If your in Wisconsin and you let your cats out. Better hope they dont pass this law

http://aolsvc.news.aol.com/news/arti...00010000000001

"MADISON, Wis. (April 13) - Although Wisconsin residents have voiced their support for a plan to legalize wild cat hunting, some legislators and cat lovers say they will continue their fight.

The proposal would allow licensed hunters to kill free-roaming cats, including any domestic cat that isn't under the owner's direct control or any cat without a collar, just like skunks or gophers - something the Humane Society of the United States has described as cruel and archaic.

Outdoor enthusiasts approved the proposal 6,830 to 5,201 at Monday's spring hearings of the Wisconsin Conservation Congress, a citizens' advisory group.

The results, released Tuesday by the state, get forwarded to the Natural Resources Board for its consideration. Ultimately, though, any measure would have to be passed by the Legislature and signed by Gov. Jim Doyle.

Already, two state senators - Scott Fitzgerald and Neil Kedzie - are promising they'll do everything they can to keep the plan from becoming law.

Kedzie, who chairs the Natural Resources and Transportation Committee, called the issue ''a distraction from the main tasks we have at hand.''

''I don't see a whole lot of momentum for it,'' Kedzie said. ''It's not the responsibility of the DNR to regulate cats.''

Fitzgerald, co-chairman of the Legislature's powerful Joint Finance Committee, said he will ''work against any proposed legislation to legalize the shooting of feral cats.''

At least two other upper Midwestern states, South Dakota and Minnesota, allow wild cats to be shot - and have for decades.

Every year in Wisconsin alone, an estimated 2 million wild cats kill 47 million to 139 million songbirds, according to state officials. Despite the astounding numbers, the proposal has been met with fierce opposition from cat lovers such as Ted O'Donnell.

O'Donnell, who gathered more than 17,000 signatures in an online petition to oppose the plan, was joined at Monday's meetings by scores of other animal lovers who held pictures of cats, clutched stuffed animals and wore whiskers.

Even Karen Hale, the head of the Madison Audobon Society, one of the largest pro-bird groups in the country with 2,500 members, voted no. She said the proposal was just too controversial, even though wild cats have reduced the state's bird population."


I know cats can be very destructive at times, but how are you going to explain to a small child, “They killed kitty because she/he was outside”. I’ve always felt Pet cats should be kept inside. But this is going a little far about the cats that roam around outside. Eh no win situation, because everyone has a different opinion on them.

I personally believe that pet cats belong inside; I have a kitty which goes into the garden only when I am there. There are many other risks to outdoor cats besides hunters: automobiles, dogs, disease, and chemicals such as insecticides, fertilizers, and stuff like antifreeze in neighbors yards and garages can all kill poor kitty.

If you love your kitties, keep them inside. The only exception I can see are farm cats and the like, which work for a living by killing rodents.

Yep...I totally support the destruction of feral cats...hate the damn things. Every time I see one with a songbird in its dirty fang filled mouth, I want to grab a 410.
Hope they pass it here too !
greg

Actually, we have more of a problem in the S.E. part of Wisc., with coyotes.
You really have to watch out if you have small dogs. When a train goes by,
and the whistle blows,,,they howl! I think the cats have more to worry about
from coyotes than hunters. Also, the law did not pass,, the govenor shot it
down. Didn't want Wisc. to be known as The Cat Shootin State!

I say we should include children too.

There is nothing worse than those damn neighborhood kids free roaming all over the community. So far this year in Indiana alone there have been over 3 million worker ants killed by these free roaming menaces with their magnifying glasses.

Something needs to be done to end this practice of letting kids free roam before it gets out of hand. Killing them may be extreme, but if it gets people to keep their kids inside and eliminates the wild ones then maybe, just maybe, the ant population will recover.

Originally Posted by shrap

I say we should include children too.

There is nothing worse than those damn neighborhood kids free roaming all over the community. So far this year in Indiana alone there have been over 3 million worker ants killed by these free roaming menaces with their magnifying glasses.

Something needs to be done to end this practice of letting kids free roam before it gets out of hand. Killing them may be extreme, but if it gets people to keep their kids inside and eliminates the wild ones then maybe, just maybe, the ant population will recover.

How about just doing away with the stupid people who breed

http://www.cnn.com/2005/US/04/13/dau....ap/index.html

Originally Posted by cthulhu77

Yep...I totally support the destruction of feral cats...hate the damn things. Every time I see one with a songbird in its dirty fang filled mouth, I want to grab a 410. Hope they pass it here too ! greg

How is someone supposed to know which cat is feral and which one simply escaped out the front door when it wasn't supposed to? You hate cats, it's apparent from your post, but what about other things that kill those little songbirds? Here's a list of what cars killed in only one year on two little two rut roads I take to work and back. (20 miles) These back roads are small and don't even have lines painted on them and they aren't traveled very heavily and are lined with fields and woods. It's a beautiful drive and I enjoy it tremendously. The snake hunting at night is awesome too.

405 raccoons
344 various mammals (couldn't tell what it used to be)
298 opossums
271 squirrels
249 various birds (couldn't tell what kind)
224 box turtles
201 skunks
195 rabbits
175 snakes (mostly garter, hognose, prairie kings, speckled kings & a few copperheads)
78 dogs
55 mourning doves
28 blue jays
22 cats
21 red tailed hawks
19 deer
15 woodchucks
14 cardinals
14 common snappers
10 redwinged blackbirds
9 goldfinches
9 red foxes
6 bats
6 coyotees
6 blue birds
5 turkeys
4 red eared sliders (large)
4 screech owls
3 barred owls
1 grey fox
1 oriole
1 kestrel
1 horse
1 great horned owl
1 bobcat
1 northern flicker
1 turkey vulture
1 crow (yeah I was surprised, the only crow I've ever seen killed on the road)

Cars kill more animals than feral cats do. So let's make it open season on cars. Yeah, pot shots with your 410 on a couple of cars with pretty yellow American goldfinch feathers sticking out of the grill.

For sheer numbers cars may take out more animals than cats, but I think the individual rate is much higher for feral cat damage vs car damage. That list is hard to believe, I don't think I've seen that many birds (400+) killed by cars in all the roads I've traveled in my whole life. Not to mention 80 dogs on a not heavily traveled back road, apparently that area also has a major irresponsible dog owner problem. 400 Racoons in one year, then there has to be a local population boom, or someone is driving for hours every night with the sole purpose of trying to take out as many animals as they can. Seriously if that is an accurate tally, then that road needs to be shut down, since it must traverse one of the most densely populated wildlife areas in the country.

That said, cars may cause a lot of damage, but what do you SERIOUSLY suggest be done? Eliminate our transportation? Not gonna happen, anymore than we can stop what is probaly the most serious problem to loss of all wildlife....that being the destruction of habitat, mostly for housing and developement. That also being said , because cars may cause more damage than feral cats doesn't mean we should ignore the massive damage done by feral cats. I agree with Lucille, cats should stay indoors, period. Our cat has been outside one time, when we brought it home, and then it was in a carrier. They should make it so you have to buy an extra "stamp" for your hunting license, like a duck stamp. All the funds generated from the additional stamp fees then go to public education of responsible indoor cat keeping and spay/nueter programs. I hope no one takes offense, JMHO. I'm not a cat hater, our cat gets treated like a king, I just hate feral cats (and dog's that crap in my yard. Which is actually the fault of the owner, and also a subject for a different thread)

Reptilebreeder: Since you're skeptical, I think you need to start a list of DOR animals and you'll be amazed and how many are killed. I certainly was. But leave about 45 minutes early for work so you can really look, that's what I did. You can't do this if you're driving 60 mph down the road.

I can understand why you think my list of DOR animals is hard to believe. I work with a lot of people and guess what? I can go to work and say, " Did you see that dead deer on hwy 67?" Not one person will have seen it yet every single one of them had to pass by it to get to work in broad daylight. So I understand why you don't see many dead birds.

As for the 'coons, some nights there would be upwards of 3 mothers with 3 or 4 babies each making a total of 12 or more killed on one night. And lots of times they are scavenging another animal that had been killed. I think that's how the buzzard and crow bought it, eating another DOR.

I didn't even try to keep track of the salamanders, frogs & toads that I see by the hundreds on cool rainy nights. There is no way NOT to hit those.

As for what I suggest being done, I was making an analogy. It's stupid to shoot at cars and it's stupid to make it open season on pets. How is someone to know if a cat is feral or not?

But here is my suggestion: Trap the true feral cats and euthanize them. Done. Then there will be no Bubba running loose in the "burbs" shooting people's pets. I know it's not as fun as "hunting" them but it will work.

I dont know what to say about this law. I am a animal lover, but i do know about how bad the feral cat problems are. Therefore i always have been a stong advocate for keeping cats indoors. I see it that if you love your cat, then you should keep it indoors. Nothing angers me more than to see a careless owner letting their cats roam outside. Your beloved cats goes through more problems and faces worse things than a gun on a daily basis roaming outside. One main thing is other cats, your cat will sometimes be in battles for its life outside and you do not see it or even hear it. Then you have the meddling little kids who have zero respect for living animals that torture "stray" cats. Just ask me, Some kids along time ago took a stray and tied a metal chain around its neck and threw the cat over my privacy fence to let my chow attack it. Needless to say, by the time i heard the commotion and made it out there, my neighbors cat did not have a chance. The kids took off as a was trying to save the cat from my dog, but it was too late. Thanks to those brats, my chow turned on all of us less than a month later.

A month ago the next door neighbors kid and their half-breed chow, chased a alley cat onto my porch where they proceeded to try to have the dog kill it. That cat now lives on my porch, where i still am treating alot of deep wounds it had. I would have brought the cat inside, but he is very feral acting and does not like other cats or dogs.