I saw it on CNN this morning. It sickened me. I have 5 cats of my own. They are all indoor cats, female and spayed. Three of them were strays. I have fed and cared for many strays, even seeing them die of feLV. I don't know how people would even want to let their cats outside knowing the diseases and parasites it can pick up. I commend those who are dedicated to trapping, spaying, and releasing the ferals. It certainly helps keep down the population. I agree that the spay/neuter operation should be more affordable. I have a friend whose vet has agreed to fix her cats for $10, only because she has taken in 12 so far and always finds more. At least she is being responsible. But open season on cats, NO WAY! Where's PETA in all this?

The vote was taken by the Conservation Congress, and was advisory, only. It would take a bill before the legislature and a signature by the governor to get a new law passed. The issue is very emotional, and could damage a political career beyond repair. I do not think such a bill will be considered any time soon.

Wisconsin is a farming state, and many farmers keep outdoor cats, not quite pets, and not quite wild, in order to reduce the number of mice and rats. This practice results in a steady supply of feral cats. There always seems to be a large number of cats waiting to be adopted at the local Humane Society facility.

I don't disaggree that there are more than enough cats all over the place.I just disaggree with that solution.I know they can't trap "all" of them and have them spayed/neutered but they could keep that part of the solution out there and maybe have a get your cat spayed/neutered fair, to help people out too! I grew up on a farm(live on small one now)and live across the road from a dairy. We keep some cats around to help keep mice away but they are also pets.I do think we all(as cat owners&lovers)need to try to help fix this problem.With us living out in the country we have aleast 2 dogs dropped off out here that take up in our yard every year.I don't need them or especial want them but I don't think any one should declare stray dog season either.People just don't like to think of anything like that because these animals have always been "pets".

TNR? Trap, neuter, release. Nope. I vote no. We had to have our lovable 15-yr-old domestic indoor Neutered cat put to sleep because our irresponsible lousy neighbors chose to let theirs roam. IN the city. August 23, The day Scamper was to go to the vet for euth' injection, I looked out F.R. windows and spied a loose blk one walking down the driveway. From a farm nearby, I suspect, that let their cats breed like bandits. Imagine my brewing disdain for that add'l trespasser who continued Scamper's "marking" habits all over the house... Plus I've seen too many ferals and loose cats where they don't belong. in our yard. Collar the cats. Make 'em wear a bell. (good golly, d'ya think tinker bells will stop cats from killing helpless wildlife babies, from nests in the ground?)

Last year the humane society held a Meow-a-thon because a record amount of kitties came in from unwanted litters within a short time. They ran out of foster moms amongst the staff, appealed to the public. Also counted five loose cats traipsin' thru our property last year. GRRR. Stopped at a house two doors down on Saturday as a large orange tabby was parked by their front porch... asked Debbie, neighbor, if it was hers? No, ma'am. She's got two who hang around her place. Doesn't want 'em there either. Doesn't own a trap. New Berlin, WI, property owner turned in the 20th cat he's trapped on his yard two weeks ago; was at the humane society the morning he came in. Always listen to the person's comments on how they deal w/the problem. Should irresponsible owners pay $300 to get their cat out of the pound? // Make it mandatory or require an invisible fence and zapper collar for barn-patrol cats. Any of your pets. They have 'em for domestic dogs! Have seen several wandering barn cats hundreds of feet away from where they belong. Plus the shelter's kennel mgr. was ready to kick a woman's butt for dropping off some "extra" kitties they couldn't afford to care for, or get altered. Alter your pet? What's that?!@! yeah, lady used the runover litters to replace the ones hit by cars on the road.

I decided not to attend our local April 11 meeting, though I originally wanted to. Instead, spent time w/my rescued foster bunnies. Had I attended, I side w/curbing the amount of ferals & strays that proliferate and do more destruction to other animals than people can fathom.

-- Lovable Scamper died because several irresponsible humans thought it was Okey dokey to let their hunters roam. -- Anyone here from MN? Heard that state has a similar small game/feral cat ruling in effect.

plays-in-the-dirt: College friend has a 100-acre parcel of land and sees plenty of unwanted/discarded cats dumped off.

Own an animal?, keep it on your own property or supervised.
Regarding ANY animal, domestic OR wild, being shot and left to bleed by an unprecise hunter. It's not a humane way to die.

Wildlife/pet lover FCF

FurryCritterFan is correct; Hunting cats is legal in neighboring Minnesota and also in S. Dakota... And yes it is much more of a human issue than a feline one, but many species of wildlife are harmed by feral cats each year. Our little Nessie is also a spayed, indoor cat...

http://www.cnn.com/2005/TECH/science/04/12/killing.wildcats.ap/index.html

Mike

FCF: I have often wondered why they don't make invisible fences for cats myself. That still doesn't solve the problem of them killing baby rabbits and such, but at least it would keep the animal on the owner's property. It infuriates me that my I have to deal with the pets of others.

My idea will not only solve the problem of surplus cats but also help to lighten the trade imbalance. Everyone knows that cat is a gourmet delicacy in China right? Round up all the stray cats and ship them over there. Wisconsin could surely pitch in some cheese, perhaps this could be marketed as "Feline Fondue".
On second thought those resourceful Chinese would probably make jackets out of the fur and sell them back to us for a tidy profit!!! Anyone have any other ideas???
Sam

As somebody who goes to the local animal shelters on a regular basis, I can tell you why they don't make invisible fences for cats - INVISIBLE FENCES DO NOT WORK, not for dogs, and certainly wouldn't work for cats, either. Sure, they'll work for dogs who WANT to stay in the yard, and who have been trained to stay within certain bounds that you show them. But most people either don't know they need to teach the dog what the invisible fence is and where the lines are or they're just too lazy to bother. Dogs show up in shelters ALL THE TIME with those stupid invisible fence collars on. The dogs see something they want, and they have no idea that they're supposed to stay within the line, or if they do, the temptation of what they see outweighs their training and so they run right over the line, get shocked as they go over it, and keep right on running. Do you really think they're going to then walk back into their yard and get shocked again going in? Nope. Do you really think that an unneutered male dog who smells a female in heat down the street is going to go against thousands of years of natural instinct and uncontrollable urge because he's scared of a little, temporary shock? Certainly not. Do you really think any kind of hound or terrier that sees a squirrel run across the road is going to be able to control its natural urge to chase small, furry prey, because they're scared of a little shock? Most hounds and terriers do what they want to do anyway, and they certainly pay no attention to people, much less to invisible things, when that prey drive kicks in. So the dogs run right over the fence line, get shocked once, and then they roam until animal control picks them up. And then animal control picks them up again next week, and the week after that, because the dogs have learned the shock is temporary and once they get it over with, they're free to have fun. Invisible fences don't work for dogs, and they definitely wouldn't work for cats for all those reasons and more.

About the collar issue on cats...I have MAJOR problems with this collar thing. My indoor only cat wears a collar, with tags and a bell (which he learned within a week how to keep silent when he walks). He's also microchipped. The reason he wears a collar is because I know that he does, every once in a while, slip out through the laundry room door if we're not paying complete attention. The sneaky little thing will even hide in the laundry room behind the dryer and jump out when we open the outside door for the dogs. He was picked up as an outdoor stray, and it's very difficult to convince a cat that's lived outdoors previously that it needs to stay inside all the time. You really have to fight them on that issue. Occasional escape is practically inevitable, except in old and disabled cats. The reason he has a microchip is because twice when he's gotten out, he came back a few hours later without his collar. One of our neighbors returned one of those collars a few months later; he said he found it when he was clearing out a bunch of brush along his fenceline. The collar was caught on the bottom of the fence. The other one never was found. When my cat does get outside, he's never gone for more than about five hours at most, usually only 1.5-3 hours. So during those two times outside, he was wandering around without a collar for some amount of time. If we had a law that allowed hunting cats without collars in this state, then my beloved cat, who is neutered, up to date on vaccines, microchipped, kept inside the VAST majority of the time (and NEVER let out intentionally), and normally has a collar on could be killed by some redneck who has it out for cats (and there are plenty of those around anyway, collar or no collar, law or no law, just one more reason I keep my cat inside). Another reason I have a big problem with the collar thing is because most collars that are made for cats are made to break away under pressure. This is because cats tend to get themselves into more trouble with collars than dogs do. If a cat fell out of a tree and the collar got caught on a limb, the cat would choke. Or if the cat is going under a fence, like mine did, it can get stuck there until somebody finds it. So cats really need break away collars to prevent injury or death. But this means that some cats that normally wear collars might occasionally be without their collars, like mine was. And the last major reason I have a problem with this collar specification is because if somebody hates cats and just wants to go out and shoot some without the fear of being prosecuted, then if he has a law saying he can kill cats without collars, all he has to do is kill ALL the cats he sees and then take off and throw away the collars of those that have them and he won't get in any trouble at all as long as nobody can prove the cat had a collar on.

A problem I have with ANY proposed hunting on cats, collars or no collars, is because of what I said about my cat - some people really do take care of their cats and they try to keep them in, but a cat that used to live outdoors is bound to escape outside from time to time. You can't train the desire to be outside out of them once they lived outside, and they can be extremely sneaky, quick, and agile when they REALLY want to get outside. Those kinds of cats are not really the problem here...granted, some of them (not all of them) might kill an animal or two when they're outside, but we're talking about cats that are only outside for less than 6 hours at a time, only about once every 3 months or less. Those are not the cats that are destroying millions of songbirds, small mammals, reptiles, and other animals every year. And as FCF said, any animal, cat or otherwise, is going to suffer a slow, agonizing death if it's shot by somebody who's a poor shot or who's just cruel (and again, I remind you that there are MANY many many die-hard cat haters out there who'd love the chance to torture any cat they come across, especially if thy can do it legally).

Personally, I think a hunting season on cats won't solve anything. It would be impossible to shoot every single cat, and the ones that survive (and that people continue to dump outside when they get tired of them) will just breed to make up the difference. It's a well-documented population concept. To fix this problem, we need federal neuter laws for both dogs and cats. If the number of pets that are killed - at taxpayer expense, mind you - and whose bodies fill in an alarming amount of space in landfills - again at taxpayer expense, if you care about nothing else - is not enough to convince you we need federal neuter laws, then this issue should help you decide in favor of neuter laws. We need those laws for the exact same reason for dogs, as well, because while dogs are so highly domesticated they generally can't survive too long on their own, packs of semi-feral dogs and dog/coyote hybrids are a real problem in some rural and semi-rural areas where people dump their dogs or hunters abandon their lost hunting dogs. Those packs are not only dangerous to the small wildlife they encounter, they can also become a serious threat to people. With a combination of nationwide very large scale neutering of all animals except those of registered, licensed (at a high fee) breeders and very aggressive TNR programs over many years until the feral cat population naturally begins to thin out from disease and other causes over time, then the population of ferals should gradually but steadily drop. Every unneutered pet a person owns should carry a minimum $200 license fee per year. Licensed breeders could possibly get a discounted rate, but ANYBODY who produces a litter, intentionally or unintentionally, should have to pay a tax on every single puppy or kitten they produce, since THEY are indirectly responsible for every single one of those animals when they end up being a tax payer burden by going to the county animal shelter (it costs a LOT of money to house, feed, euthanize, and dispose of all those animals). Puppymillers (by puppymillers, I mean any person or company that produces any kind of animal, dog or otherwise, on a commercial scale for sale through brokers to be sold to pet stores and other unsavory places that have money as the number one priority) and pet stores, or breeders who produce more than three litters a year, should have to pay double the amount others pay. Animals (dogs and cats both) violating leash laws should carry minimum hundred dollar fines for every offense (then see how many people blatantly ignore them, after getting fined a couple of times). There should also be a HUGE fine, and maybe even jail time, for pet abandonment with no slap-on-the-wrist kinds of enforcement as most places now practice. If people continue dumping their pets after the TNR people have most of the ferals neutered, then even just a few unneutered cats being dumped into colonies of mostly neutered ferals will rebuild the population. To pull all of this off would take aggressive, widespread, cooperative enforcement and many years to really see the effects, but I really think it's the only way that we'd ever see a permanent change. Every other solution is just going to create cycles of dense/sparse feral populations which will repopulate themselves from the survivors or be continually replenished by irresponsible owners. All of the social movements of trying to guilt and/or educate people into taking better care of their pets and aggressively pushing the neuter agenda will only last so long before society starts shifting back in the direction of callousness - it's ridiculous to think otherwise, as societies constantly shift from one ideology to the opposite over time. A law is the only way to make these changes permanent. I've spent enough years monitoring the flow of animals through shelters, and enough years talking to people from all walks of life, and enough years studying these problems from all angles to say this with conviction. The problem is, in this conservative atmosphere and with the general public's fears of government and politics, getting any of these things, much less all of them, passed would be next to impossible. I doubt there's even a politician willing to suggest a lot of these changes, because they know the puppymillers (quite powerful lobbyists), the anti-PETA crowd (very large and wide ranging, and excellent at stirring up trouble with people who otherwise would be in favor of non-radical laws that would help animals), and the millions of backyard breeders (even worse than the puppymillers as far as contributing to the overpopulation, and thereby feral, problems) are very loud and very organized when it comes to crushing laws that threaten their "rights" to use and abuse animals for their own pleasure with no regard for the animals or their neighbors whom the animals affect in multiple disruptive ways.

Yeah, I know it cost alot to house,feed, etc. what ever animal it may be.But nobody thinks all those perverts in prison are all that expensive that keep killing off all these teenagers and girls not even old enough for some old sick nasty man to be thinking about.So until you want to fire-up that ol'gun there and save some tax dollars each year on what all it takes to keep them up,$$$$$$$$ don't talk to me about a few dead birds.They get off without anything done cause,they weren't hanging over the body SO.....maybe you shouldn't shot any cats unless they are caught redhanded too!

All I want to add to this prickly discussion is that most of the rednecks around here do their "cat shootin" while out hunting other things, such as coyote or deer. If you shoot something as small as a cat with something like a high-powered rifle or a slug from a shotgun, there will be no limping cat left licking its wounds. In fact there won't be much of anything left at all.
But I'm talking about the good old boys that use small animals or roadside beer bottles to sight their guns in too....

I agree with Plays in the dirt. There are lots of orphaned cats that we have in shelters. Yes, it does cost money to feed and house them. It also cost money to feed and house inmates on death row or ones that have murdered or raped innocent people and children, that will get out and be free one day to do it again. I would rather have open season on them. At least cats have a job, they do get rid of rats and mice. I say if furrykritterfan wants to kill cats then he can eat the ones he kills, if he can hit one. I know I love to eat squirrel dumplings every winter.MMMMMMMMMMMMMM!!!!!!!!!!

There isn't an easy answer in any of this. I'm just glad we are all responsible pet owners, and have our animals spayed/neutered, properly contained. (Well, except I do have to fix that back door. Darn doggy has realized he can sometimes push it open and get out through the garage door when it's opened. And he sits and listens for the garage door to go up. He does it just to stir up trouble. Our solution to catch him- go in the house and ignore him. He can't stand that, and comes scratching on the front door right away to be let back in. The dickens!!

I naievly thought our barn cats always stayed quite close to home, when I was a girl growing up on the farm. But, we never spayed or neutered them. And I remember a few litters. So, obviously, many must have run away and lived as feral cats. Not good. Not good at all. But, the cats did do a good job of keeping the rodent population down. And some of the cats did stay very close to the barn. (Thinking back, now I wish all had.)

The concern that a pet animal that escaped for a while might be harmed is certainly a major issue for me with this. I don't like when neighbors kitties occasionally 'do their business' in my garden beds, but I know the neighbors around me don't let their cats out to roam, so if one is out and about, it is because the cat escaped. We don't have many farms in my area any more, and a busy road goes nearby, so I don't think it's farm cats who come in the garden beds. OTOH, there was a litter of feral kittens and their mama living in a neighbor's boat last year. Another neighbor wanted to get help for the animals from the Humane Animal Welfare Society, but the boatowner wouldn't let her call them. I don't know what was up with that, but simply ignoring the cats certainly didn't seem like the responsible thing to do.

I think the biggest problem with cats at animal shelters isn't the cost, but the lack of space, and it is very hard on the shelter workers and volunteers to continually see animals they love have to be destroyed simply because there just isn't any more room. Most shelters nowadays try to avoid euthanizing, to give as many animals a chance at a home, but it does often end up when all the cages are full. And volunteers scramble to try to find foster homes, but can't always find homes. I guess for me, I'd at least like to see farms neuter their cats, so more feral populations aren't created. (There are more truly feral cats out there than the casual observer might think. That's my impression anyway, from the number I have seen at local shelters.)The neutering doesn't solve problems of cats roaming, but at least it would help hold down some of the population, so less cats to roam. I'm not crazy about neutering and re-releasing feral cats though. I don't see much point in that.

I also agree that it doesn't seem like a good idea for cats to be allowed out, under the 'cats will be cats' idea. I don't think it's in the cats best interest either. (I really have to question the intelligence of a cat to come into my back yard, when we have two dogs who patrol the back yard diligently. Maybe they are just kitty thrillseekers ;-) But, I do understand the little buggers will get out once in a while. As my naughty little dog does. (Even though he has the huge fenced back yard where he is allowed to roam. He bolts out front just for the thrill of getting away with something. I gotta fix that door! He only learned this about four months ago, and has gotten out about five times.)

I hope we can all keep this discussion civil, so we can help figure out solutions to this problem. If we get ugly with it, nobody will be helped. I think we all appreciate animal life here.

Some shelters around here have started adopting a policy that no animal leaves the shelter until it has been altered at the shelter. That eliminates the problem of people saying "Oh, yeah, I'll get it done..." and not doing it. But obviously, not all shelters can afford this. Still, I think it's a wonderful idea, and the extra cost they charge me to adopt the animal is still less than paying my own vet. I've never adopted a cat (never had to, the furry little buggers seem to find us OK on their own), but this is what happened with a dog we adopted. We had to wait a week to pick her up, too, so that really let the shelter know that we were seriously interested.

As far as hunting cats - I am tempted to say that organized hunts for ferals in rural ideas is probably a good idea. I don't believe that TNR works, given the constant influx of new animals. Open season is a terrible idea, given the many reasons stated above. But a picked group of hunters (probably DNR, DFW people?) targeting known feral colonies - well, it might be necessary. I think we all know that there just aren't homes enough out there, or people with enough patience to rehome ferals (I know it can be done, I have done it several times - but then again, I have had cats locked in rooms for months at a time, screen doors inside my house, etc.)

There do need to be stricter leash laws for dogs and cats - and the money, people and will to enforce them. The fact that too few people in charge care about escaped cats and dogs is a big part of the problem.

You are right can'tstopgardening we need to be able to discuss things being civil to one another. I do apologize if I got a little touchy over this.While I am a lover of all animals,I can understand the aggravation the unhomed cats cause, for a number of reasons.

Why not have a cat season. There are seasons for deer,turkey,waterfowl,rabbit and just about anything else. These seasons for shooting animals were I think designed to help with the over-populating. I think that is a great idea to have a open season for cats. Cats are way over-populated.

I too feel that this method IS reasonable, because this country has let the cat problem get so unbelievably out of hand that it's now time for drastic action. I am an indoor-cat owner who loves my cats as much as I'd love a child, who could not bear to ever let them wander out on their own, let alone the fact that I study wildlife biology and I know the horrible effects they have on wildlife when they're allowed to roam. This country has ignored this fact up until now and most irresponsible owners deny these effects and more. It's about time they get slapped in the face for allowing these domesticated non-native predators out to roam in the millions. I've been voicing about & waiting for this country to wake up to this problem for so long.

Amy, well put. If cat owners don't want to be resposible for thier cats than that is what will happen. Where I live its open season year round for us folks. We don't need cats killing our livelyhoods. Just this weekend my husband shot dead three sickly cats. Two of them had collars on. Everyone around here tell there neighbors to keep there cats inside, but they don't listen. Then they wonder why precious Fido has come home. If you care for your cat than keep it indoors. Would you allow your children to run all over town? I have two dogs and they are trained to stay within our yard. They are only allowed to go out when we are outside to supervise them. I don't want my dogs being shot. You just don't know what your cat is getting into. He could have eaten a diseased rat or a poisoned mouse not too mention the diseases your cat could be bringing home to your family....gross!!

The collar idea would not work for the simple reason that many cats simply will not tolerate a collar, no less a tag hanging from it. My parents moved to FL a few years ago with their 4 cats. Florida has a law that cats must wear collars with id tags. My parents would call me panicked saying that animal control was threatening to take their cats away because the cats didn't have collars on. They didn't want to hear that the cats kept taking off the collars. One cat almost hung himself trying to get his collar off. These were not cats that were roaming. They are kept in a screened in swimming pool enclosure.

I don't know what the solution is to this problem. I only know that collars is not the one.

I like Muddpies suggestion, have open season on certain criminals.

I would love to peg off all of the perverts but there is one small problem, its illegal to do that....darn it all.

We have over 50 cats that come around our house all the time. Most of them are sick. The farm next to us just lets them breed. Dh will shoot will shoot on site. It just seems that no matter how many cats we shoot there are that many more coming around. We have a special licence that allows us to shoot on site. That means anything. We breed pheasants and quail for re-populating the area. The cats are killing our chicks, sometimes as many as 25 chicks a night. Not one of them were eaten.

vonyon spoke about dealing with the pets of others. It infuriates me also. Eric from WI, are you lurking here? I got upset when I learned that Dane Cty Humane Society is altering ferals then releasing them? Cats are not in the Mammals of Wisconsin book but irresponsible humans have deaf ears when it comes to their roaming pets. A lady had to retrieve her cat from the shelter and pay the fine (after a neighbor trapped it) and then several weeks later the same wandering Jasmine cat got hit w/some lead shots in its neck or shoulder. She was again irate because somebody took target practice at her Jasmine, outdoor roamer. She still has no clue or feels its necessary to confine her pet to indoors only. dah. We've had 7 indoor cats over the years, I would hunt high and low if I knew a neighbor's indoor cat unexpectantly got loose -- and we're ready to exterminate any wandering feline that peruses our yard. Regulars keep coming back !! ... now I know why there's never any cottontail juveys. Our friend has one, possibly two, indoor-only cats, and people drive by his property and dump off their extras. He takes aim ~

I agree that it is a shame that the animals are punished for what stupid, irresponsible pet owners do. However, when owners will not take that responsibility and dump their former pets, someone should step up and do something about it. Whether it is cats, dogs, ferrets, iguanas or tropical fish, they should be put to sleep in a humane manner if a loving home cannot be found for them. I would be happy to see much stiffer punishments for the former owners, too.

Frankly I don't understand why we can't get laws implemented that keep people from having pets who have consistently broken the laws regarding pets. Typically it is illegal to have a bizillion animals in your house in the city - inside or out. But collectors have their half dead animals seized, go to court, have them taken away and then go back to collecting. Ok, so maybe its a disorder - have the judge prescribe mandatory drug therepy, quit collecting or go to jail. Find a bunch of abused fighting pits in a garage? Guess what - you never get to own a pet again. Permanent pet probation. Violaters go directly to jail.
Pass a city ordinace that all pets except for registered breeding licenses must be registered as such with the city/county. Caught with a litter of unregistered XXX? Pay a hefty hefty fine or go to jail.
WHY DOESN"T THIS HAPPEN? Its the EASY answer. Pets are not food, shelter, water or reproductive rights. You can deny someone the right to a pet based on law. But it doesn't happen. WHY WHY WHY! People should pay more attention to who they vote for for Judge.
Mary