[N8 v2.0]

Wisconsin is considering allowing the hunting of cats.

Not cougars or mountain lions or tigers on the loose but putty-tats: Sylvester the cat. Morris the cat. Garfield.

:angry:


Hunter Wants Open Season On Domestic Cats
Local6 News | 03/07/05 | The Associated Press

MADISON, Wis. -- The fur is going to fly when cat lovers hear about Mark Smith's idea.

The Wisconsin hunter and firefighter wants stray cats classified as an "unprotected species" that could be shot by anyone with a small-game license.

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, Wis., 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 11 during hearings for the Wisconsin Conservation Congress across the state. The congress advises state officials on natural resource issues.

Smith said free-roaming cats are an invasive species that attack wild birds.

Smith's proposal has horrified cat lovers.

Ted O'Donnell is horrified. He's the owner of a pet supply store and has set up a Web site to fight the idea -- don't shoot the cat.com.

Department of Natural Resources attorney Tim Andryk said the vote would simply be an advisory recommendation to state lawmakers. He said that to have open season on roaming cats, laws that relate to abuse of domestic animals may have to be amended.

"I would hate to think that tame, owned cats who happen to slip out would be at risk of being deemed a wild, unprotected species," said Sheri Carr, senior humane officer at the Dane County Humane Society. "It's a delicate (ecological) balance out there, but does that mean people should be able to shoot their neighbor's cat? Probably not."

Carr thinks pet owners should not let their animals roam.

-------------------

Another Link to the story: http://www.wbay.com/Global/story.asp?S=3037721

 

[shocktower]

You have to be kidding me I always thought it was ok to shoot a stray :evil: :evil: :evil: :evil: ,BTW I have a license :eviltongu :eviltongu :eviltongu

 

[valve bouncer]

I like cats but the toll they take on native wildlife is just sickening.

 

[Westy]

In theory a cat is a non native species and could be considered a pest. The problem is identifying a stray from someones pet. It would be like shooting a farmers cow that broke through the fence. But if the motivation was to clean up the environment humane trapping would be fairly easy, that would allow the kitty in question to be identified as fur slipper material or someones pet.

 

[llkoolkeg]

I gotta admit I've considered it a time or two, and I grew up with cats in the house. In the rural town I live, I have a problem with a cat who keeps using my daughter's backyard sandbox as its personal outside lavatory of choice. To add insult to injury, whenever we have a gathering at my place, the extra party trash that doesn't fit in all the regular trashcans has to be placed on the deck in plastic bags until we are permitted to put it out on the curb Thurday AM for pickup. In the search for foodstuffs, the stupid cat has ripped holes in these bags on my deck several times and strewn the trash everywhere making a huge mess for me to clean up. I thought it was a raccoon at first, but caught the perpetrator in the act once. One pop from my scoped Mini-14 would end my annoyingly redundant labors, but my neighbors would surely not be thrilled. I have fantasized about doing the same to whatever dog dooks up my front yard by the sidewalk...but putting him down mid-pinch while the owner holds the leash gingerly in a curious display of civil inattention. :devil:

 

[N8 v2.0]

As a former rual boy, I'd be far more inclined to shoot a loose dog than a cat.

I've lost a lot of livestock to dogs who belonged to some city dweller-just-moved-to-the-country who let his dogs run loose at night.

 

[H8R]

As a former rual boy...

That says it all right there. Whatever it was you said.

 

[dh girlie]

Smith said free-roaming cats are an invasive species that attack wild birds.

What about the worms and bugs that the f'n birds eat??? I love watching the worms wriggle about after a rainstorm, then BAM...along comes a wild bird and the worm is gone...

 

[Westy]

I gotta admit I've considered it a time or two, and I grew up with cats in the house. In the rural town I live, I have a problem with a cat who keeps using my daughter's backyard sandbox as its personal outside lavatory of choice.

Slingshot and a pile of burs. Doesn't particularly hurt the cat but annoys the hell out of it enough that maybe it won't come back.

 

[Westy]

Smith said free-roaming cats are an invasive species that attack wild birds.

What about the worms and bugs that the f'n birds eat??? I love watching the worms wriggle about after a rainstorm, then BAM...along comes a wild bird and the worm is gone...

Those worms and birds are native species. Domestic kitties are not.

 

[N8 v2.0]

 

[N8 v2.0]

Smith said free-roaming cats are an invasive species that attack wild birds.

What about the worms and bugs that the f'n birds eat??? I love watching the worms wriggle about after a rainstorm, then BAM...along comes a wild bird and the worm is gone...

Cats generally kill far more vile rodents than they do birds anyway. This is just something that the wussy bird watchers in WI are pushing.

 

[Skookum]

haha tinkles world domination.......

Blasting wild kitties doesn't seem like a bad idea to me at all out in the rural country. Leave it to animal control in the cities.

 

[ummbikes]

Yep, shoot 'em, five bucks and a beer to who ever takes out Boots, a female calico who shreded the grill on my home theater sub-woofer.

 

[Bullitrider]

Hunting cats? I can see it now. Face-painted, dressed in camo and hiding behind your porch planter/cat blind with a shot-gun making cat calls.