Wisconsin voting on hunting free roaming domestic cats (not joking)

I never proposed that one would shoot SUV owners or mobile telephone
users. It seems you shifted the focus from the social responsibility
of the *prepetrator* to the irrational response of the *victim*,
reducto ad absurdum.

If you focus on the most bizarre behavior on the fringe of society, you
can reach equally bizarre conclusions. Let's try to keep it centered.

I agree with you wholeheartedly:

"Living in a community involves mutual tolerance, not hair-trigger
stupidity over minor matters. "

It seems we can agree that each has responsibilities. When something
bothers us, the preferred way to make the *perpetrator* aware is to
discuss options for remedying the situation, but I will take the
"dueling at dawn" under advisement. ; )

Example:

"I like 'Mittens' but I notice she has been chasing birds away from my
feeder and howling under my window at night. Can you help me remedy
that?"

"What should I do when that happens?"

"What if that fails, can I call you to come retrieve her?"

In some cases, cat owners will give you a polite dismissal while
thinking to themselves, "Idiot, that's what cats are supposed to do."
but you still have to request the assistance before taking it to the
next level.

In *most* cases, it is a completely unfamiliar tom who is MUCH further
than three houses away from the ranch. What then?

rsquared

Matthew -

Something lost in the translation:

"- These cats are BETTER at catching prey than your average gun toting
hunter. Thereby depleeting hunter's supply of targets. "

Cats and hunters tend not to hunt for the same things.

rsquared

Finally the elderly man got out of his car, walked over to the young
man's car, aimed a gun, and shot the stereo several times until it was
dead. As the elderly
man walked back to his car other drivers started applauding..

Sounds like an urban legend to me... That old man would be quite lucky
to survive walking around between cars, in a traffic jam, with a gun -
- in Texas no less.

This perpetuates the perception that gun owners are emotionally
unbalanced and confrontational.

rsquared

The following news item was posted today:

News Break

04/13/2005 15:59:11 EST

Wis. Governor Rejects Cat-Hunting Idea
BY RYAN J. FOLEY
Associated Press Writer

MADISON, Wis. - A proposal to legalize the killing of feral cats is not
going to succeed, Gov. Jim Doyle said Wednesday.

"I don't think Wisconsin should become known as a state where we shoot
cats," said Doyle, a Democrat who neither hunts nor owns a cat. "What
it does is sort of hold us up as a state that everybody is kind of
laughing at right now."

He told reporters his office had received calls from around the country
denouncing a proposal adopted Monday at meetings of the Wisconsin
Conservation Congress, a public advisory group, that would classify
wild, free-roaming cats as an unprotected species that kills song birds
and other wildlife.

Outdoor enthusiasts approved the proposal 6,830 to 5,201 at Monday's
spring hearings of the group.

The results get forwarded to the state Natural Resources Board for
consideration, but any official action would have to be passed by the
Legislature and signed by the governor.

Animal rights groups belittled the idea as inhumane and dangerous.

Doyle said he respects the Conservation Congress but "on this one I
think everybody recognizes it's not going anywhere."

Some experts estimate that 2 million wild cats roam Wisconsin, and the
state says studies show feral cats kill 47 million to 139 million
songbirds a year.

South Dakota and Minnesota both allow wild cats to be shot.

Two state senators - Scott Fitzgerald and Neil Kedzie - had promised to
do everything they can to keep the plan from becoming law.

Kedzie, who chairs the Natural Resources and Transportation Committee,
called the issue "a distraction from the main tasks we have at hand."

___

On the Net:

Department of Natural Resources: http://www.dnr.state.wi.us

Oooo, oooo, can we make *one* exception? The people who blare rap music
from their cars that you can hear from 3 miles away? Could we *please*
shoot them????! ;

Hugs,

CatNipped

Hey, I'm with you there, CatNipped! Hand over the petition, I'll sign that one! A whole truckload of neighbours' cats wandering around my yard couldn't possibly annoy me anywhere NEAR as much as those ignorant, inconsiderate, self-centered idiots!!! The cats don't know they are being annoying!

Mel

elderly man got out of his car, walked over to the young man's car, aimed a
gun, and shot the stereo several times until it was dead. As the elderly
man walked back to his car other drivers started applauding.. The rookie
cop started to get out of the squad car but the veteran cop put out his hand
and stopped him. The rookie said, "Shouldn't we go handle this problem?"
and the veteran cop replied, "Son, it looks to me like it's already been
handled." ;

Hugs,

CatNipped

If this is for real, I applaud that elderly gentleman as well. He did no harm to the inconsiderate poop-head who had to have known that he was making a lot of people angry, and DID NOT CARE, but he did a big favor for all those who were boiling over with aggravation at having to listen to that booming crap in a bad situation in unbelievable heat.

I have often wished I could just go out back (live near a high school where the no-mind teenagers love to crank their boom-box car stereos) to the school parking lot and blow out the trunk amplifiers of the losers who think they can do whatever they want. It is illegal to wear Walkman headphones in a car, but you can shake the foundations of every building for 3 miles around?!!!! Talk about stupid laws!!!!

Love your story, CatNipped!!!

Mel

Who says he was either? One can only put up with so much S***. By the sound of things, a lot of people wished they had been able to do it, but for some reason or another, were unable. Some other person might have had a not-so-pleasant conversation with this less-than-considerate idiot.

It doesn't take a genius to figure out that you do not sit in bumper-to-bumper stalled traffic on an abnormally hot day when tempers are bound to flare even without added provocation, and add a powder keg to the flame.

Some non-gun owner could just have well gone up and pounded the jerk a good one, and to heck with the stereo.



This perpetuates the perception that gun owners are emotionally
unbalanced and confrontational.

rsquared

Melody states:

wrote in message oups.com...
The following news item was posted today:

News Break

04/13/2005 15:59:11 EST

Wis. Governor Rejects Cat-Hunting Idea
BY RYAN J. FOLEY
Associated Press Writer

MADISON, Wis. - A proposal to legalize the killing of feral cats is not
going to succeed, Gov. Jim Doyle said Wednesday.

"I don't think Wisconsin should become known as a state where we shoot
cats," said Doyle, a Democrat who neither hunts nor owns a cat. "What
it does is sort of hold us up as a state that everybody is kind of
laughing at right now."

He told reporters his office had received calls from around the country
denouncing a proposal adopted Monday at meetings of the Wisconsin
Conservation Congress, a public advisory group, that would classify
wild, free-roaming cats as an unprotected species that kills song birds
and other wildlife.

Outdoor enthusiasts approved the proposal 6,830 to 5,201 at Monday's
spring hearings of the group.

The results get forwarded to the state Natural Resources Board for
consideration, but any official action would have to be passed by the
Legislature and signed by the governor.

Animal rights groups belittled the idea as inhumane and dangerous.

Doyle said he respects the Conservation Congress but "on this one I
think everybody recognizes it's not going anywhere."

Some experts estimate that 2 million wild cats roam Wisconsin, and the
state says studies show feral cats kill 47 million to 139 million
songbirds a year.

South Dakota and Minnesota both allow wild cats to be shot.

Two state senators - Scott Fitzgerald and Neil Kedzie - had promised to
do everything they can to keep the plan from becoming law.

Kedzie, who chairs the Natural Resources and Transportation Committee,
called the issue "a distraction from the main tasks we have at hand."

___

On the Net:

Department of Natural Resources: http://www.dnr.state.wi.us

Excellent news!!!

Mel

--
"It is necessary and urgent that following the example of the poor man [St Francis], one decides to abandon inconsiderate forms of domination, capture and custody with respect to all creatures."
-Pope John Paul II- (quoted in Animals and Christianity, 1990)

"Until he extends the circle of his compassion to all living things, man will not himself find peace."
- Albert Schweitzer, Ph.D., M.D. - (Nobel Peace Prize-winning Humanitarian, 'The Philosophy of Civilization, 1949)

Mel states:
wrote in message oups.com...


In *most* cases, it is a completely unfamiliar tom who is MUCH further
than three houses away from the ranch. What then?

rsquared

In that case, you get your garden hose, turn on the tap, and give the tom a good hosing. If he returns after the first time, I doubt he will after the second. Humane, and deterring. No firearms required.

If a cat is bothering a particular area, ie: your birdhouse, get bloodmeal from a greenhouse and work it in and around the soil of that area, some on top. Cats hate the scent. That way, they won't go near it if you aren't there to turn on the hose.

Anyone who would rather pull the trigger than use these two simple methods is already proving themselves emotionally unbalanced and overly emotional. So you can stop being concerned about the elderly man for whom carrying a hose in his car is just not feasible, and a gun is. Besides, he is shooting the stereo, not the person.

Mel

Mel wrote:
Mel states:
wrote in message
oups.com...


In *most* cases, it is a completely unfamiliar tom who is MUCH
further
than three houses away from the ranch. What then?

rsquared

In that case, you get your garden hose, turn on the tap, and give
the tom a good hosing. If he returns after the first time, I doubt he
will after the second. Humane, and deterring. No firearms required.

If a cat is bothering a particular area, ie: your birdhouse, get
bloodmeal from a greenhouse and work it in and around the soil of that
area, some on top. Cats hate the scent. That way, they won't go near
it if you aren't there to turn on the hose.


....or get a live trap and take him to your local shelter.

That being said, I know a guy who's brother shoots any unknown animals
on his property - dog, cat, it doesn't matter. He's a deer hunter and
doesn't want the ecosystem disturbed by anything. He's also a bit of a
loon....

-L.