Cat Hunting Considered in Wisconsin

[groover]

Keep your cats indoors, especially if you live in Wisconsin!
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Cat Hunting Considered in Wisconsin
Threat to Songbirds From Feral Cats Raises Concerns

By DEAN SCHABNER

Apr. 12, 2005 - Cat lovers might be outraged by the idea of allowing hunters to stalk their furry friends, but some naturalists say pet owners ought to take the proposal as a wake-up call to be more responsible.

The issue of whether to make feral cats an unprotected species, meaning they could be hunted and killed, was put before the Wisconsin Conservation Congress, an independent organization created by the state 70 years ago to take public input on conservation issues, last night. Representatives from 72 counties listened to residents' concerns about the issue.

The proposal, which was raised five years ago and voted down by the congress, was revived after a 2004 University of Wisconsin study that found non-native feral cats were a threat to native animals such as lovebirds.

Estimates of the number of songbirds killed each year by feral cats in Wisconsin alone range from 8 million to 217 million, though the number is actually believed to be around 39 million, said Steven Oestreicher, the chairman of the congress.

"When you're talking about millions and millions of songbirds in state, you've got take a harder look at this," he said.

It was raised by a resident again during last spring's Conservation Congress hearing in La Crosse County, after the university's report, and the resolution passed 53-1, which put it on the agenda for this year's congress.

Attendees at last night's meetings voted, and Oestreicher said a tally might be available by late today.

If most of the counties approve the proposal, the Conservation Congress could decide to recommend to the state Natural Resources Board that cats be listed as an unprotected species. If the board agrees, it would make the suggestion to the state legislature, which would have the final say in the matter.

Even if the proposal were passed by the Conservation Congress, it could still be changed as it goes through the review and legislative process. Changes could include narrowing the definition of feral cat.

Under the proposal that was discussed last night, even domestic cats without a collar could be considered wild and unprotected, which upset many cat owners at some meetings.

"This sort of crosses the line from wildlife management to people's pets," said one person who opposed the idea during a meeting in Madison.

In Brown County, several hundred people filled an auditorium and the crowd was not the meeting's usual mix of outdoors enthusiasts and hunters. The controversial cat issue took center stage.

"Those cats are no different than someone else's children. They're my children," cat owner Denise Servais said at the Brown County meeting.

The issue of feral cats is biggest in rural areas, where some hunters and residents consider the animals a nuisance, not a harmless pet. Studies estimate there could be 2 million feral cats roaming Wisconsin. Though cat owners may consider them a native species, biologists say they are not, and they kill native rodents and birds.

While cat owners rallied to the defense of felines, some outdoorsmen said those people do not have a clear perspective on a problem that cannot be ignored.

"I think anyone who spends time in the outdoors away from your feeders in the city will know that feral cats do pose a clear danger to native species," Tom Tilkens of De Pere in Brown County said.

Simply killing these cousins of the housecat, though, wasn't an acceptable solution for some.

"I do see both sides, but I'm not sure hunting cats is the answer," cat owner Lisa Hanson of Brown County said.

Even some hunters said they do not see cats as a big concern.

"I just don't see a problem with what they're talking about, the feral cats," Pete Petrouske of the Brown County conservation committee said. "I mean, how many people have ever seen a feral cat? I've never seen one, and I've been out hunting a lot."

Because of that, Oestreicher said, people may be overreacting if they imagine that hunters are going to grab their guns and go prowling for cats.

He pointed out that cats are nocturnal predators, and therefore not a very attractive target for hunters.

As he sees it, the issue really is about sending a message to cat owners.

"We are not advocating a hunting season or the shooting of cats," he said. "We're hoping it's a wake-up call to pet owners to be responsible. This is really to get the attention of the pet owner that when you get tired of your cat, don't take it out into the woods and dump it."

ABC News affiliates WISN-TV in Milwaukee, WBAY-TV in Green Bay and WAOW-TV in Wausau contributed to this report.

Copyright © 2005 ABC News Internet Ventures

[clinthopson]

Look out, Garfield!

[Sergio Zamora]

A propos of not much, about 50 years prior to the French Revolution there was a massacre of cats in Paris led by printing press workers. It's come to be seen a symbolic prognostication of the Revolution itself.

So I vote yes!

[groover]

Wis. Governor Rejects Cat-Hunting Idea

Wisconsin Governor Rejects Idea to Legalize Hunting of Feral Cats Despite Idea's Popularity

BY RYAN J. FOLEY Associated Press Writer

The Associated Press


Apr. 13, 2005 - A proposal to legalize the killing of feral cats is not going to succeed, Gov. Jim Doyle said Wednesday. "I don't think Wisconsin should become known as a state where we shoot cats," said Doyle, a Democrat who neither hunts nor owns a cat. "What it does is sort of hold us up as a state that everybody is kind of laughing at right now."

He told reporters his office had received calls from around the country denouncing a proposal adopted Monday at meetings of the Wisconsin Conservation Congress, a public advisory group, that would classify wild, free-roaming cats as an unprotected species that kills song birds and other wildlife.

Outdoor enthusiasts approved the proposal 6,830 to 5,201 at Monday's spring hearings of the group.

The results get forwarded to the state Natural Resources Board for consideration, but any official action would have to be passed by the Legislature and signed by the governor.

Animal rights groups belittled the idea as inhumane and dangerous.

Doyle said he respects the Conservation Congress but "on this one I think everybody recognizes it's not going anywhere."

Some experts estimate that 2 million wild cats roam Wisconsin, and the state says studies show feral cats kill 47 million to 139 million songbirds a year.

South Dakota and Minnesota both allow wild cats to be shot.

Two state senators Scott Fitzgerald and Neil Kedzie had promised to 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."


On the Net:

http://www.dnr.state.wi.us Department of Natural Resources:


Copyright 2005 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

[Pete C]

Originally Posted by Sergio Zamora

A propos of not much, about 50 years prior to the French Revolution there was a massacre of cats in Paris led by printing press workers. It's come to be seen a symbolic prognostication of the Revolution itself.

So I vote yes!

Here is a link to Robert Darnton's wonderful essay on the cat massacre.

http://www.geocities.com/Heartland/V..._Massacre.html

[Sergio Zamora]

Originally Posted by Pete C

Here is a link to Robert Darnton's wonderful essay on the cat massacre.

http://www.geocities.com/Heartland/V..._Massacre.html

Yeah, the whole book is a lot of fun

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg...80768?v=glance

We used to have a similar problem in Punta Gorda when I lived there(and they likely still do). The old wharf on Charlotte Harbor which used to be the home of several fish and ice houses was turned into a village of specialty shops, and home of one of the greatest open air raw bars on the west coast, Harpoon Harry's.

Problem is, because of the many restaurants, and all the fishing boats that dock there, there is a massive kitty problem.

Year in and year out the battle over whether to let them stay or smoke 'em all rages on.

Either way, animal control comes in about once a year, traps around 50 or so and calls it a year. I know at least 95% of those are whacked later at the pound.

So I say why not let folks hunt them? I don't know that I agree that it would be a wake up call for folks to be more responsible pet owners, but wild cats CAN be a huge problem if they aren't taken care of.

And this is coming from a cat lover and owner.

[Uli]

Plus, cat tastes like chicken.

[Enforcer]

The fact is that most of us, at one time or another, have had to deal with an infestation of cats in our backyards or homes. At some point, you have to come up with a solution. I heard a guy on the radio talking about the $50 it costs to have each of the cats neutered as an alternative solution and saying it would cost him thousands of dollars to do that. Nobody can afford that. Hunting the cats would not only help eradicate the overpopulation of them, but it would discourage pet owners from letting their cats run wild. My neighbor needed to lose a total of five cats to my bow and arrow, one of them pinned by an arrow to a tree in his own yard, before he got the message. It finally sank in and I have no problems now. This may be the best practical solution to the issue.

[Sergio Zamora]

Originally Posted by Larry Nagel

My neighbor needed to lose a total of five cats to my bow and arrow, one of them pinned by an arrow to a tree in his own yard, before he got the message. It finally sank in and I have no problems now. This may be the best practical solution to the issue.

Are you serious? If you are, I'm sure you're a good shot and all, but isn't that just a little dangerous?

If you're not, yeah, ha ha, moted me. very f***ing funny.

[Enforcer]

I probably shouldn't take so much pleasure in reeling you guys in with posts like that.

Doing it anyway,
Larry

[walto]

The fact is that most of us, at one time or another, have had to deal with an infestation of cats in our backyards or homes.

Here in Arlington, it's collared peccaries that are the biggest problem.

Master Nagel, you set the bar so high it is far out of reach for the rest of us, yet you nonchalantly hurdle it as though tis just another boring day at the office.

If someone would have told me yesterday that you would have caught "the big one" today I would have smiled politely and informed them that we are far smarter than we look.

And for a brief moment in time I was beginning to believe that.

Thanks Sergio!!

[Enforcer]

It iS fUn when I get Creative and thinK of nEw ways to tRick you guyS.

[Sergio Zamora]

Originally Posted by Larry Nagel

It iS fUn when I get Creative and thinK of nEw ways to tRick you guyS.

But In realiTy, you should work on nEw MatErial

[Dr Dave]

Prequalification: My wife and I keep two cats. One of them, Miles Dewey Davis, is a fine specimen. He is called Miles Dewey Davis because he is kind of blue in a silent way. The other one, Wynton Marsalis, is a fucking pain in the ass. Among his many derogatory nicknames is "the little rat bastid."

OK, I have presented my credentials. Now, my opinion:

Pests are pests. Regardless of phylum or place of national origin. Americans display absurdly bourgeois sentimentalism toward "cute" mammals. That is why deer have become a menace in places like Eastern Long Island, NY and Northern New Jersey, and Nantucket, Massachusetts.

The fact is, when an animal's presence totally disrupts everyday life, as deer have done, as (apparently) cats have done, the straightforward solution is destruction. Persons who cannot fathom the difference between animals and human animals, I have nothing to say to you, other than that you are horribly confused about life.

[frankenmeister7]

Originally Posted by Uli

Plus, cat tastes like chicken.

um, rattlesnake and rabbits taste like chicken. i am also a cat lover. have too many to mention along with the rest of my animal farm or zoo.

i have lived all over the globe and it seems that ferile cats carry diseases and need to be confined. it takes a lot of time and money to support these groups of folks who watch cats and tag them.

they get highly aggitated if a cat is gone by way of gunshot or foul play. whats the difference. same with a pit bull.

the whole asian country have them for dinner. also put dogs on that menu.

my point being that with these ferile cats, come more cats and the whole town is covered with these creatures who are not accounted for and have to be caught and put to sleep.

if a cat comes from a shelter they should be fixed. you can't get an animal anymore with the procedures that they don't produce more litters. dogs included.

not to get of the track but has anyone seen a real dog and younger cat fight. try to stop it and you wish that you had called animal control before the ugliness gets out of hand.

my great dane woodrow was in the back yard and he is a docile dog. before he could let out a bark or woof, this young cat had jumped on his back.

woodrow could of just taken the cat out and had lunch but got my attention. i turned the hose on both. woodrow ran for cover and miss prissy just hissed and glared at me.

couldn't get rid of the collarless cat and called animal control. cat climbed the fense and was back 20 minutes later. don't think that cat was found, but like i said the people and sometimes these folks are so scummy looking get mad that one of their precious kitties have met with a bitter end.

to end this story, if your a cat owner, have shots, papers, tags and collars and don't let them loose.


also people have a tendency when they see a kitten or a beautiful cat and feed it that the cat will come back the next day expecting more food and attention.

the person who had feed that cat for the moment doesn't realize that the cat brings along its friends for a free meal and there you have it.

cattown in the front or back yard of an innocent person who with the act of kindness fed the cat and now has a cat problem.

it just goes on an on an on...............................

to end this story, if your a cat owner, have shots, papers, tags and collars and don't let them loose.

Francesca, my darling, I could not agree with you more.

I am a cat lover, as I have already stated. But many cat owners simply don't care.

That's where the real problem is

[Vince Kargatis]

Originally Posted by Dr Dave

Persons who cannot fathom the difference between animals and human animals, I have nothing to say to you, other than that you are horribly confused about life.

I know you are, but what am I? Na nana na naa naa.

[frankiepop]

waltuuu, i take offense at you describing my wife as a 'problem'

[Dr Dave]

Originally Posted by Vince Kargatis

I know you are, but what am I? Na nana na naa naa.

Poopy head!

[clinthopson]

Originally Posted by Uli

Plus, cat tastes like chicken.

Ask PeteC, after all he frequents them asian restaurants.

[Dr Dave]

[Pete C]

If Cat Dancing married Will Hunting...

[claude]

Originally Posted by Dr Dave

Pests are pests. Regardless of phylum or place of national origin. Americans display absurdly bourgeois sentimentalism toward "cute" mammals. That is why deer have become a menace in places like Eastern Long Island, NY and Northern New Jersey, and Nantucket, Massachusetts.

The fact is, when an animal's presence totally disrupts everyday life, as deer have done, as (apparently) cats have done, the straightforward solution is destruction. Persons who cannot fathom the difference between animals and human animals, I have nothing to say to you, other than that you are horribly confused about life.

You should head out to an ice-flow in the north Atlantic and make this speech to some of the idiots in helicopters harrassing the seal hunters. I could understand if they were an endangered species but they're not, they're just cute.

Seals totally disrupt everyday life?

[claude]

Originally Posted by Scott Dolan

Seals totally disrupt everyday life?

For fishermen, yes they do. They eat a tonne of cod.

[Rob C]

Jeez, just shoot the songbirds and cut out the middlecat.

[jaka]

Come and get it.

[Salvador Dali Lama]

what kind of borgoise sentamentalism is it that says song birds have more of a right to be alive than cats?