In this thread there is discussion about how to control feral cats. It is asserted in the discussion, that feral cats are typically extremely very difficult to adopt out, and that trapping a feral cat and delivering it to the local shelter is more or less virtually an assured death sentence.
If a person has a problem with feral cats coming on their property, and does not wish to engage in the labor and/or cost involved having the feral cats neutered and immunized etc. then returned to the wild, if legal in the the jusrisdiction this choice would take place, would it be more humane to kill the cat immediately or to deliver it to the shelter which is likely to terrify and stress the cat enormously before it is killed at the shelter.
Of the two options of delivery to the shelter and taking no further responsibility for it vs. dispatching it as soon as possible by shooting it as it roams your property or trapping and shooting it n the field, what is the more humane thing to do?
…and I don’t really care if a cat is feral or someone’s wandering pet. If a cat hangs around our property too long, it will soon be penetrated by a .22LR bullet and become coyote chow.
The problem with shooting at cats is that they are quick and will, in all likelyhood, just be injured, not killed. Having a cat crawl away and hide while slowly dying over a couple days is not very ethical either.
If you choose to shoot, are you a good shot, or are you more likely as not just going to wing the thing and let it roam around for days injured until it dies?
As for trapping, one thing that isn’t widely known is that covering the trap with a sheet calms a feral cat enormously, so the trip to the shelter isn’t necessarily a harrowing one for the cat, I can’t speak to how well ferals deal with the sheltering/euthanization process. Of course, this means you have to watch the trap and be there when it goes off, no setting it up and going out to dinner.
I would consider the two options roughly equivalent, and accept whichever choice a person makes, based on what they think will work best, given their talents with a gun and willingness to monitor a trap.
I thought it was ecologically more effective to neuter and release feral animals like this in order to reduce the population, rather than kill them. I know some shelters have that policy. The neutered animal will take up resources that would otherwise be used by a breeding animal, so the population will decrease over time.
Our shelter traps and neuters ferals, and then tries to adopt them out to people who want barn cats or stable cats to keep down the local rodent population on their property. These are people who do not particularly need pets or friendly cats, just resident mousers. This seems to work pretty well for everyone, and seems like the most moral approach possible for dealing with feral cat populations.
I still have cats that I don’t want shitting and spreading fleas and allergen containing fur all over the place.
I have to pay for the neutering for an animal that I don’t want.
It will probably get run over, eaten by a hungry dog, or starve, none of which are very humane.
I leave the traps out overnight and take them to animal control when I make my first trip into town the next day. It may not be the most humane way to rid my property of feral cats, but until cat owners take the responsibility themselves, it works for me.
I’m not sure how cats destroying people’s property is socialism, no. Cats are generally fascists, not socialists, though some are anarchists. :rolleyes:
You know that ferals aren’t actually other people’s cats, right? That is the topic of this thread, not socialism or taxes or whatever else. It’s usually pretty easy to tell the difference between a feral cat and someone’s housepet out on a romp. Now, if you know it’s someone’s pet and you kill it anyway, well… that’s probably a topic for another discussion.
Trouble is, things are rarely black and white. There is a range of types of cats, from Mr. Cuddles to Feral Monster Cat. Many cats are considered by some to be “pets”, even though they are simply fed from a dish on the back porch. They are not “feral” cats, and may even have a name, but they spend only a small portion of their time with their “owners”.
You can tell an outdoor cat who has received regular veterinary care from a feral if you have eyeballs and any idea about what a healthy cat is supposed to look like. If someone is paying for the cat to receive his shots, has neutered him, and likely does something about flea and tick prevention, it’s someone’s pet. Feral cats look pretty rough, and will not approach a person voluntarily. Unneutered male cats have a very distinctive look to them because of their head shape. When in doubt, assume it’s someone’s cat. Unless you don’t care either way.
That would be great, except part of the problem is that feral cats are actually using up the resources of the indigent animals, like foxes, racoons, etc.
City boy, cat owner, and lazy environmentalist here.
Provided you’re an excellent shot, I don’t see a problem with shooting unwelcome feral cats vs. trapping them to be euthanized. I’d worry about a .22 being a bit light, and I’m a nearsighted coffee addict, so it’d be nice if you’d keep the shots to within 30 yards or so. If you just wing the critter, I think you probably have a responsibility to track it down and finish it cleanly.
Like I said, though, I live in the city, so shooting isn’t an option.
I’m actually less supportive of neuter-and-release programs. It’s better than nothing, but I’m not a fan of the effect that feral populations have on native wildlife. That’s why I donate to the ASPCA instead of the local no-kill groups.
For those who worry about housepets being mistaken for feral and killed, there’s a really simple solution: keep your cats indoors.
I’m not getting involved in this debate, but I will say it isn’t that easy. Cats wander all over the place, sans collars. They look skinny, what do I know? I never owned a cat and never want to. I have seen all kinds of cats, but I never looked at them closely. I don’t try to approach them. I don’t want to make friends with the little bastards! I just want them to quit shitting in my garden.
That being said, I don’t want to kill some little girl’s pet, either. I’m not evil. I just think I should have a right to keep someone’s pet cats off my lawn.
Plus we live in a quiet neighorhood but it is less than a quarter mile to the nearest major road - what are people thinking, letting their pet cats roam loose anyway, for some car to hit?
I don’t really understand people who live in cities and let their pet cats roam loose. Don’t they love them?