They shoot cats, don't they?

[KamaAina]

Apparently, in New Jersey, they're planning to. :cry:

http://www.mycentraljersey.com/article/20100313/STATE/100313001/Animal-groups-Could-ruling-lead-to-hunters-shooting-cats

A number of animal activists have contacted state officials in an effort to head off a potential reclassification of feral cats, which could end the growing number of programs that trap, neuter and return them back into neighborhoods or the wild, and allow them to be hunted.

The state Fish and Game Council has condemned the idea of leaving cats in the wild and now another committee that reports to the state Department of Environmental Protection is studying the issue of TNR programs....

Such a reclassification could bring an end to TNR programs like those in Morristown, Mount Olive, Netcong, Boonton and Randolph, and could allow hunters to shoot cats....

Council member Leonard Wolgast was the sponsor of the resolution and has brought the issue of feral cats up at several council meetings. Some animal activists have questioned whether he should be allowed to participate in such discussions at all because he is listed as owner of the East Brunswick property where Blumig Kennel, which they say is owned and operated by his wife's family, is located. That kennel contracts with several communities in Central Jersey to pick up and euthanize cats.

Make it stop, please!

http://www.thehungersite.com/clickToGive/campaign.faces?siteId=3&campaign=FeralCats

[amyrose2712]

1. This needs to be stopped. nt

[Xithras]

2. The simple solution to the feral cat problem is to reintroduce predators.

Wild kitties don't live where the coyote roams! If a coyote is around, a cat will never be found!

The best way to restore an ecosystems equilibrium is to reintroduce its natural predators. If non-natural introduced predators like feral cats are undermining the local ecosystem, the simple solution is to return the natural predators to that ecosystem to "clean out" the introduced invader.

[aquart]

5. Neuter and release doesn't work for you, huh?

[joeybee12]

8. Yeah, TNR is the only way...besides the obvious bloodlust of letting in a coyote...

...a coyote will go after anything as prey...say good-bye to your family dog, too.

[EstimatedProphet]

10. Neuter and release doesn't effectively work for any problem like this

Plus, releasing keeps the problem around.

[Xithras]

12. Not at all.

I don't know if you've read many of my environmental posts here, but it's my primary progressive passion. Everything else comes in second.

North American songbird and small mammal populations have plunged in recent decades, and study after study has identified the feral cat as one of the primary causes. While the domestic cat technically occupies the same predatory niche as the Bobcat, feral cats hunt heavily by climbing trees, while the Bobcat is primarily a ground hunter. North American birds aren't adapted to that kind of predator, and are getting decimated as a result.

Imagine letting a lion loose in New York, where it starts killing people. To me, a TNR program is the equivalent of catching the lion, cutting off its balls, and then telling New Yorkers "Don't worry, it can't reproduce so the problem will eventually go away." It does nothing to address the primary, and immediate, problems that the animal is causing. It places the welfare of the neutered animal, a human introduced and invasive predator, above that of the natural species that originally inhabited that territory.

IMO, if you own or control an outdoor cat that kills a bird or rodent, you should be prosecuted. Your actions are contributing directly to the destruction of the natural environment, and you are just as evil as BP.

[The Philosopher]

13. So you're for selective predators?

Because it doesn't make sense to say the cat population needs a predator to keep it in check, then call it criminal when a cat does what a cat...naturally...does.

I mean, it sounds like you're saying only predators need predators, but the rest should be left in peace. To populate as much as possible. Which would lead to overpopulation, wouldn't it?

[Xithras]

21. There is nothing "natural" about a cat.

The cat, in America, is about as "natural" as kudzu or the nutria. It's an invasive species that evolved in a different ecosystem, and is now wreaking havoc on the North American ecosystem after being released by humans.

And, since you brought it up, I am a STRONG advocate of fully restoring ecosystems nationwide, with natural predators and prey being permitted to achieve a natural balance. And yes, that means I'm a supporter of wolf and bear reintroduction into habitats where they have been extirpated, EVEN IF that introduction means occasional contact between those predators and humans.

[The Philosopher]

22. Erm

You advocate the coyote as a "natural predator" to the cat. The cat who is unnatural to America. How can the coyote be a "natural predator" to the "unnatural" cat?

And how is the cat destructive to America? It's not like it's the Alien and we need to nuke the planet. It's an adaptive species. It almost sounds like you're claiming migration is unnatural and destructive to the environment.

[Xithras]

24. I never said that.

I said that the coyote is a natural predator in most ecosystems. It preys on nearly any ground animal. Cats are simply another animal on the lunch menu, but it's an animal that coyote are fairly adept at catching.

[KittyWampus]

16. Oh please. It isn't the decimated environment, it's the cats. That is such bullshit.

[joeybee12]

18. What an absolute load of horseshit...

No studies indentify feral cats as the cause...none, other than biased crap, probably from the Audubon society, nut none from any reliable environmental group.

Cats mainly stalk for food...if you TNR and manage the colony and feed them, the sort of behavior diminishes, not entirely, but greatly.

What is contributing to the destruction of the environment, and what is lessesing their numebrs is man, and all our activities.

[Xithras]

23. Wow, the Audubon society produces "biased crap"?

Just wow. One of the worlds oldest environmental organizations, which forced through the banning of DDT, which helped to WRITE the Clean Water Act, the Clean Air Act, the Endangered Species Act, and the Wild and Scenic Rivers Act. And now, according to you, they produce "biased crap" because they've identified your favorite 'cute and fuzzy invasive critter' as a serious environmental problem.

Nice to know where you stand.

And, for what it's worth, your claim that there are "no studies" is simply incorrect. There have been nearly a dozen serious academic studies in the past decade alone linking cats with small game and avian wildlife losses. They are, almost consistently, among the five causes of songbird population decline(the top 5, in order, are habitat fragmentation, window impacts, electrocution on power lines, hunting, and feral cats).

Housecats are not a natural part of our ecosystem and, like other environmental threats, should be protested and legislated against wherever possible. If you want a pet cat, that's fine. Just keep it indoors...ALWAYS. We'd be appalled if someone let their pet boa out to hunt wildlife in the woods behind their house, so why are we so complacent when someone lets a cat do the same thing?

[Scout]

25. the same cat owners who consistently let their cats roam have a fucking

hissy fit if my dog accidentally escapes my yard.

[Curmudgeoness]

27. I agree with you regarding the damage done by feral cats.

I have cats, have had cats for years, but they are indoor cats and that is the way "pets" should all be treated.

My neighborhood now has about 10 semi-wild to wild cats roaming. I used to enjoy chipmunks running around, living in an old wall. They are gone. Completely gone from a healthy population. I cannot feed birds, which was one of my greatest enjoyment to get rid of stress.

I would absolutely not be happy about seeing a cat shot. But this is a problem that is just getting worse and worse. I don't have other solutions.

[Xithras]

28. Just to be clear, I absolutely DO NOT support shooting cats.

I simply don't support TNR programs either. I would prefer to see a program similar to TNR where they are caught, neutered, and released into a caged or fenced environment (think "wildlife sanctuary" for cats). Where that isn't possible, I'm not opposed to humane euthanization. I'm not an opponent of hunting, but I absolutely do NOT support hunting cats, because there's a substantial chance that people will end up blowing away someones pet tabby that had the misfortune to sneak outside.

[Curmudgeoness]

29. I know. It is apparent to me that you are not unsensitive. nt

[KamaAina]

7. Coyote sightings have been on the increase in the Northeast lately

one even found its way into NYC's Central Park!

[ceile]

3. I don't think its a conflict of interest

I just think he's menatlly ill.

[aquart]

4. New Jersey.

Nobody in New York is surprised.

[TBF]

6. 2 words of advice for NJ: spay/neuter

[Cleobulus]

9. Uhm, frankly this simply won't work, hunting cats is kinda like hunting squirrels and racoons...

yeah, you can do it, but it doesn't really affect the overall population or population growth, at least neuter and release programs make a dent. The problem is the cats, most of them, live where people live, like racoons and squirrels, unless they plan on hunting in suburbia and urban areas, I don't see how this is going to work.

[FirstLight]

11. ya, and remember what happens then...

didn;t a province in china kill thousands of cats and then six months later had a horrific resurgence of rats...?

fuck with an ecosystem, even one in a urban area...and you'll see things shift drastically.

spay/neuter & release makes perfect sense

[KamaAina]

20. Besides, exactly how manly is it

to be driving down Route 46 with a tabby strapped to your gun rack? :eyes:

[shanti]

14. omg

i can't tell my mother this. she feeds the feral cats in her neighborhood :(

[eyeofdelphi]

15. do feral cats look different than pet cats?

how is a hunter supposed to tell the difference? both my cats are indoor/outdoor cats. they wandered around with the homeless kitties in our last neighborhood. i would be really upset if my cat were shot because someone thought it was feral. at least if it's captured, it gives me a chance to find it before it's killed. and yes, before anyone asks, they are both fixed.
as for introducing a coyote, that is a bad idea. i live in virginia and we had one move in our neighborhood. it started eating people's pets, my dogs were scared to go outside and use the bathroom, and then it started scaring people by coming out into our yards in full daylight and just staring at us like it wanted to eat us. animal control eventually got it. but i'd much rather suffer stray cats than a coyote.

[flvegan]

17. I don't know if I like the feral cat v songbird threads or pitbull threads better.

Trying to understand the logic in them is the internet equivalent of giving yourself a swirly.

[Beringia]

19. A hunter put this on the ballot in Wisconsin and it was voted down

Normally the wildlife agency meetings for the public input are only attended by hunters. But when this subject came up and was talked about in the papers, a few hundred citizens came to vote it down. It is appalling to have the cats abandoned first and then shot. If regular caring people get involved, this legislation to allow hunting of feral cats won't pass.

[undergroundpanther]

26. If I saw any asshole shoot a cat

He'd get shot right in the ass for it.Or they'd get the shit knocked out of them.
Trap/neuter/spay/release is the way,stupid state a-holes what part of that SIMPLE logic do you not GET??
May Sekhmet & Bast protect and empower the cats and those who care..
And May Sekhmet/Bast destroy and torment the assholes wanting to shoot cats legally,may they feel nothing but pain and shame for the rest of their short miserable days.

[JoeyTrib]

30. Isn't Morristown a pretty big city?

Why would you let dumb ass hunters shoot cats near a big city? They could shoot kids or something.