terribly bright. Property damage (as in windows and cars)...pets in their own yards...injury to children in their own yards... <shudder> Glad I don't live there!

Kath

[Nevada]

not to mention not everyone is a sharp shooter and leaving a wounded animal to die in pain or be maimed for life is despicable....

[Jeannie Fitzgerald]

Regardless of your own personal opinions on cats might be...firing guns in a residential area doesn't strike me as terribly bright. Property damage (as in windows and cars)...pets in their own yards...injury to children in their own yards... <shudder> Glad I don't live there!

Kath

I so agree with not firing guns in a residential area. As far as the argument for not shooting cats because it might be someone's pet goes, why is the darn thing being allowed to roam? If cat owners would keep their pets at home instead of letting them roam free, same as dog owners are expected to do, feral cats would be much less of a problem. The argument that cats can't be fenced in like a dog doesn't cut it either. If you can't keep it at home and from disturbing others, you have no business having a cat.

I also have a problem with trapping and releasing them into the wild, even if neutered. Feral cats are a non-native species and will wreak havoc with native species. If they move into an urban area (as they probably will since the pickin's are better there), they then become a nuisance and health hazard to humans. Sad though it may be to cat lovers, shooting feral cats in rual areas is probably the best way to get rid of the pests. Feral cats in urban areas would have to be trapped and humanely euthanized.

Btw, while I prefer dogs, I'm not a cat hater. I feel the same way about feral dogs. Also, the feral animals I'm referring to are ones that were previously domesticated but have reverted to a wild state or otherwise have become dangerous, not pets that occasionally stray. I suspect this is the situation being dealt with in Wisconsin.

None of this would be a problem if people would be responsible pet owners. I love dogs and so miss not having one right. However, I live alone in a mobile home with an unfenced yard. I'm frequently gone from home for extremely long periods of time. For that reason, I would rather go without having a dog than to have one that would be miserable from being bored and cooped up, likely to be a nuisance to the neighbors and destructive to my house as well. I don't have a problem with crate training, but crating the poor thing for 10 or more hours a day practically every day just would not be right.

[KissMeKate]

As far as the argument for not shooting cats because it might be someone's pet goes, why is the darn thing being allowed to roam? If cat owners would keep their pets at home instead of letting them roam free, same as dog owners are expected to do, feral cats would be much less of a problem. The argument that cats can't be fenced in like a dog doesn't cut it either. If you can't keep it at home and from disturbing others, you have no business having a cat.

My family has had outside cats for most of my life. We've lived outside of the city and have had the luck to have cats smart enough to stay out of the road. Sure, they have brought down the occasional sparrow, but are much more hazardous to the local rodent population. The keep my mom company while she's out landscaping or in the garden or her greenhouse, and often watch my dad work in the barn. My sister has had a more unusual cat in my opinion. He's very social. She would take him to the local park first in a harness, then just a lead. She would let him outside for a couple hours every day, and he would usually find someone he knew in the neighborhood to be with (other cats, dogs, and neighbor people). He recently survived (a miracle!) a chance encounter with a bobcat in their area - a consequence of people continually sprawling out into the countryside - so he's becoming more of an inside cat in his later years.

I only have cats right now because I live in an apartment and commute more than an hour each way to work. I have two cats so they can be sociable with each other while we're at work. They don't get to go outside outside, but I do let them out on our third floor screened-in balcony for some fresh air and to watch the world go by.

I agree that it's not fair to keep a dog when you aren't going to be home to be with it. My parents currently live far enough outside of St. Louis to be considered country (although the $1M homes are starting to pop up). They live in a small community where the smallest property is 3 acres, so everyone is comfortably spread out. There is a sod farm on the entrance road, which is less than a mile from an I-64 off-ramp. Almost 90% of the pets in the community have been "thrown away" by someone else. Dumped off the road near the sod farm. Either the pet, or an unwanted litter, or even both. People have even left food and water for the animal when they leave it behind! Like that is supposed to make it better! :evil: Luckily these animals have found loving homes in this community. So I have much less respect for people who decide to get a pet, then dump it somewhere when they decide it's too much trouble to care for.

[Dmitri]

Anyone whose lived in an area that has feral cats can understand this bill... I don't agree with the use of firearms within the city limits but feral cats can be a huge problem.

You cannot think of them as housecats, they aren't. They are a wild predator that the ecosystem that they are in cannot support. As such, they must be eliminated.

[shadow]

Yeah what D said

I think they are limiting the fire arms use to small caliber and nothing withint a few hundred yards of property and buildings.

Also im not absolutely sure but i think the law states in some subsection that you are only allowed to hunt on YOUR property and on COMMON propety that you have a stake in.

Or something to that effect

Feral cats KILL house cats for food.
They also kill dogs and anything else
they multiply like friggin rabbits on X and they Destroy the habitat around them.

[Lady Laurel]

I have a feral cat that was caught in Saudie Arabia several years ago( they have no humane society and feral cats and dogs are everywhere) She is the smatest sweetest cat we have ever had. She is still with us. Now she does not go outside anymore ( as any of our other cats) and has been tested for feline Leukemia and is fine. Feral cats can be made good house cats and she was at least 2 years old when we got her.

Now as any cat owner knows cats love and I mean love to go outside and roll around in the grass and enjoy the sun ect.... they are hard to put on a leash. I have tried. My syster has outside and inside cats all have thier shots. If somone would mistake them for feral cats and shoot them we would be heartbroken. They are wonderful cats and she is a great animal activist and mother to her furry children.

I know there is a big problem with ferel cats in certain areas but the answer is not to go and shoot the poor animal. I understand if an animal is sick and needs to be put down by proper authorities but to tell the average lay person to go and shoot cats thats just idiocey. I have sent this around to several people that are cat lovers they have gotten several emails from us.

[Nevada]

DFW has a feral friends outfit that I contribute when I can...they fix them..update shots and release unless the animal is truly ill and is mercifully put to sleep. They do try to adopt out the younger beasties...

[KissMeKate]

I think they are limiting the fire arms use to small caliber and nothing withint a few hundred yards of property and buildings.

Even small caliber firearms can be dangerous, even in the hands of professionals and marksmen. If you miss, the bullet can travel much further than what you were aiming for or richocet in a completely different direction. I don't think guns are a prefered answer.

[Jezebel]

I have a friend who has devoted a great deal of time and effort to the feral cat situation. She (and others like her) help set traps in residential areas known to have a feral cat problem and then when the cats are captured they take them to a vet to be checked out, vaccinated, spayed or neutered, and then evaluated for possible "re-domestication." She keeps cats in cages and patiently reacclamates them to living with people before giving them up for adoption. She is not paid for her efforts, but she lives with a great sense of satisfaction that in some small way, little by little, she can help to restore the balance.

I personally find hunting for sport barbaric (I realize that's a hot topic for debate right there), but I console myself with the idea that many people feed and/or clothe their families on what they hunt and do not waste the resources of the animals they shoot. I don't think anyone could honestly promote domestic cats as an effective source of food or leather as reasonable justification for letting people shoot at cats in populated areas, which is where I assume these feral cat populations are causing the most problems. The only safe way to deal with any pest in a populated area is through trapping, whether it's a cat or a badger or an alligator or what have you. If you're shooting at an animal in a wild (read: unpopulated) area, I realize that it's "fair game," but there are too many blurred lines between an escaped pet that's gotten lost and a vicious feral creature that poses a threat to society. How many hunters out there are going to take the time to observe an animal for a long enough period of time to figure out whether they're eliminating a danger to the community/environment or simply dooming "Fluffy" to a violent and untimely death? How can you tell the difference for sure? I don't think this idea has been thought through sufficiently for anyone to support it responsibly.

[Jezebel]

I have a friend who has devoted a great deal of time and effort to the feral cat situation. She (and others like her) help set traps in residential areas known to have a feral cat problem and then when the cats are captured they take them to a vet to be checked out, vaccinated, spayed or neutered, and then evaluated for possible "re-domestication." She keeps cats in cages and patiently reacclamates them to living with people before giving them up for adoption. She is not paid for her efforts, but she lives with a great sense of satisfaction that in some small way, little by little, she can help to restore the balance.

I personally find hunting for sport barbaric (I realize that's a hot topic for debate right there), but I console myself with the idea that many people feed and/or clothe their families on what they hunt and do not waste the resources of the animals they shoot. I don't think anyone could honestly promote domestic cats as an effective source of food or leather as reasonable justification for letting people shoot at cats in populated areas, which is where I assume these feral cat populations are causing the most problems. The only safe way to deal with any pest in a populated area is through trapping, whether it's a cat or a badger or an alligator or what have you. If you're shooting at an animal in a wild (read: unpopulated) area, I realize that it's "fair game," but there are too many blurred lines between an escaped pet that's gotten lost and a vicious feral creature that poses a threat to society. How many hunters out there are going to take the time to observe an animal for a long enough period of time to figure out whether they're eliminating a danger to the community/environment or simply dooming "Fluffy" to a violent and untimely death? How can you tell the difference for sure? I don't think this idea has been thought through sufficiently for anyone to support it responsibly.

[Jeannie Fitzgerald]

How many hunters out there are going to take the time to observe an animal for a long enough period of time to figure out whether they're eliminating a danger to the community/environment or simply dooming "Fluffy" to a violent and untimely death?

Again my response is why is "Fluffy" being allowed to run loose?

Btw, your friend is to be commended for trying to "redomesticate" trapped feral cats. That is a much better solution than releasing them, whether neutered or not. Releasing them is just another form of dumping.

[Jeannie Fitzgerald]

While it's on my feeble mind, some of you may like this:

http://start.earthlink.net/article/str?guid=20050310/422fd450_3ca6_1552620050310-1600617977

[Lady Laurel]

have a friend who has devoted a great deal of time and effort to the feral cat situation. She (and others like her) help set traps in residential areas known to have a feral cat problem and then when the cats are captured they take them to a vet to be checked out, vaccinated, spayed or neutered, and then evaluated for possible "re-domestication." She keeps cats in cages and patiently reacclamates them to living with people before giving them up for adoption. She is not paid for her efforts, but she lives with a great sense of satisfaction that in some small way, little by little, she can help to restore the balance.

The veternarian that we use does the same thing. She does it without pay and works with the humane society. She also posts pictures in her office of some off the animals that they were able to save. They have also caught wild dogs that have made very good pets. My syster has also worked with some people to capture and save some off the feral cats in her area ( she lives in a very rural area) has also made some off those cats her outside pets and are very very good animals. I think someone else also said that it seems in rural areas animals get dumped and that true. She sees alot off it.

[Jezebel]

...my response is why is "Fluffy" being allowed to run loose?

I agree that pets should be kept contained, either in a well-fenced yard or on a leash, but as the former owner of many indoor pets, which were all carefully watched and tended to, I can tell you right now that pets will run away if they get the chance. A leash that breaks suddenly as our cat or dog starts chasing after a squirrel or a small hole in the screen door that no one noticed needed repairing is all "Fluffy" needs to get out and get lost, whether "Fluffy" is a Persian cat or a cocker spaniel. We all make mistakes and overlook things that should be remedied; I don't think we deserve to have our pets run the risk of being executed for our human mistakes.

[Veldrina Vladescu]

Alleycat Allies is an organization that does the spay/neuter & release thing, for those interested in donating for finding out how to join/start a programin your area. We've had feral cats at my folks' house for as long as i can remember, but my sis caught em all & had them fixed. If the population is very big, though, it would be smart (for them as well as the ecosystem) to eliminate them as humanely as possible. Dunno about the guns, but it's def. better than traps or poison. Better yet, why don't we declare open season on the mooks who abandon their pets?