 The
Cat's Meow
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| Issue 15, Vol. 5 | SPECIAL EDITION Don't Shoot The Cat! |
April 4, 2005 |
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Don't Shoot The Cat! |
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It has come to our attention that there is a proposal --"Q62"-- slated for an informal vote (which, if successful, means that a prospective law could be introduced in the Legislature) in Wisconsin that would allow anyone with a hunting license to shoot free-roaming cats that are not wearing collars and/or leashed in the presence of their owners. The Cat's Meow feels that this proposal should NOT be allowed to become law! It is our understanding that, since this is a vote taken only so that a law can be proposed to the Legislature and is occurring in a public forum, ANYONE can attend the vote -- even without being a resident of Wisconsin. We'd like to encourage all catlovers to protect their furbabies, their children, and their neighbors by voting in the Wisconsin forums on April 11. 2005. Don't let YOUR CAT be shot by some nut just because it has slipped outside! (Voting locations and more specific information on voting day events can be found at Don't ShootThe Cat.com.) If you cannot attend the vote, please voice your opinion to the Wisconsin Dept. of Natural Resources! To view questions that will be voted on by the public on April 11th or to learn how to submit your own written resolution please visit dnr.wi.gov/org/nrboard/congress Amazing as it may seem, similar laws already exist in Minnesota and South Dakota. |
| The Humane Society of the United States Condemns Proposal to Shoot Cats in Wisconsin WASHINGTON (March 10, 2005)--The Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) today condemned a proposal in Wisconsin, advanced by a private citizen, to permit hunters holding a small-game license to shoot and kill any cat they see who is not wearing a collar. The HSUS also called on residents to keep their cats safe indoors. Under the proposal to be considered by the Wisconsin Conservation Congress, an advisory group to the Department of Natural Resources, the state would categorize free-roaming domestic cats – any domestic- type cat not under the owner's direct control or not wearing a collar – as an unprotected species. In so doing, any cat meeting this description could be shot and killed. "Shooting and killing free-roaming cats as a means of management is archaic and unwarranted," said Stephanie Shain, HSUS director of outreach for companion animals. "The mere consideration of this proposal is preposterous and if it moves forward, would reflect an unwillingness to explore long-term, humane solutions to conflicts with cats and wildlife," Shain said. Because cats are a domestic species, decisions on programs to manage cats -- including owned, feral, unowned and free-roaming -- should lie with local animal care and control agencies that have expertise in management of domestic species. In specific cases where cats are believed to be causing problems, staff of local animal shelters are best trained and equipped to work with residents and other local groups to stem the flow of cats into feral populations. The HSUS calls on the Wisconsin Conservation Congress to dismiss this blatantly cruel and unnecessary proposal and to recommend instead a cooperative program with local animal shelters and humane societies aimed at stemming the flow of cats into the wild, and humanely handling conflicts with wildlife wherever they occur. An ill-conceived shooting proposal aside, cats already face many dangers outdoors. The HSUS launched its Safe Cats campaign in 2002 to promote public education and responsibility for one's own cats. Through the campaign, The HSUS educates cat owners about the importance of spaying and neutering and the dangers pet cats face when allowed to roam alone or unsupervised. The campaign also assists cat owners in keeping their cat happy indoors and offers guidance on local laws that address a variety of cat issues. For more information, go to www.SafeCats.org. ---------------------- |
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| Reprinted fromCreature Comforts Rescue, as received in the editor's personal email. |
| A World Gone Mad by Ed Kostro “The greatness of a nation, There was a time on this planet
The following animals are presently designated as ‘unprotected’ in the state of Wisconsin. No closed season, bag limit, size limit, or possession limit applies to these animals:
If this feline hunting proposal passes, free-roaming domestic cats will be added to this list and designated as ‘unprotected,’ and it will become legal to hunt them year round in Wisconsin, with absolutely no limit. The bizarre justification for allowing the hunting of cats is this: What is also extremely troubling is that feral, free-roaming cats will be defined as: This means that any cat that is outdoors - unattended, with no collar - could be hunted – even on your front lawn, with your small child or your pet dog in close proximity. If this scenario does not frighten you, I don’t know what will. If you live in Wisconsin, I urge you to get involved in stopping this proposed feline hunting madness. State Hearings on this issue will be held on April 11th. If you live anywhere else in the United States, I urge you to contact your legislators protesting the loss of protection for migratory birds, wolves, and wild mustangs, and demanding that feline hunting never be allowed in your home state, even if it becomes legal in Wisconsin. The life you save may be your own pet cat, or God forbid, someone’s innocent child who happens to wander in front of the cross hairs of some hate-filled cat hunter’s rifle or hand gun in your own neighborhood. The true humane solution to this country’s millions of free-roaming urban and rural feral cats is two-fold, and it does not involve shooting them at will:
to live-trap feral cats, have them spayed or neutered, and then released back into the wild Killing them only causes colonies of existing un-neutered cats to expand in size to take up the territory of those that have been eliminated. In 7 years, one free-roaming un-spayed feline and her offspring can produce 420,000 cats. Imagine your own community turning into Dodge City, where legal cat hunters roam the streets, back alleys, country lanes, parks, school yards, and picnic areas, shooting them down at will. I’ve been involved in feral feline TNR procedures for years, and as someone who’s been in the field utilizing it, I know it works; and it is far safer for all of us, and far more humane than this proposed mass slaughter ever could be. “If you have men who exclude any of God’s creatures |
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| Reprinted from Wisconsin State Journal, furnished by Hart Dowd |
| Q62 Facts |
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Why does Q62 matter? Q62 is the now-infamous “cat-hunting” proposal offered by Mark Smith of Lacrosse County that would classify collarless cats not under the obvious control of an owner as fair-game to anyone with a small-game license. This would mean no closed-season, no bag-limit, and no chance to scan a microchip for any cat facing a 12-year-old kid with a .22 and a low-tolerance for cats. If Q62 were to pass, this would not only be condoned under law, but actually considered a public-service according to Mark Smith. Q62 addresses a bird population problem and suggests that free-roaming cats are the cause. That’s the first lie we are fed about this initiative. I‘ve got two words: habitat loss. The bigger lie is the suggestion that passing Q62 will actually do anything to solve it. It won’t. It was never intended to and no scientist has ever claimed it would. Q62 was only about legal protection for those that want to shoot cats. Mark Smith and the Q62 crowd grabbed Stan Temple’s limited research in an attempt to sell this proposal as good science. So far, they’ve gotten away with it. The funny thing is that Stan Temple has never endorsed or given public support to Q62, nor has he ever spoken with Mark Smith. From Mark Smith’s proposal, you’d think he and Stan had been working on this bird problem together for years. Not so, according to Stan Temple. Dr. Temple is actually a trap-neuter-contain (TNC) guy, but that’s too far out for most to handle. The bottom-line is that he is in favor of an effective and humane solution, as are we. Q62 is neither effective nor humane. You’ll notice that nobody is claiming Stan Temple as a Q62 supporter anymore. He tells me that this is a good thing. Any wildlife ecologist will tell you that in order to manage populations effectively, you need to control birth-rate factors. Q62 does nothing to address the birth-rate factors of the bird or cat populations. Picking off a few thousand cats will do little to affect the overall homeless cat population, nor by extension the bird population. It won’t even have the positive impact of a well-deployed spay/neuter program. And by not addressing the actual causes of bird-population loss, Mark’s claim of concern is no longer credible. So where’s the science? When you get the actual purpose of the proposal, you stop looking for it. Our biggest problem with Q62 is that its supporters lack the courage to tell us what the bill is really about. Q62 is nothing more than legal cover for those that seek to shoot or otherwise kill ownerless cats. Those inside the DNR will tell you off-the-record that the supporters of Q62-style legislation are seeking legal protection to do what they already do; shoot cats. If you have to mislead the public to gain support for your proposal, it certainly reveals something about the power of your idea. About those death-threats.... This was purely distraction. The media told millions of people around the world that Mark Smith wants to shoot cats and then were surprised that a few nut-balls want to substitute Mark for the cat? We weren’t. What was sillier to us was that the press couldn’t get past this childishness and examine what Q62 offered or lacked. We saw the media either latching onto sensationalism or going overboard to “balance” the story. We’d just prefer the truth. The truth is that Q62 is a big lie. We will know where we stand as a state on April 11th. |
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| Reprinted by permission of Adam Baunecht & Don't ShootThe Cat.com |
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| Find More Information About Q62 & Free-roaming/Feral Cats |
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