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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsBig cat roaming Detroit streets killed by Local Asshole with Gun, thrown in trash
DETROIT A big cat roaming Detroit's northeast side is dead, according to a feral cat rescue group that had been trying to find it for days.
The body of the 25-pound, 3-year-old Savannah cat named Chum was found in a trash can on Detroit's east side Monday evening, said founder Laura Wilhelm-Bruzek of Paws for the Cause, a feral cat rescue group based in Chesterfield Township, Mich.
A neighbor shot the cat days ago, she said. The all-volunteer nonprofit rescue group and advocates for feral cats had been searching for the cat since Saturday.
"I think people can't just go around shooting things they don't understand," Wilhelm-Bruzek said Tuesday. "I think we need to be a little bit more respectful of the animals and human beings around us. I'd love to see someone look into it and investigate it. But I'm not holding out a lot of hope. This whole thing from the beginning has just been a mess."
http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2013/08/27/detroit-big-cat-roaming/2706217/
villager
(26,001 posts)n/t
joeybee12
(56,177 posts)Lizzie Poppet
(10,164 posts)Lizzie Poppet
(10,164 posts)villager
(26,001 posts)...in these discussions...
Lizzie Poppet
(10,164 posts)Clue: that was a rhetorical question...no need to answer. Your initial post in the thread told me everything I need to know about'cha.
Tuesday Afternoon
(56,912 posts)villager
(26,001 posts)Lizzie Poppet
(10,164 posts)Although I suppose given that steaming turd of an initial post (and it's comedy-tier dicto simpliciter fallacy), your use of the collective "you" should have been evident.
villager
(26,001 posts)...with each of your "conversational" posts!
Mojorabbit
(16,020 posts)Eleanors38
(18,318 posts)villager
(26,001 posts)Myopic, easily manipulated, infantile emotions all abuzz, etc...
Eleanors38
(18,318 posts)villager
(26,001 posts)Because of their general accuracy in describing the times....
Ghost in the Machine
(14,912 posts)The Democratic Party Platform SUPPORTS the 2nd Amendment! If *you* don't support it, you're not a Democrat but more of a part of some Lunatic Fringe, along with the grabbers and banners. Go create your own third party and quit fucking ours up!
It's hard enough being a Democrat living in the South, trying to change the minds of generations of ignorance implanted in the single issue voters who say they'll "never vote for a Democrat because all they want to do is take away our guns", or "my Pappy and Grandpappy would come up out of their graves and get me if'n I voted for a Democrat 'cuz they want to take our guns and make us gay!"
Yeah, I heard both of those while out canvassing in 2008... It doesn't help when you show them a Democratic website and they see all these "grabbers", "banners" and "All gun owners are assholes" posters. It leaves a bad stench in this place, and it needs to be cleaned up. If I had my way, I'd scrape you ALL out the door with a squeegee, then dump a few 55 gallon drums of bleach in here....
Ghost
sarisataka
(18,688 posts)by those who favor control not all gun owners are bad?
villager
(26,001 posts)...often, and sadly, prove otherwise.
sarisataka
(18,688 posts)but not the gun owners, which is what I believe you meant.
I should note there are some who favor very strong control but are able to make a post without including a broadbrush insult. They are notably rare
villager
(26,001 posts)Hope springs eternal!
sarisataka
(18,688 posts)That someday we will get past petty insults and bickering to pass laws both side want to see in place.
I'm not holding my breath
hughee99
(16,113 posts)REP
(21,691 posts)A Savannah cat is not a "big cat" by any stretch of the imagination; if so, my Maine Coons are as well. Not that I expect much from USA Today, but surely someone there could compare a 25-pound Savannah to say, a lion and notice there were some differences.
pnwmom
(108,980 posts)The phrase doesn't necessarily refer to lions, tigers, etc.
REP
(21,691 posts)Very few people think Maine Coons (which often weigh 20+ pounds) when they think "big cats" 'terrorizing' a neighborhood. Unless they are morons.
pnwmom
(108,980 posts)But I don't know why those people were terrified at the him.
REP
(21,691 posts)Taller, heavier frame, and much more muscular. 27 pounds but looks bigger because he's long haired.
It was his much smaller sister who nearly killed me, though. Much smaller than that poor savannah.
wild bird
(421 posts)We have alot of those around these parts, along with coyotes.
Savannah Cat.
Bobcat.
Someone not familiar with the breed could easily mistake it for a Bobcat.
REP
(21,691 posts)wild bird
(421 posts)A full grown bobcat can weigh between 14 to 40 lbs. and stand between 24 to 48 inches at the shoulders.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bobcat
Given that, I can see where someone not familiar with the species could possibly mistake it for a bobcat.
Warpy
(111,292 posts)The personality differences are huge, too.
This is just really sad, somebody's pet executed because a bunch of dumbass people were a-skeert.
REP
(21,691 posts)Then again, I live around mountain lions and bobcats without fear, and I pet wild skunks as they climb all over my feet.
Bobbies aren't much bigger than Stewart, my enormous Maine Coon, but the mountain lions are pretty damn big. And gorgeous.
Warpy
(111,292 posts)in the big cat habitats at the local zoo, to the amusement of the handlers.
I can't imagine being frightened of one but there's no way I'd try to keep one as a pet, either.
My favorite feline is the Manul, housecat sized and with incredibly thick, luxurious coats, but if you try to pet one, he's likely to rip your arm off and beat you to death with it.
REP
(21,691 posts)... after all, it was a very petite, extremely sweet Maine Coon who (literally, and I'm using it correctly) nearly killed me earlier this year - 4 days in the hospital and just had surgery to fix some of the tendon damage.
So I'd try it, but with the other hand!
Skittles
(153,169 posts)they salivate over it - look how many people enjoy killing doves. DOVES!!!!!!!!!!!!
valerief
(53,235 posts)The dem is the old man on the park bench feeding crumbs to pigeons.
The repub is the old man in his back yard shooting pigeons.
graywarrior
(59,440 posts)AsahinaKimi
(20,776 posts)Baka! Doji Manuke!!
Ohio Joe
(21,761 posts)Fuckin gun nuts.
HolyMoley
(240 posts)"fuckin gun nuts" or a role model for responsible gun owners
Ohio Joe
(21,761 posts)Control... Are you saying we need gun control?
HolyMoley
(240 posts)Oh, that 'C' word.
That would all depend on what level of 'C' word we're talking about here.
Myself, I lean towards a lowercase 'c'.
Ohio Joe
(21,761 posts)Fuckin gun nuts
HolyMoley
(240 posts)Gotta hand it to you, you read me like a book.
Ohio Joe
(21,761 posts)And it was pretty easy.
HolyMoley
(240 posts)break it down (in the simplest terms possible), and explain it all to those that didn't catch your drift; myself included.
Ohio Joe
(21,761 posts)Or the complicated terms I used.
HolyMoley
(240 posts)I blame myself for even responding in this thread to begin with.
Have a pleasant evening.
snooper2
(30,151 posts)ileus
(15,396 posts)poor cat, I've never understood hunting big cats.
DisgustipatedinCA
(12,530 posts)"Seems like my neighbor wants to kill what he can't understand
I say we can't just kill what we don't understand
But I turn on my TV and see that, oh, yeah, we can
We can and we have since then dawn of man
For countless gods whose only real seeming plan
Was to see to it that clinging to life was our fate
And you gotta admit that life's pretty great..."
-Todd Snider, "Happy New Year"
Taitertots
(7,745 posts)What reasonable alternative do you propose?
Police- No Help
Michigan Humane Society- No Help
Owner- No Help
Mystery Organization for Feral Animals- Practically no Help
I have yet to see anyone produce a single viable alternative. Let me just preempt the obvious by saying, do nothing and wish for the best is not a viable alternative.
MadrasT
(7,237 posts)It was a big housecat
Big deal
It was not going to tackle a human
Taitertots
(7,745 posts)"It was not going to tackle a human"
Duh.
Is the whole basis of your opinion: Do nothing about giant feral stray cats roaming your neighborhood because you don't think it would "tackle a human"?
joeybee12
(56,177 posts)Try again.
Oh, did this jackass hear of Animal Control?
Taitertots
(7,745 posts)Animal Control are too busy trying to stop packs of wild dogs from attacking people.
I think you need to actually read the definition of feral cat, because that cat was feral.
So they probably hear of Animal Control in the sense that: They heard that Animal Control is just a number that you can call but no one will show up (at least not in any reasonable amount of time).
Just a little bit of context regarding public service response time in Detroit.
joeybee12
(56,177 posts)A feral cat is a cat that is born in the wild to a domesticated cat and has not been socialized. BTW, 25 pounds isn't huge...and the fact that the filthy asshole dumped the cat in the trash tells me he/she was out for the thrill of it all.
Taitertots
(7,745 posts)PoliticAverse
(26,366 posts)and the Michigan Humane Society was looking for it.
It was an escaped pet house cat.
Curmudgeoness
(18,219 posts)that warranted the death penalty.
And while you're at it, tell me why doing nothing is not an alternative.
We have stray and feral cats in my neighborhood. Never has it occurred to me to shoot one. I may not like the idea of cats running loose, but I am not going to go on a killing spree either.
Taitertots
(7,745 posts)Do you live in an urban area?
Short list of problems caused/exacerbated by feral cats.
Disease vector for ticks, fleas, mites, lice, Toxoplasma gondii.(effects humans too).... The list goes on.
Biting/Scratching people
Biting/Scratching people's pets
Is a stray cat's life is worth more than the health and safety of your family and pets?
Curmudgeoness
(18,219 posts)we have a lot of stray cats in our neighborhood. To be honest, there has not been one case of disease, or of biting and scratching of people. I don't know about pets, but I have not heard of this happening...although we may not know since the pets don't talk to us. But most pets are not running free here, and the stray cats will retreat instead of attack.
I think this shooter was just a nasty, mean, sour human being. I have tried to find any reports about why she did it, and there don't not seem to have been any reasons for it, except that she must have hated cats.
Taitertots
(7,745 posts)"be honest, there has not been one case of disease, or of biting and scratching of people"
Are you seriously trying to claim that you know that no one (Edit: in your entire city) has ever been bitten or scratched?
Curmudgeoness
(18,219 posts)I have no idea about the whole city, and I never claimed to. But as to my neighborhood, we always know everyone's business and what happens. There are some people here who will tell everyone when a dog takes a shit on some yard and the dog walker doesn't pick it up. If there were problems, the rumor mill would be churning. I would bet on it.
And I wouldn't expect you to think my sources would be credible...."Linda" or "Bonnie" or "Joe" would probably not pass muster.
Taitertots
(7,745 posts)AND, your post isn't clear that you are referring to only your neighborhood, and not the urban area in which you live.
It isn't that your sources are not credible. The problem is that a few anecdotes is fundamentally weak evidence. This is independent from their credibility.
wild bird
(421 posts)See my pics upthread for a comparison.
We have bobcats here where I live and they can be dangerous, especially to dogs, cats, children, how does anyone here know what was in the mind of the person who shot it? Maybe they thought it was a bobcat and dangerous to the neighborhood?
Who knows?
Incitatus
(5,317 posts)The dumb fuck could have killed someone. People getting hit by stray bullets from some asshole firing a gun unnecessarily in a populated area is not a rare occurrence.
Taitertots
(7,745 posts)And I'm willing to bet the vast majority of the time the situation bears almost no resemblance to the situation in the OP.
Robb
(39,665 posts)We get about 50 per year in this country.
Care to guess how many are killed, not by bullets with peoples' names in them, but by ones labeled "occupant"?
Taitertots
(7,745 posts)Who cares how many people are struck by lightning? It is fundamentally irrelevant to the current discussion.
billh58
(6,635 posts)Just a thought...
Tuesday Afternoon
(56,912 posts)LisaL
(44,974 posts)undergroundpanther
(11,925 posts)with guns. shooter should get a penalty. Poor cat,died in pain and his body put in a dumpster. Sometimes people are just amazingly disgusting. Sekhmet and Bast honor and protect the spirit of your murdered kin.
BTW my cat bear is big,he weighs around 25 lbs. He is a big boned cat. According to the people who don't know how big a cat has to be to be called a big cat .
snooper2
(30,151 posts)Ghost in the Machine
(14,912 posts)was neither. I can't understand anyone with the mindset to shoot and animal, especially a cat they had no intention of eating, and just discarding it in a dumpster. Don't shoot what ya' ain't gonna eat!
Now, if it comes out that someone shot it because it was attacking one of their small children, or own pets, such as a regular sized house cat or small dog, I could probably understand that. You have a right to protect your kids, and pets, from being harmed in your own yard.
Ghost
giftedgirl77
(4,713 posts)NickB79
(19,257 posts)I'm surprised we aren't reading about people shooting fucking mountain lions in their backyards yet.
Though the dog situation is getting bad: http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/sns-wp-blm-news-bc-detroit-dogs21-20130821,0,979563.story
mwrguy
(3,245 posts)He was just exercising his gawd given rights an a 'Murkin.
Eleanors38
(18,318 posts)The Straight Story
(48,121 posts)it is done to others.
There are some rights people would love to do away with (not something I would ever have thought I would see progressives advocating for, but since less than 1% of gun owners don't behave we should treat the entire group the same. Someone stole the playbook from the RW and how they portray Islam)
Eleanors38
(18,318 posts)method of stereotyping and stigmatizing with no irony at all.
Boudica the Lyoness
(2,899 posts)One of the most exciting moments of my life was when I came within about 6 feet of a bobcat. I had never seen one before and for a few seconds I had no idea what I was looking at. He stood up and I said, "You're a bobcat" (Like he didn't know). He trotted slowly off. What stunned me was someone said I should have shot him!
Many years ago, the people who live about a mile from us, told us they saw a creature they didn't recognize in their barn............so they shot it! I was so mad, I never bothered to ask them what it was. Why are people like that? Fear of nature?