I find this upsetting.

[kyrielle]

News story.

I can see that feral cats can become a problem / are a problem.

But I do not think this is a good or right way to address it. It could too easily affect a pet...even one that was chipped; how would anyone know, at a distance?

I do not like the idea of killing a cat, for any reason except mercy, in any way; they are the ultimate pet and protected-childlike-animal to me, because I grew up with them. I realize that is not a realistic stance. I recognize that it may be necessary to kill some. I do not think this is the right way to do so. I do not find it acceptable. At the very least, trap and determine if they are chipped, or an un-collared pet that escaped, or a collared pet that escaped and eluded the collar (many pets who are collared, if the owner expects them to go out, the collar is tear-away so it won't choke them if it catches on something - shall these animals now be shot for not strangling themselves?).

I suppose it's one way to also encourage greater responsibility among pet owners, but accidents happen, and this still seems utterly wrong to me.

I'm going to bed now. And blah on today in general.

Comments

[leora.livejournal.com]

I'd fully support a catch, neuter, and release program. But I think I am against all hunting that is not for the direct use of the animal, such as for food, leather, fur, etc. And some hunting that is intending to use some part of the animal.

But I'm a bleeding-heart liberal.

[minion.livejournal.com]

A catch, neuter, and release program isn't going to solve the problem. Mainly because these cats, any cats, will go feral. And cat scratches and bites are filthy things not to mention the diseases these cats are likely to aquire.

If you're going to the trouble to catch them just put them down if they're not chipped. It's not like the hunters will be walking down main residential streets aiming for Fluffy or Mittens.

Sorry to all the cat lovers (and I've nothing against them or the animals) but these cats -should- be put down. They're as much a danger as feral dogs. It's all well and good to want to protect animals, but not at the risk of injury or illness to a human being.

[kyrielle]

And, as little as I like the idea of killing a cat, I could accept this. Capture them. Id the pets - id the ones also that are not yet feral. Put down the ones that are too wild to find a home, restore the pets to their owners (and charge them a fee for the hassle if you can figure out a way to do it!), send the rest to the humane society where they will have a chance to find a home and be put down if they can't.

But don't okay hunters to go shoot them. People who live in rural areas may have cats; some may get loose. I prefer to think of a nice gentle euthanasia than a shot, but even if you shoot them to put them down, make sure there aren't pets among them.

And offer the bleeding-heart animal lovers (like me, yes) a chance to adopt the ones that are salvageable (for which I would include feral kittens, who CAN be rehabilitated - I've done it - provided the person knows what they're doing). For a fee, and taking responsibility.

Making them hunt-legal is not the same as having them put down and I find your proposal much less upsetting than this bill.

[leora.livejournal.com]

Do you have any statistics? I have experience with feral cats, and they tend to be afraid of humans, so they don't attack them. Feral cats aren't a particular danger, except when they pose an imbalance in the ecosystem because of killing birds, mice, etc. If you neuter and release, you decrease the size of the feral cat community, which is useful as being a feral cat is a sad life most of the time. But I don't see any need to kill them.

[mandydax.livejournal.com]

I totally agree with you. This proposal is just wrong. There are too many ways that a beloved pet could end up in the crosshairs, and who's going to stop the sadistic people who'll kill them whether they have collars or not? I mean, it's easy enough to take the collar off a dead cat and say it was never there. Gr. :6

[jessiqua.livejournal.com]

Oh this sickens me . . .

[penguinzero.livejournal.com]

It just makes me very glad that both my cats are indoor cats. Of course, because of that, I don't make them wear collars, so if they should ever accidentally pop a screen out of the window and get loose... *shudders*

Yeah. Definitely not a good idea, to my mind.

[theroguex.livejournal.com]

I've always wanted people to take stories like this (and other ones that talk about uncontrolled hunting proposals) and replace the animal in question with the words 'child', 'children', 'kids', or 'homeless.' Once done, read the story and realize just how absurd the entire idea is. Oh, and people who make claims about how a feral cat is ruining the ecosystem...?

If any species on the planet should be executed en masse for destruction of the ecosystem, it is homo sapiens.