It is legal in all 50 states to live trap and exterminate feral cats?

[Radagast]

Cat lover here. I spent $5000.00 keeping my last cat alive for an extra year. None the less, I will shoot _feral_ cats if needed. I accept that domestic cats will kill if they get the chance, even for the pleasure of it. I still won't kill a known pet, unless it attacking my pets. I had three cat's poisoned, on my own property. If I had found out who the perpetrator was I would not have followed the high road. My pets are part of my family.

Cat's don't kill because they are evil, think of it as being in their programming. For thousands of years we have kept them to hunt and kill vermin, not just enough to eat, but to exterminate them, so we don't get rats in the grain. They have been bred and trained to do what they do. For millenia they have been praised for doing so. They are doing what they know instintively to be right. Ever tried to take a bird or a mouse from a cat? It's about they only time a pet will snarl at you. As far as they are concerned, you are being perverted!

Top that off with thousands of years of being worshipped as gods and they get the instinctive belief in their own superiority over humans. Which makes it hard to change their ways.

The ferals that I have encountered tend to be just that, feral. A hungry ball of fur, fear, anger and hate with fangs.

The domestics are different, they will sit and look at me from a safe distance. Luckily they aren't dumb. As soon as I reach for a rifle they vacate our property and I don't see them again for the duration of my visit. Brandishing works.

 

[Autolycus]

So if someones dog gets loose and craps in my yard would I be justified in shooting it? Afterall it is a nusiance.

 

[Deanimator]

If it is causing damage I find the best bet is contact the owner and let them know there is a problem.

A friend had a problem with the neighbors' cats crapping in his flowerbeds, tracking mud on his truck's hood, etc. He asked them to keep them on their property. They told him in so many words to urinate up a length of hemp. Animal control didn't express any interest in doing anything about the problem.

After that, he started leaving saucers of anti-freeze out for them. The neighbors started coming onto his property and breaking the saucers.

A piano wire dart from a six foot blowgun will knock a cat right off of the top of a house... I hear...

 

[marksman13]

Pet cats and feral cats are totally different animals people. Sure they are biologically the same, but they are not considered the same under law. I will shoot any feral cat on sight. Flame away. The same goes for feral dogs. If that bothers then that's too bad. Feral cats and dogs are a realistic threat to the natural ecosystem. If your dog gets loose and becomes feral, he is a legitimate threat to the other animals in his ecosystem. Carrying capacity is also an issue within the ecosystem. When pets become feral animals they can flood the ecosystem with predators. The impact on prey speices can be devastating. I will continue to thin the population of feral cats and dogs in my area. Keep up with your pet. Take care of it, and be responsible for it. If not, he will end up in my sights, and he will not survive the encounter.

 

[Deanimator]

Keep up with your pet. Take care of it, and be responsible for it. If not, he will end up in my sights, and he will not survive the encounter.

I am simply astonished by the number of arrogant pin-heads who think they have a RIGHT to "graze" THEIR "livestock" on OTHER people's property.

I choose not to have any pets. That means I choose not to have anybody ELSE'S pets either.

 

[Aguila Blanca]

A former lady friend used to trap them, have them spayed, and then release them. That, as far as I know, was legal.

I recently had a raccoon mommy take up residence in an inaccessible portion of my attic to bear her litter. I had to hire a professional trapper to catch mommy dearest, then the trapper and I had to partially disassemble the attic to get at the babies. Based on what he told me, in this state (and I'm not going on record in the open forum with which state I live in, so don't bother to ask) only licensed pest control contractors may legally exterminate trapped wildlife.

Shoot, shovel, and shut up.

 

[wacki]

I just received this PM:

Either way it shouldn't matter. Getting drunk is bad for me but I still do it. Swimming pools are dangerous but I still own one. Cars are dangerous but I still drive. Motorcycles are pointless but I still support peoples right to do it. Homosexuality (which the far left seems to hold up on a pedestal) and premarital sex is.....

I think I was right with you up until you veered off a cliff.

I drink, swim in pools, drive cars, and I have had 65 bikes in 50 years. Guilty of premarital sex, too, but I must be homophobic because I think you turned hard left at this point.

I will likely all of the above with one notable exception...guess which one.

Please re-consider your position, and re-post if appropriate.

Thanks, xxxx

My official stance on homosexuality and far left liberalism is this:

I'm not gay. I think homosexuality is disgusting, a major health risk and certainly not something that goes on in a traditional marriage. Despite this I won't be campaigning to put homosexuals in jail. It's a free country and it should remain a free country. Just don't tell me how to live my life and I won't tell you how to live yours. If a lefty wants me to defend their rights they better damn sure respect mine. Leave my guns alone. I don't care what the statistics say about alcohol, premarital sex, homosexuality and especially guns. You live your life and you let me live mine.

That was the point I was trying to say.

 

[wacki]

Why not just not be an *******, and if you see a feral cat and catch it, go donate it to the humane society or something?

There are 117 cats per square mile in rural Wisconsin. I really doubt the humane society is running short on cats.

 

[trueblue1776]

The Humane Society will just euthanize them anyways, why not save them the trouble of putting them in the freezer?

http://www.stltoday.com/stltoday/ne...8EF2CDB53C0595DB862572F1005F2F1F?OpenDocument

How is me shooting them in the head less humane than giving them to these "animal lovers"?

Bloodthirsty? Fine, it really doesn't hurt my feelings.

 

[Working Man]

We had a big issue with stray cats in the yard. They would crap all over the
patio and give the dogs worms, walk on and scratch up the cars, and chase
and kill things they shouldn't. Once we started trapping them and giving them
to the city our crap/worm problem stopped, cars were cleaner and no more
scratches.

Before we got the newest dog we had about 2 years without one. At that
time a family of rabbits decided to make a home there time and time again.
They were fun to watch and kinda like pets. If you sat on the ground some
of them would walk/hop right up to you. There was a cat that chased a
young rabbit in the back yard but could not chase it into the wood pile. That
was one of the few times I have ever booted an animal.

Pets have no right hunting in my yard. If it was a hawk I would have had no
problems with it.

On a side note.... I have seen 2 rabbits beat the hell out of a cat by ramming it.

 

[trueblue1776]

Australia has the highest rate of mammal extinction in the world. Many of its unique species are threatened with extinction. The Australian Conservation Foundation (ACF) fears the country will lose 50% of its bird species in the next century. According the ACF, the biggest problem is land clearing but according to other parties, the predatory habits of alien species - in particular the domestic cat - is the main threat to Australian native wildlife.

Australia's unique wildlife apparently risks being hunted to extinction unless the cat population is controlled. Native fauna is ill-equipped to deal with this naturalised predator. Three types of cat are recognised: domestic cats which are wholly dependent on humans, unowned stray cats which rely on humans to some extent and feral cats (bush cats) whose reliance on humans is minimal. They can breed 3 or 4 times a year, averaging 4 kittens per litter and can rapidly establish colonies wherever there is a good food source.

1n 1993 there were an estimated 3 million pet cats and 4 million ferals in Australia (Britain has 7 million pet cats and around 1 million ferals) by 1999, there were an estimated 15 million ferals. The difference is largely due to the sampling and estimating methods used rather than exponential growth of the feral cat population. These cats are considered to be responsible for decreasing wildlife numbers despite the fact that pollution, road-building, housing/industrial development, farming and habitat destruction adversely affects many native animals.

At present there is much conflicting 'information' about the amount of damage done by cats in Australia. Some authorities claim that cats are hunting native wildlife to extinction. Others claim cats are unfairly targetted since overclearing and overstocking of land in the late 1800s and the introduction of the Red Fox for sport in 1910 made had a worse impact on wildlife numbers. Sometimes the attempted cures are as bad as the initial problem - a huge number of native animals fall victim to 1080 poison and steel-jaw traps set for bush cats

entire article:
http://www.messybeast.com/ausdilemma.htm

 

[zoom6zoom]

There's a group in my area that puts collection boxes in supermarket lobbies. They are collecting food for "homeless cats". While they may have big hearts, they obviously have small brains - feeding the damn cats only makes the problem exponentially worse.

I always get the urge to drop a box of .22's into the collection.

 

[answerguy]

Funny (to me) cat story:

I was out with a friend in the woods of Michigan partridge hunting. I saw what I assumed was a feral cat and decided to help save the native wildlife and shoot it. I must have winged him and it ran down to the waters edge and started to swim across a narrow channel. I was raising my gun to shoot again when I saw a canoe approaching. I was a little embarrassed at this point thinking that there was a possiblity that the canoeist might own the cat or at least be a cat lover. Apparently he wasn't either. When he saw the situation he yelled out "Shoot him again, he's getting away!"

 

[TallPine]

Obviously, Australia needs to introduce North American wolves to control the wild kitty population.

I will gladly donate a few Montana wolves to help out the cause. I'll even throw in the radio collars for free

 

[TEDDY]

I have 5 cats in my yd.their mine.you shoot them and they will never find your body. attitude like some of you have makes me sick.and makes me wounder if I should continue to be a part of this group.

 

[Biker]

Teddy...

Why would your cats be a problem for anyone if they are in your yard?

Biker

 

[jselvy]

Your Cats, your Yard, Your Right to post a No Hunting Sign.
Your Cats, MY Yard, My Right to control an invasive species on MY Land.
What is the problem?

Jefferson

 

[brerrabbit]

Teddy

As Biker and Jefferson have already said: Your yard your rules, my yard my rules.

I have 5 cats in my yd.their mine.you shoot them and they will never find your body. attitude like some of you have makes me sick.and makes me wounder if I should continue to be a part of this group.

With a posting like yours, threatening murder over your inability to control your pets, I wonder if you should continue to be a part of this group also.

 

[craig]

in my county there's a leash law for dogs AND cats. if your pet causes damages that can be proven, you will pay for them.

i live outside the city limits and any animals that do not have a collar and become a nuisance usually go away never to return.

we do have the hunting dogs pass through, but they have collars and vests and don't hang around.

every now and then somebody will get caught dumping an animal, but somebody usually gets a license # and calls the cops.

i'd much rather take care of the dumpers, but this is the high road.

 

[Sage of Seattle]

With a posting like yours, threatening murder over your inability to control your pets, I wonder if you should continue to be a part of this group also.

Huh? So his desire to be protective of his cats somehow makes him different than these posts made just recently in a related thread? And he specifically mentioned that his cats are in his yard, so how does that equate to an "inability to control [his] pets"?

I guess I'll be the first to say it...if I caught anyone abusing one of my dogs, all bets are off. They are members of my family, and will be treated as such.

But, I'm with SteveK...I'd protect my dog.

If some psycho held a knife to my dogs neck it would be very difficult for me not to shoot him even if my dog was considered "property" by the state. Heh, guess I'd be spending time in jail then.

Some dogs are more equal than others

Don't mess with my "kids"

I have to assume anyone who threatens harm to my dog is mentally ill and an immediate threat to my life as well. I can only relax that assumption once the threat has been neutralized one way or the other. Hopefully, it can be neutralized with the perpetrator in handcuffs, but if he forces me to use deadly force, that's on him.

Do Not. Mess. Wit my Dawg. To do so jeapordizes your health and general well being.
Not a threat, just a prophesy.

My German shepherd would lay down her life for me at any time. I’ve seen her in action so I know exactly where I speak. She defiantly comes under the heading of family. I have to say that I would do anything needed to protect her.

I would let pretty much anybody kill the family cat with not more than a stern talking-to, but my dog, well, he's family.

My pets are family members and anyone harming my pets would be shot or beaten.

All I can really say is my dog is a member of my family, so if someone tries to hurt her, I would interveen with the force needed to stop it. Even if said force is deadly, but nice to know the law as i live in Portland

 

[Dihappy]

ewww, cats

 

[Biker]

Sage...

I stand by my statement. What fault can you find with it?

Biker

 

[Zoogster]

Promoting the killing of animals which will usualy be pets, giving immature people an excuse to shoot something and play with thier toys is more likely to hurt RKBA than anything else.

I agree cats in other people's yards may be an annoyance. However cats climb, are very agile and very active. Fencing a yard for a dog or putting them on a leash is possible. Dogs are also a liability loose and can pose a physical threat. This is not an option for cats. Keeping them forever indoors or allowing them outside to actualy be a cat are really the only choices someone has.

If I had a problem with a cat it would get sprayed with something it did not like and I would not see the cat again. It would however manage to find its way back to its loving owner. Animals do not understand property lines.

I do not have a cat where I live because there is tons of coyotes and only the most wild/feral of cats can survive. However with a lage number of mice and some rats I find myself constantly having to set traps, check them, and hunt some with air guns. Cats would totaly solve this problem.

Lots of ground-nesting birds eat insects like ticks and chiggers. Lyme disease is on the increase in humans, as is bubonic plague and hanta virus.

First off most of those pests exist on rodent populations in between larger hosts like deer/coyotes, as they need a steady supply of hosts to survive and are more likely to find a scurrying rodent. Bubonic plague and hanta virus are specificly rodent spread diseases. Cats kill rodents and keep thier numbers low, so more cats actualy means less of these diseases. The cats will of course catch some of the parasites of the animals they kill, however keeping a cat out of your home, and staying away from it is far easier than keeping a disease carrying rodent out or staying away from it.

As far as catching diseases. Small cats are rarely a threat to people unless they are trying to catch them or pick them up. A stray dog may attack you, a stray cat will try to flee unless someone has been feeding it. So if you do not want contact with a cat, it is pretty easy to avoid.

I have dogs, and currently have no cats because of the large coyote population. Yet I find it rather telling and disturbing that many people are quick to make comments of murder and rage over a percieved threat to thier dog, yet actively promote the killing of other people's cats. An eye for an eye perhaps? Perhaps a dead cat desearves a dead dog? Poisoned cat deserves a poisoned doggy steak? Seriously think about your comments. Nobody needs to be harming other people's pets unless they are a threat to thier safety or make you feel in danger. That is pretty hard for a cat to do.

 

[Biker]

A simple solution to a needlessly complex problem: Keep your cats indoors.
Why is this out of the question? If I come to you and demand $400 for a leather seat that your cat ruined, are you going to pony up?
I didn't think so.

Biker

 

[Sage of Seattle]

I stand by my statement. What fault can you find with it?

I'm not faulting you at all, Biker, nor am I faulting anyone I happened to have quoted, except pointing out the apparent hypocrisy of saying that TEDDY is a terrible person for what he said, when there are literally dozens of other almost verbatim posts which seem to get the okey-dokey just because their pets are dogs.

Reading some of the posts in this thread, I'd be somewhat concerned too if I had a Fluffy kitty that even while collared, might just "accidentally" get shot because of the high anti-cat attitudes.

It seems as if just because it's MAH DAWG then that somehow excuses all manner of violence on the owner's behalf.

Now, personally, I'm a cat lover. I don't much care for dogs except for a few breeds, but if the cats are feral, then I'm all for taking them out.

And, Biker, I've got nothing against any poster on THR and all in all, I think it'd be fun to hear some of the stories you could tell over a beer or two.