What makes the whole thing worse is that Opal’s reaction was the exact one that was being trolled for. Wasn’t it obvious that the OP was not trying to start a legitimate discussion about ways to control the feral cat population, but to rile up the infamous cat lovers of the Dope? Sure, Opal was foolish to be suckered into it, but let’s not defend someone who came here to light fires.
Wow, for once, Rubystreak, you and I agree.
Have all the little devils gone ice skating? 
What if the fish was Hitler?
Now that he’s banned I guess now’s the time for me to feel that painful sting. Oh why didn’t I listen to the self satisfied school marms that so diligently patrol this place? Oh god why?!?!
I think it should be re-iterated that the point of the original thread was asking for help in making clean kills:
or if impossible do something different:
What if you were Dex? That’d be just grand.
Why, oh, why would you be glad you were feeding trolls? … Oh yeah, THAT’S why.
For the record, I never said he wasn’t a troll. That wasn’t the point of my OP.
I reiterate that my objection is not (as people in this thread seem to be interpreting[sup]1[/sup]) that that thread shouldn’t have been locked. I’m saying that it shouldn’t have been locked on the basis of discussing illegal activity, when the illegality of said activity is very much in dispute. It would not bother me so much if Dex had locked the thread saying “You are a troll. I’m locking your thread. Stop trolling.” At least that would have been honest.
In essence, I’m saying (inexpertly, I guess) that while mistake-of-law is inexcusable in cases like this, mistake-of-fact should be a legitimate affirmative defense to rule-breaking on this board. Allow me to 'splain:
Analogy time!
Mistake-of-law: You have consentual sex with a 17-year-old, knowing s/he is underage. You can not claim that you didn’t know about the statutory rape law. Guilty! (In most jurisdictions in the US; for most classes of crimes.)
Mistake-of-fact: You have consentual sex with a 17-year-old, knowing about the statutory rape law, but reasonably and honestly believing that s/he is 18. Innocent! [sup]2[/sup] (In most jurisdictions in the US.)
In the situation at hand, the consentual sex is analogous to posting about potentially illegal material, and the statutory rape law is analogous to the SDMB rule about not posting about illegal material. Of course, it becomes complicated by the fact that the jailbait’s age is in dispute, and s/he might be 20.
In the closed thread, Dex is calling[sup]3[/sup] something a mistake-of-law when it is actually a mistake-of-fact. Foul!
[sup]1[/sup](It was, perhaps, ill-advised to discuss cats at such length in my OP. I should have known that’s what everyone would focus on…)
[sup]2[/sup]If you’re still going to impose punishment for mistake-of-fact, it should at least be mitigated. I do appreciate Dex’s apology for his harsh words. That shows real class.
[sup]3[/sup]Of course, considering his addendum to that thread and his post in this one, this is all academic. But the fun kind of academic!
You’re kind of an idiot, aren’t you? I wasn’t “feeding the troll” in any way. I was just agreeing with Randy Seltzer, which requires a partial defence of T.O’s other thread. But awesome “gotcha” turn around of my sentence. How did you ever come up with it? :rolleyes:
All that bothers me (aside from his not responding to my question) is that he (Dex) presumes to be the arbiter of what constitutes cruelty to animals. If he wants to be the arbiter of what constitutes a closeable thread, fine. But don’t tie it to some moralistic proclamation that doesn’t even make sense. Lots of people have koi ponds, and feral cats are the worst possible nuisance and danger to the fish. It is hardly cruel to protect them.
I agree with your point, but just as a nitpick, I don’t think there’s any jurisdiction where having the mistaken belief that the young lady was of age is any defense. I forget what the legal term is, but it’s a crime without intent.
I question whether pinging a BB off a cat’s butt isn’t stretching the definition of cruelty to animals just a tad bit. I loves me the kitties myself, and I personally would try to figure out a better way to handle the problem, but I’m not sure I’d call it cruelty.
Edit: Actually, never mind.
Actually, BB guns are perfectly capable of maiming or killing a small animal. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BB_gun#Safety
Well, in that case, I would say that if the cat was actually killed, I still wouldn’t consider it animal cruelty. If you let it run away injured, that’s another story.
And you are the wittiest, most brilliant mind ever to grace the Dope.
Why even respond to me then if I wasn’t talking about you, douchebag? You decided to respond to my post about T.O. being a troll as if I were talking about you. If I wasn’t, then why all the defensiveness? I wonder.
We’ve tried everything from fox pee (which works great on squirrels and rabbits around the garden) to screaming “Scat!” to shooting BBs (though we have higher powered weapons). A three-pump BB shot won’t even break skin, but it will sting. It has been my experience that the animals are pretty smart, and even communicate in some way. Maybe a frightened cat peed on a tree and other cats can smell the fear warning or something, I don’t know. But for whatever reason, we only need to address this issue once or twice a year — evidently as new generations arrive or the old scents disappear. Our fish are several years old now (and will outlive us, we are told). They are big and beautiful and deserve their space. They get frightened too, especially by cats leaning over and slobbering into the water. We have given them little spaces where they can sort of hide and lots of plant cover, but the cats definitely pose a danger. And we intend to do whatever we have to do to protect our fish. I wish some others were as understanding as you are.
ETA
Incidentally, we actually have an (mostly) outdoor cat. I think she makes some difference in helping to defend the property generally. She has all her claws, but she is almost 18 years old, arthritic to some extent, and has deafness that goes in and out. We have an indoor cat as well. We love cats. But that doesn’t mean that we feel obligated in some way to every cat in existence.
This is what I had always heard about BB guns, and I was giving my opinion on whether or not I consider it “animal cruelty” based on the assumption that it is correct. I don’t consider it animal cruelty to chase a cat away with a BB if it just smarts a little and doesn’t do any actual damage. As I said, I probably wouldn’t do it myself, but I don’t think it’s cruel.
I don’t blame you for wanting to protect your fish. As far as I’m concerned, if the cat is feral, then it’s no different from any other wild animal when it comes to protecting your property…you are not obligated to let them run around in your yard eating your fish. Although I do think you are obligated to use the most humane method you can figure out to get rid of them.
Agreed.
Lib why don’t you (temporarily) replace the koi with piranha?
