Again, natural selection in action. You’re too stupid to cover the well so little kids and animals can’t fall in? You deserve to get dysentary or whatever.
A perfect place to put the cats, if you’re into disposing of cats.
Seems to me that the local dogs would be the preferred targets, seeing as how cats don’t bark at two in the morning when I’m trying to sneak in after a night’s debauchery. But to each his own.
Anyone who shot my cat would find themselves wondering why their lawn is turning brown and why the paint keeps peeling off their car, though.
Cat owners are responsible for keeping their cats off of property they don’t belong on. I live in Arkansas out in the sticks and there are some tom cats who like to piss all over the vehicles and man it stinks. The only thing keeping me from shooting them is a fear that I might execute someone’s pet.
I’m not entirely sure how someone is suppose to tell whether a cat is feral or not. A few years ago the state hunters guide here in Arkansas said it was legal for me to shoot feral pigs. A feral pig was any pig that had been in the wild for at least three days. I thought to myself “How in the hell am I suppose to know whether a pig has been in the wild for at least three days?” My wife suggested that if I should see a pig in the woods that I shoot it with a paint gun. Once it has three spots of paint on it I would know it was feral.
Marc
Coyotes are definitely already present in Wisconsin, and they’re vicious little bastards. We lose two or three calves every year to coyotes and we run a fairly small scale dairy operation.
Here’s an article about tonight’s meeting for anyone who’s interested.
I personally think this is one of the stupidest ideas I’ve heard in a long time. (The bill, not what inkleberry said.) I mean, the first thing I thought when I heard it was that the people who feel that shooting someone’s cat when they’re pissed of at its owners would suddenly have a loophole to escape though. Not only that, they might even feel that the shooting was justified. It seems like an idea that would allow people who get joy out of killing things for the sake of killing an outlet for that, and that’s not something that I agree with.
There’s also the issue of people’s cats who have escaped. Cat collars are designed so that they’ll come off if the cat should get tangled up in something. Having any cat not wearing a collar considered feral is an awfully incomplete definition.
I find it terribly irritating that people who go on and on about the impact of cats on native bird populations hardly ever mention the impact that (sub)urban expansion has on those populations. If you’re so concerned about protecting them, why not do something about urban sprawl while you’re at it?
I disagree. If I fell down a well my cat would be right there. Sitting at the top of the well complaining bitterly that I hadn’t opened a can of cat food in over two hours (and for no better reason that I happened to be down a well).
Which would probably alert the neighbors and save my life…
Good kitty
They’ve been spotted in NW Illinois too, in the suburbs I grew up around. They even caught a coyote downtown on Michigan Avenue a few years back.
Nah, bubonic plague in Wisconsin is a prairie dog thing.
When was the last time you took a cat in to be spayed or neutered and get all it’s necessary shots? That costs hundreds.
But it doesn’t change the value of the cat. Spending money on something doesn’t necessarily make it more valuable–see the recent thread on “pimping” cars and how it affects their value.
In Kansas at least, if you have the vet bills, you can sue in small claims court for the money you spent if someone wrongfully kills your pet. You have to provide the reciepts, but you can recoup the money spent.
The hardest part is to get them to stay still on the clay pigeon throwers.
PULL!
Be that as it may, the value of the animal is not necessarily increased by such treatment. In fact, the value of a champion animal would be decreased by sterilizing it.
Here is the WI supreme court’s ruling in the case disallowing recovery of damages for emotional distress for the killing of a pet. My earlier cite purported to contain a link but is mis-linked to the case from another state.
I haven’t seen a county-by-county breakdown yet.
If cat made for good fricassee or catpacks were dragging down a substantial number of Spring calves then I could readily understand creating a season for them. As it stands though I’m still not privy to just what malfeasance it is they’ve committed that’s caused such an outrage. Does the reason sound as if uttered by E. Hillary or is there more?
There wouldn’t be a cat season you’d just be able to shoot free roaming “feral” cats if you have a small game hunting license. According to the linked article.
Marc
I see a vast potential for profit in a Goodbye, Kitty! line of sporting goods.
Is that really such a big issue? Besides, if cat owners aren’t responsible enough to keep their cats indoors then they shouldn’t be surprised when one day they fail to return home.
Marc
Season or not, the question still stands… why?
Bwhaaa, that’s the Waco in you coming out.
Oh hell, Marc, just saw the second half of your post. Thanks. Question answered.
Sometimes “indoor only” cats get out. It’s a frightening thing to happen because you imagine all sorts of terrible things happening to them. So now you have to worry about people using them as target practice simply because they made it legal?
By the way, some people have their cats microchipped, you can’t see a microchip so how can you be sure that that animal isn’t owned from a distance?
I presume you imply no disrespect for The Athens on the Brazos, home of the much feared and dreaded Baylor Bears, and honored by Ms. Molly Ivins as “the Vatican of the Baptists.”