Feral Cat Hunting
http://www.dailyrecord.com/article/20100313/COMMUNITIES/303130002/Animal-groups-Could-ruling-lead-to-hunters-shooting-cats
I really hope this does not get passed. They should stick with TNR and not hunt cats. Besides, how will hunters know if they are shooting a feral cat or someones pet who likes to wander around the woods?
jrsemom 
Although it's clearly a horrible thing, I don't think that idea has legs yet. It's not even introduced as a real bill yet. And if the Record's info about the person introducing it is correct, there's no way they'll let hunters go after them. It's no better, but the guy behind it all has a kennel, so he's going to want to have only "authorized" facilities euthanize the cats. Oh, lo and behold, he just happens to have the very first facility all ready for a fat government contract when the bill passes.
Am I reading this correctly? This guy wants to profit off killing cats. That is just sick.
Who can distinguish between someone's pet who slipped out a door (my property boarders a state park) and a feral cat? And besides, why is killing ANY cat okay?
Cats should not be allowed to run free. If they are running free then they are Feral in my book.
CJ Might not be the same, but what makes people any different...? We're running free, are we not?
Don't get me wrong, I see the difference between cats and humans as clear as day, but the fact still remains that it's not really right to kill another animal because it's being an inconvenience to us...
PoeticMadnesss Re:Cats should not be allowed to run free. If they are running free then they are Feral in my book.
And therefore deserve to have their life ended? mhmm...........
Hunting cats is plain stupid. We don't need to make people more trigger happy. The game allowed currently is fine and enough in my book.
Big Al
shoebie I'm not in favor of hunting feral cats! Now that I've stated that I will proceed. I hate cats. I don't care who likes them or what anyone thinks of my opinion. It's mine and I have the right to it. That having been said, just because I hate them, I still would not physically harm one myself. There are, however, many things to consider here. I don't know about Warren County but I have been told by animal control, an obviously credible source, that Morris County has documented over 15,000 stray cats! No that was not a typing error and yes the decimal is in the right place. I highly doubt that Warren County would have an abnormally different total. I have absolutely no problem with hunting as long as the meat of the animal that is killed is eaten. If people ate the feral cats that were hunted than what is the problem. If you have a pet cat it should be registered, wearing a COLLAR, and kept on your own $%^&*# property!!!!!!! That should answer how people would know if the cat they were taking aim at was a pet or not. If I sound a wee bit bitter it's because I am. I have at least four cats in my neighborhood that take residence in my yard on a daily basis. They dig in my gardens, stalk my bird feeder (killing what they can and leaving it for me like some sort of sick trophy), defecate all over my property, urinate on everything I leave outside and routinely raid my garage. These are people's pets!!!! The police and animal control don't care and no matter how many times and/or ways I talk to my neighbors about it they still just open their doors and let THEIR cats roam free. There should be a law against this. Oh wait.....THERE IS!!!!!!!
Now, would someone please explain what it is we should do with feral cats? After all, there is an endless supply of housebroken cats and kittens available for adoption as it is. I am not exactly suggesting that an open hunt is the answer but, in Morris County, the current plan is trap, neuter, train (social behavior), attempt to place in home, and release. Any guesses as to how much that one costs?????????
Anybody have any GOOD ideas?????
I admit that feral cats are a problem, and there is no easy solution---if at all.
Almost a year ago today a cat showed up on our doorstep. He looks to be a Maine Coon or mix of one. We have a Maine Coon that is an indoor cat. My wife fell in love with him and after a couple of days we were able to catch him and bring him indoors. We then took him to the vet. We didn't know why his ear was cut off---a fight? Well, the vet examined him and said he had been part of a feral cat program and that he had been neutered and his ear cut so they'd know which cats had already been spayed/neutered. We had never heard that but it made sense.
Anyway, he's an indoor cat and as sweet as you can imagine. What a wonderful cat he's been. He's still a bit skittish but as docile as can be. Not all feral cats can be domesticated, but this guy was a real find. Can you imagine killing a cat like this?
Mr. Resident 
And here's another picture of him looking in the window and his future best buddy.
I can't say I would like the idea of hunters shooting cats since I am an animal lover, BUT feral cats AND house cats that are allowed to roam around town are a HUGE problem. When we lived in our apartment there were so many cats outside. My neighbor felt bad for them being out in the dead of winter, so she decided to feed them- BIG MISTAKE! They would sit outside the door several times a day crying and scratching at the door. She then decided to give them a home and attempted to take them inside. They almost went crazy!!! They would not stop running around her apt. almost bouncing off the walls! Most feral cats will not accept being indoors since they are not used to it and many cannot be handled by humans.
Since we have lived in our house we have had several cats in and around our propery. It drives me crazy because they have ruined newly planted bushes, flowers, etc... with cat urine and they also leave little presents for us by our door. Not to mention they drive my dogs/cats nuts when they are in our backyard.
So again I don't think it is the perfect solution, but what kind of life do they have living on the streets? It helps to spay/neuter so they are not multiplying but they are still out in the freezing cold, rain, and always have to find food whether it be hunting or digging through someones garbage.
Down south they also have certain days that they have "Hunts" but it is for the wild packs of dogs that roam the streets. There could be as many as 50 running in a pack. They let everyone know the time it will be held so that they do not leave there pets out.
Mr. Resident - love the picture of the two cats looking at each other through the glass door! They look like long lost brothers.
We often get feral cats by us as well. They probably hear/see our cats outside. (We do let our cats out, but they don't go anywhere but on our property, and they have collars and plenty of bells on - not a one has gotten a songbird since I put bells on their collars.) When it comes to the feral cats that come around - my goal is always to catch the cat and take it to the vet to make sure it isn't diseased (feline Leuk or Aids which can be transmitted to our cats). Then spay/neuter and try to find a home.
With the recent cat that was coming around our place, which I posted a Found notice about, I was pretty sure it was someone's cat, not a feral -- it came right over to me when I called it, and it knew what the sound of a treat jar shaking meant. No one ever came forward to claim the cat, though.
Rebecka Dave can you elaborate on the law against letting your cat outside? I am not trying to be a smart ass i just really have never heard of that law.
That article is completely ridiculous and horrific for a cat lover to read. It makes me sick that this is even a topic. There are tons of wonderful people volunteering their time and energy to save the homeless cats and now some a-hole wants to shoot them. Makes me so insanley mad!!!!! Esp bc a few months back I took in a homeless cat who has quickly turned into the most friendliest gentle cat i've ever met. The word feral doesn't mean much to me bc a cat can change super fast when in the proper environment.
CagedAnimal "Cats should not be allowed to run free. If they are running free then they are Feral in my book.
Your book was written by an idiot.
MCR Sara 43
I think it's great that you saved A homeless cat, but what about the thousands that still roam free? Yes, there are many wonerful people that will volunteer their homes, time, etc... to help (I also rescued my cats) but the problem is there are far too many cats and the population is growing daily. As Dave stated, there are so many cats now that are up for adoption. In many cases they remain in shelters for months at a time and still do not have homes. What do you suggest? Is it better to leave these cats living on the streets cold, hungry, sick, carrying diseases, dodging cars, etc...?
shoebie,
Don't take this wrong but you could not have proved my point any better. Many cat owners either aren't aware or just plain out don't care that the town of Hackettstown requires that ALL pet owners contain their pets on their OWN property. I get along well with most all of my neighbors so I would prefer not to have to involve law enforcement and create unnecessary tension but how many times should someone have to politely suggest that others keep their pets off my property? I love animals. I have one. I will gladly come and play with yours at your house but my yard should not be your pets bathroom! I don't know that I support a cat hunt but, as SMP said, what life does a feral cat have besides being a burden on everyone else? These are the product of over breeding for the purpose of creating pets so we are not discussing a naturally occuring population of a wild animal which would involve more ethics. (sorry if that struck a chord with anyone so feel free to educate me on how out of line I was for making that assumption.)
sara43,
What do you propose as a "cat lover"? I am not a blood thirsty killer but as I stated earlier, there is no chance of a shortage of domestic kittens or cats readily available for adoption at any given moment. Just for a hypothetical question, let's use Morris County's numbers. If there was a proposed hunt there, what would be a viable alternative? Do you and all of the other "cat lovers" out there have any idea what it would take to collect and find homes for more than ten thousand cats?????
SMP, how do you feel about the homeless human population? Would they be better off dead as well?
ianimal the reason we have a stray/feral cat problem in the first place is because of people. people who don't spay/nueter their pets and then let them outside or abandon them when they decide they don't want them anymore. the cats do not have a choice in the matter...it is not their fault. they would much rather be in a warm home being fed every day and part of a family then outside cold & hungry. cats are pets...they have been domesticated for 5,000 years. one of mine i rescued was a totally feral 2 year old cat that was born outside. she was pregnant so she had her babies in my house...& i found them great homes when they were 10 weeks old. the mom would hiss & growl at me because she was scared and not used to people. i just kept her in my spare room by herself and she came around. took about 6 months but now she is the sweetest cat i have...i can pick her up & pet her all over & she has never biten or scratched me. they are not wild animals and the only reason feral cats exist is because of f#%&@#g people dumping their cats outside and leaving them behind when they move.
Emily "What life does a feral cat have besides being a burden on everyone else?" A life of love with their own kind, even if a tough one finding food. The kind of food they usually get is either eating other wild animals (including pests) or the food we no longer want. Is that really a burden on us??
The alternative Dave is the "R" in "TNR" is "release". If you can't find them a home, put them back where they came from and they have the same life they had before you caught them. But this time you know they can't reproduce and make more. It may not be the life you would envision, but at least it's theirs. Who are we to judge how happy a wild animal is?
I'm not judging the feral cats' lives. Perhaps people could be coerced into being more responsible with their OWN pets. If you are a cat owner then you should take a few responsibilities with your pet. If you do not have intentions of breeding it- HAVE IT NEUTERED! Keep it as YOUR pet and keep it on your OWN property. These two things alone would substantially reduce the number of feral cats. Being a cat owner is a choice. If you choose to get a driver's license you must obey the traffic laws. If you CHOOSE to be a cat owner, you should also choose to do it responsibly. There are many owners who will argue that a cat does not have to be neutered just because they don't want to breed it but what about other people's cats? When people allow their cats to roam, they lose control over the possibility of fertilization. An abandoned cat is not nearly as much of a problem as an abandoned fertile cat!
Does anyone have a legitimate reason why someone's pet cat should be allowed to roam aimlessly outside?
Rebecka,
How do you know that your cat does not leave your property? That seems like a bold statement. I have NO problem being wrong on this one but I have to ask.
ianimal
Really???
Ok so I guess the other alternative would be to give the cats a "skill set" and send them out to find a job!!!
About the human home less thing should we catch them and spaid and nutter them and return them were we caught them like you want to do to the cats . could you see that on your tax bill $$$$$$$$$ how much .
So what would would the means of this hunt live traps , poison, shooting , leg hold traps . you come on my property with any of these means to hunt feral cats and you will deal with me . Oh most feral cats are just not running in open fields they live in very close to humans and there homes, work places . And yes people people need to keep there pets on there property I do not feel that a cat hunt is what i want to see in my state . Question how do we stop it before it starts
SMP, cats already have a skill set and are more than capable of surviving in the wild as evidenced by the number of feral cats out there. My point is that don't pretend that you want them wiped out "for their own good". They're a perceived nuisance to you, which is why you want them gone. Their lives are pretty much the same as any other wild animal... why don't you rally for the eradication of all the poor squirrels who have to live on the streets cold, hungry, diseased and dodging cars?
People hunt squirrels. If people would eat cats then hunting them would be fine. I don't actually think they should be hunted but I do strongly believe that owners should be more responsible with controlling their own so the population of ferals does not keep increasing so rapidly.
That's a good point, Dave. Instead of hunting the cats, areas of high concentrations of feral cats should be targeted for a Chinese restaurant or two. You never see stray cats around those places and I love a good Meow Goo Gai Pan...
ianimal, I agree cats do have survival skills when left to fend for themselves. I NEVER said that killing cats is my idea of a perfect solution. I am saying that the amount of stray/feral cats is a problem. I am not "pretending" that wiping them out would be for their own good. I am stating a fact that there is an overpopulation of cats and not all of them are feral. Many did at one time have homes but have been abandoned by irresponsible owners.
Maybe saying it would be for their own good IS a bit harsh, but I don't think that cats are better off living on the streets especially if they once had a warm house and plenty of food to eat. Any living creature will find the skills to survive through instinct if they need to, but that doesn't mean thats what's best for them either.
If you are going to view them "just like any other wild animal" then what would be the difference between hunting for cats, deer, bear, etc...? or for that matter maybe we should not exterminate for rats, roaches, or anything else that lives in the wild and can survive on its own?
ugh...i never eat at hole in the wall chinese places anymore...have heard one to many stories. my sister's friend's bf was a plumber and had to go in the basement of a restaurant to work...and there were skinned cats hanging down there. this was in northeast jersey...forget what town.
i agree with you Dave that people who can't be responsible shouldn't be allowed to own animals. it should be the law that people must get their cats fixed...unless you're a legitimate breeder i guess.
when i was growing up we always let our cats outside when they wanted. now we know better. we had cats hit by cars, one cat was poisoned, one cat was shot with two arrows by someone, one went missing for a couple days...we don't know what happened to him but he ran home like hell and his front legs were injured...whatever happened really spooked him. when we moved to our new house in h-town we picked a quiet street on a dead end so the cats would be safe from cars. after a while though the one neighbor was really upset and complaining about our cats going in their garden and stalking their bird feeder. so to be respectful we brought the cats inside and don't let them out anymore. it's a lot nicer now though not having to try to find them at night to get them in or worry about them if they don't come home for a day or two. & we definitely have less vet bills since our cats aren't getting hurt outside anymore. your neighbors should be more respectful and keep their cats inside if you don't want them in your yard.
It's Me It's Me - Great idea, but who is going to pay for that? Money seems to always stand in the way of the logical.
Calico696 let's not forget once again that this over-population of cats is basically the fault of us humans. Cats are dumped by people all the time for various reasons and if they have not been spayed or neutered then what do you think is gonna happen????? i have 3 cats of my own and they have all been shelter rescues. They stay inside and are part of our family. I just think its sick that when all else fails we turn to guns and the killing of innocent animals. we need to be more responsible for our actions!
pumpkin43 SMP, you make some good points and there are definitely "grey areas" involved. But, first of all, rats and roaches are vermin who carry diseases that are harmful to humans; the same can't really be said for cats and cats will also help to keep the rat populations down, which is a good thing.
As far as treating them as wild animals and "managing" their numbers, i.e. killing them, eventually, it IS going to come to that. However, it will take a huge number of them to get to a point where they are at that stage; unlike deer, they are not going to cause billions of dollars in damages through motor vehicle accidents; unlike bear, they are not going to cause danger to human life.
I'm thinking that the point at which they become a true problem and cause a need to "thin the herd", if you will, is when they start to have a deleterious effect on the other small wildlife populations in a given area... when it becomes extremely rare to see a squirrel, chipmunk or songbird, who suddenly have drastically increased numbers of predators from which to escape. In that circumstance, I would prefer humane trapping and euthanasia to blaze orange and bird shot, but that's just my opinion.
ianimal ,
Once again, I feel enlightened! I had no idea that cats were incapable of carrying diseases that could harm people. I guess cat litter is safe for pregnant women after all and cats apparently cannot carry rabies. Whew! Glad I got that stuff out of my head.
LOL, ok, Dave... ANY animal can carry rabies, but it's spread to humans only through direct contact, unlike the viruses spead aerosolly by rats. I also don't think that anyone's out scooping the poop out of feral kitty litter boxes, so I think pregnant women are safe on that front as well. Good looking out, though.
I hate to burst everyones bubble, but the reporter for this article should be fired for imcompetence. No one suggested hunting cats. Check the public minutes for the meeting.
Dave729 There are a number of residents that are feeding strays. If anyone has wondered by the train station you've noticed the shed with bowls of food and water and a number of cats hanging out. The town should start enforcing that residents register and license cats so that cats are not breeding. I'm not sure about cat hunting, but it's pretty sad to see cats outside in February freezing and starving. Not to mention, I am not a fan of the cat poop I constantly find in my backyard. There is one cat in particular, grey with it's tail really high up by the college. I'm ready to capture it and send it to the pound.
resident of Htown i recently adopted a dod and i was SHOCKED how many cats and dogs are in need of homes , many of them kittens and pups , people please please PLEASE nueter your pets , that is the answer
cowgirl1 Trap Neuter Retain.
1/3 of the American songbird population is in steep decline, and some losses of formerly classified "common" birds are as much as 70%. Generally, the declines parallel the rise in feral cat populations. Do we really want to trade the songs of warblers for the song of the howling cat?
My mother had a neighbor who moved and left the cat behind, so she fed it and located a house for it on the porch. That spring she was transfixed by a mockingbird nest in a large bush outside the living room window. She watched the chicks grow with great interest until one day she noticed the nest was empty. She saw the cat standing on a dead chick licking its fur. The cat was well fed, but they are wired to hunt and kill. Fledglings have no defense and it can take them a couple of days to learn to fly. If we care about our birds we have to stop releasing predators on them! Imagine if, instead of 15,000 feral cats, there were 15,000 mountain lions running around town? See any problem?
Deborah Deborah--I love birds but shooting cats is not the answer. Not all cats are wired to kill. The cat I just found is a skeleton, I guess he wasn't very good at hunting. NOW my neighbors cat will climb over the fenced in area where my bird feeders are to try to get to the birds. The other stray that I took in, (never to go out again) she could never catch anything, but it was funny to watch her try.
NO CAT HUNT
TNR- strickter laws about neutering and keeping the cats inside where they belong. If you don't want a litter box in your house don't get a cat. Cats should not run free. It is the peoples fault that there are millions of cats without homes. One thing I don't understand is why they are bringing up all these animals from the south to jersey for adoption.
Sara43 A truly feral cat does not quickly, if ever, turn into a friendly, gentle cat.
DJ Keep your pet at home, bottom line. It is a proven fact that cats have and continue to decimate song birds, migratory water foul and all ground egg laying animals. They are non-native species and wreck havoc on the ecological food chain. While it is not law (yet), here¡K.any stray cat is a dead cat, period. The TNR program is a scam at best. It does not stop the cat from its predatory instincts. Besides, they make great fur coats¡K ƒº
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