Ouch!  Thanks for bringing this up.  make sure that Parated2k sees it!

I like cats and they serve a very useful purpose!  When you are down, they (as can dogs) give you love that you need without asking for anything but a bowl of food.

When you got Moles, they bring you presents!  Treasure them so they will bring you more!

When Birds crap on your car, they crap on the birds!

Cats are their own people, but they are not prey!  And Wisconsin?  Where hunters mistake people for deer?  yea, that is a good law! NOT

Stray cats are a problem, but shooting them is not an answer. Livonia has laws against stray cats and letting your cats wander around outside, and they don't have a problem with stray cats. I believe that you can call animal control and have them pick it up if you trap a stray cat. Redford has no ordinaces against stray cats and there are a lot, and people let their pets roam around. It's hard to tell which cats are pets and which aren't. None of the cats have ever threatened me, but they have often crushed my flowers. Other than being miffed at that, I'm not really mad at them. Most of them are beautiful cats, and I don't have a rodent problem. But I think that trapping them and taking them in to the humane society would be a better, more humane solution, than shooting them. What if the people missed? The poor cat would be in agony and probaby get its wound infected ,etc, and I doubt it would be so friendly then.

But I think that trapping them and taking them in to the humane society would be a better, more humane solution, than shooting them.

A good home is best.  But in the end, yes, the shot is better than a bullet. But each is fatal and quick.  Not like starving someone to death.

Ouch! Thanks for bringing this up. make sure that Parated2k sees it!

Oh, ParaTed2k saw it alright! I came, I saw, I read, and I can't stop laughing!! No, I'm not laughing at the prospect of the heads beloved pets being mounted on small plaques, or even the spector of the old book, "101 Uses for Dead Cats" becoming reality. I am laughing at the misconception hairballs being hacked and coughed out of throats all over this country.

Cats are their own people, but they are not prey!

True, but that is part of the problem.

In other words Philomedy...

So many miscatseptions, so little time!

I'll probably end up doing a whole article (and more than likely, a few satires also) on the topic, but for your blog, I'll just tackle some of the more blatant misconseptions... if I may.

Someone doesn't like cats. Someone sees them on the street, and decides that he/she doesn't like cats. Someone says, I don't like it, I don't see any owner, I should be able to kill it. How wonderfully logical.

First of all, all this resolution hopes to accomplish is to add "Feral Cats" to the already existing list of animals covered by a Small Game Hunting License. It doesn't change any laws concerning the wheres and hows small game are allowed to be hunted. In other words, nope, it won't legalize hunting of cats anywhere it is already illegal to hunt small game. So, no, we won't have people patroling the streets looking for a quick stray snack.

Imagine how much bad luck black strays would bring to anyone walking near them when a hunter with bad aim happens to be around. Are we going to allow people to aim their cars at cats, too?

As per above, nope, since cars are not a weapon of choice allowed by the DNR for hunting small game, they won't be allowed for hunting cats either. Of course, strapping them to the hood would be optional! ;~D

What possible reason do you have to shoot a cat? Are you going to eat it? Are you going to wear it? Are you going to mount its head on your wall? What motivation could there be other than a dislike of cats and/or a love of shooting things?

Now we get to the meat of it all!! What reason would there be to hunt cats?

Well, there are two reasons why there is government regulated hunting in this country. To give hunters the opportunity to ply a time honored activity, and to help regulate the size and scope of a given species of animal in the local ecosystem.

Now, for the first reason, you're right, the time honored reasons for hunting don't exactly present themselves as great justifications for extending that honor to feral cats. On the other paw, Feral cats are ravenous predators which have no natural predators on themselves. Like humans, they hunt for both food and sport.

Now, to most city folk, the picture is a few cats, killing a few birds and squirrels once in awhile, and all is well with the world. The fact is, it is thousands of cats literally killing millions of birds and other animals, with no regard to the endangered status of their prey, or even the idea that they are supposed to care.

It's simple, a predator that kills with impunity, and has knows no threat from other predators, becomes far larger in numbers for the local ecosystem to support. Especially since they were never part of that ecosystem in the first place.

And why be hypocritical about it? Why not extend it to dogs, rabbits, birds and squirrels? They're annoying too.

So, you see, it isn't about "annoyance" or hypocrisy. It is about an animal that kills far more small animals than dogs, rabbits or squirrels do. It is about us humans maintaining a balance that was thrown off by humans who thought is would be "humane" to drop their unwanted cats off in the country.

I hope that helps you understand the problem, even if it doesn't convince you that it's a good idea.

For the record, I myself am not sure if this is the best way to handle the problem. I do know though, that live trapping, spaying and neutering, then releasing them back into the wild has been a dismal failure, and a costly one at that

I don't mind the idea of killing them for food, and I think it's about the only realistic way to deal with strays and ferals.

However, I think that if pets are killed by mistake, (or "mistake")people could get literally get killed over this one. I know there have been plenty of assaults and even murders over killing people's dogs in the past, after they got loose, or bit someone, what have you.

Let's face it, if my cat gets out and somebody intentionally kills it? That dumb little orange tabby is more important to me than most people. Touch my cat, and I'm gunning for you. In a very non-figurative sort of way.(Don't get me wrong, I'd do this for people too, but the beast means that much to me.)

If folks were more responsible about spaying and neutering their pets maybe kitty hunting wouldn't be an issue.

Look at it this way,

I like bunny rabbits. There cute, fuzzy, and very docile. But it's ok to shoot them in 99% of the country.
Why? because they overbreed and destroy crops, and kill other species in the process if their numbers aren't managed by hunting them. Having too many of *ANY* species of animal (including humans) unbalances the balance.

Now i'm not saying we will be knee deep in kitties and we should break out the baby seal clubs anytime soon. But you never know!
(apologies to the cat lovers of JU for the visual)

I like cats as much as the next guy, but you can't let the problem continue unabated. Maybe they should snare and neuter?

Or we could snare them and send them to China!


You know cat is a delicacy there!
(again...apologies to the cat lovers of JU for the visual)

for a very short time while living in detroit, i created a niche career for myself as what i guess might best be described as the urban equivalent of a sport fishing guide. ya see, i pioneered and perfected the sport of dog fishing (not to be confused with fishing for dogfish...which really isnt much of a sport at all considering the quarry; they are sorta like catching rocks).

the idea came to me while enduring a spectacularly unsuccessful muskie trip. among the tackle were some very lifelike baby squirrel lures (great for use under the boughs of a tree overhanging the kinda shallow water where the incredibly voracious muskelunge tends to lie in wait for anything smaller than itself to appear) complete with a triple set of large treble hooks. it may also have had something to do with the blinding light reflecting off the water or perhaps the hot sunlight beating down on my head. whatever it was, i lapsed into a visionary state in which my spiritguide--a really horrible dog i once owned--appeared to me. i saw him very clearly being driven insane by arrogant leftwing squirrels in our apricot tree who not only had the nerve to eat the fruit but conspired to bomb his muttly ass with the seeds. apparently they were irresponsible seed budgeters or something.

in any event, when we returned to the cass corridor, i was still pondering the vision--and glumly refusing to make the trip to the riverfront, figuring hell, if we'd done so poorly on the pristine primeivel waters of northern michigan, what point was there in dissolving perfectly good monofilament line in the irredescent. highly solvent depths of the detroit river (even tho a friend's brother had once snagged a barely living muskie off the east tip of belle isle and wound up on michigan outdoors thanks to some cops who happened to see the 'battle')?

hearing one of the area's many local transient dogs insanely yapping at his own squirrel tormentor was all it took to bring me back to myself. rather than divulge too much more, lemme just say that once we began using marlin rods, large saltwater reels spooled with 100lb test braided nylon line, 2' steel leaders, mounted a fighting chair in the back of a 1962 plymouth valiant stationwagon and spent a relatively brief amount of time learning to stealthily navigate the alleys south of the ford and east of the lodge freeways...and perfected the art of accurately presenting a squirrel lure with the maximum tantalizing realism, there wasnt a trophy class stray dog under 180 lbs we couldnt, at will, hook, land and mount on the wall of our lodge.

Or we could snare them and send them to China!

I thought it was India???????

Seems the point is moot now. The governor vetoed it.  Tabby is safe for another day!

Except around Chinese restaurants?

Seems the point is moot now. The governor vetoed it. Tabby is safe for another day!

Yet another veto from our waste of human flesh of a governor that is based solely on ignorance.

Our governor wants to "save tabby", but he would rather see me dead than have the right to defend myself.

We are not the "State of Wisconsin", we are the Kingdom of Doyle.

mmmmmmmmmm cats............. as I watch my 2 cats glare at me for saying ummmmmmmmmmm cats...lol

Yet another veto from our waste of human flesh of a governor that is based solely on ignorance. Our governor wants to "save tabby", but he would rather see me dead than have the right to defend myself. We are not the "State of Wisconsin", we are the Kingdom of Doyle.

Sorry Ted. We have a clown too, just not as bad as the legislature is red, not blue.

Sorry for taking so long to get back to y'all, I'm usually quicker to get back to my own posts.

I guess my problem is that there is a very thin line between "feral" and "lost". Things would go wrong quickly.

Why not extend it to dogs, rabbits, birds and squirrels? They're annoying too.

The ironic part about this line is, since the language of the proposal never mentioned legalizing the hunting of cats (it merely would have removed feral cats from the list of animals you can't shoot), it would have put feral cats in the same category as most birds and squirrels!! ;~D