I’m not against hunting for food, and I’m not against shooting to kill something that is a legitimate threat to safety. But this? This is just the work of a sick sadistic piece of shit who wants to cause pain for the sake of causing pain. I hope he accidentally shoots himself in the balls and ends up having to have them amputated before he ever has a chance to reproduce. To hell with this worthless piece of human trash. Exile is too good for him!
As you no doubt know, Maine has a significant feral cat issue, and Thomaston is not a “big city” kind of place. It would not surprise me at all if Harry was out availing himself of a snack at a neighbor’s bird feeder, chicken coop, or rabbit hutch, was mistaken for a feral cat, and paid the unfortunate price for it.
I can semi-support this (keep your cats inside, folks!) - but if someone shot Harry thinking he was feral, then finish the job and make sure he is dead. He certainly wasn’t running away with that leg.
I have cats, my own personal “rescue cats”. Every one of them was a stray or someone else’s throw-away.
I keep them inside, but cats being cats there will always be a chance of one sneaking past me. It can happen. There is another cat, someone else’s that likes to visit my yard and sit in the sun on the roof of my garage.
I have no patience for this kind of thing. It pisses me off.
It doesnt make a difference to me whether it’s legal or not. It’s vile and disgusting. So many people take pleasure is killing an animal, and when called on it they try to excuse their actions with crap like “there’s too many feral cats around and they’re bringing in diseases”. Bullshit, they simply want a reason to kill.
You know, during a raccoon incursion we tried to live trap the beasts and did get about four of them before they worked out that the cages were indeed traps… but when we woke up one night to a raccoon - you know, a wild animal - trying to climb up the foot of our bed I didn’t have any problem at all with my spouse shooting it dead. (The first time we used the crossbow. Subsequently, we purchased a sufficiently powerful airgun to dispatch a live raccoon without going entirely through a wall of the building).
Look, I’m all for live trapping and being kind to animals, but at a certain point being an animal lover can put me and mine at risk, and I’m not willing to do that in my own home.
A truly feral cat is a wild animal. I’d prefer to come to a non-violent solution (I have not one but two live-trap cages and an animal control pole) but if I can’t, and me and mine are at risk, then too bad for the cat. I assure you, I don’t take pleasure in killing. It’s a nasty thing to do, but less nasty than everyone in the family needing rabies shots or having to get surgery because of the damage caused by animal bites at least from my viewpoint.
This is my own practice, however the evidence for its success is somewhat equivocal. In larger colonies it appears to be less effective than trap and humanely euthanize. And in areas where natives are under heavy pressure from ferals I would always advocate euthanizing any unadoptable cats - in some areas colonies simply can’t be allowed to exist, stable or not.
Seriously, I’ve driven US Route One up coastal Maine, Freeport to Ellsworth, since 1983, and Thomaston is the only town on that road with a distinctly creepy vibe. I’m not shocked that it harbors pet animal shooters.
My neighbors have a sweet, small black cat that they allow to roam the neighborhood. I worry that he’ll either meet with a similar fate, or get run over.
Also, from the article: “…he could’ve mistaken it for a rat, a wharf rat or something like that…”
What the hell kind of rats do you have in Maine that look and act like stripey orange cats??
Kinda makes me wonder whether the animal control officer has a pretty good idea who actually did it, and doesn’t want the guy to get caught, or wants him to be excused for it if he is?
I really don’t like sport hunting, and I think that people who go out and shoot intelligent animals for nothing more than a trophy are no better than a star NFL quarterback who drowns injured pit bulls after a dog fight.
