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@#*%)^@ Cats!
[someone said]
You can't just leash a cat into your yard like a dog. Though the greater part of me laments the days when every neighborhood had dogs & children & cats & chickens running loose without fences or supervision or cages or leashes, short of cutting back the human population by about three-fourths immediately, we are not apt ever to see those days again, not in regions anywhere near cities, towns, or suburbs. It was once regarded as normal to let the dogs do as they pleased & if they did per chance begin biting children or killing chickens, the dogs were sumarily shot, and no one was sued. Today it is simply illegal to let them run loose. It was once normal if one's five-year-old child played in an empty lot or the nearest woods with a couple other little friends, but now without adult supervision, a parent could be arrested for criminally endangering a child or putting it at risk of being carted off & molested by some adult member of our increasingly psychotic society. I've lived long enough to see so many ordinary behaviors become criminalized, & our rights & privileges whittled away from ourselves, our children, our pets, for all sorts of rational-seeming reasons. The only wonder is that with everything else restricted or banned, how is that in most places it is still at least legal to let the cats roam loose, annoying the bejabbers out of non-cat people. It's easy to see in what direction we're "evolving" & the same sorts of neighbors who helped pass laws so your rooster won't wake them up in the morning, so your dog won't be unfenced or unleashed, so you can't have a pony or a llama or sweet little jenny inside the city limits, so that even your safely caged pet python is illegal in a growing number of places -- does anyone REALLY think this same spreading attitude against animals will permit cats to roam at will for a great many years yet to come? To me it is strange that the ferret, which is the third-most-popular pet mammal (other than rodents) after dogs & cats, is an illegal pet in California. The pet skunks I cared for as a child, if I had them now, I could be arrested, & my pets destroyed, if I had them today -- even such domestic strains as the white, albino white, & chocoalte skunks raised in southern skunkeries & hand-raised as the sweetest pets imaginable are no an exception here in Washington. Nowadays increasing breeds of dogs are being made illegal because of a few irresponsible owners turning public sentiment even against Man's Best Friend. The way things are going, cat lovers will have to count themselves lucky if cats are even still LEGAL a few more years down the line! They carry more diseases to people, some of them fatal, than do dogs, so just think of the excuses that can be made to ban them. This indicates the INEVITABLE future for cats, too. In fact indoor cats that have no liberty to carouse neighborhoods live much longer lives than outdoor cats, & it WILL be argued that letting cats run free is very cruel & their shortened lives prove it. I sure don't say it's a good thing that such restrictions are coming. I really don't mind the neighbors' cats visiting me, never understood why the occasional cat turn gets some non-cat people up in arms. But it's a fact, the days of the free-range kitty is going to go the way of the free-range family dog or even the free-range human being. Animal lovers will say its to protect the life of the cat, others will say it's because letting cats **** in neighbors' gardens is a public health issue, or that letting cats roam about killing whatever little bit is left of native fauna, particularly songbirds, is criminally irresponsible. Someday -- sooner than they may right now believe -- cat owners will risk fines, arrest, or imprisonment, as well as the "putting down" of the kitties for scratching a neighbor kid (a greatrer source of disease than dogbites, & happens more often too), or for being off leash. Here are a couple cool websites about cat leashing; you might as well start preparing now: http://freeairpress.com/Cats/leash.html http://www.peoriahs.org/catleash.html -paghat the ratgirl Looks like I was behind the times on that post. Cats outdoors & off leashes have already been banned state-wide in Florida (will soon be banned state-wide in Illinois), in several entire counties, & in such diverse cities as Gaitherburg & Rockville MD & all Prince George County ; Houston & Arlington TX (Austin considering it); Laurel City, Montana; Naperville, IL; Hendersonville TN; Fayetteville Arkansas; Tulsa OK; San Jose, CA & all of Holister County; Akron OH; & many other places, with Cat Leash Laws under consideration in every other part of the country. Laws typically levy fines of $100, sometimes less, but can be much more, especially for repeat violators. Second offenses commonly require full court appearances. The Akron cat leash law resulted in thousands of cats just trapped & killed. Witham & Charlotte Counties in Florida had cat leash laws before it went state-wide, as did many Florida towns & cities. When the Witham law went into effect, there were some outcries against it, but the voices in favor far outnumbered the voices of cat advocates. And the only reason a great many more cats weren't trapped & killed was because the Sherrif's Animal Control Unit did not have funding for the extra staff to answer the sudden radical increase in complaints demanding the trapping & removal of neighbors' wayward cats. Leash laws kill cats in two ways. First because any cat that is not also collared & liscensed will be taken to animal control and in the majority of cases destroyed. Second because cats on leashes frequently hang themselves on trees and fences. For this reason a good cat collar has "pop bead" break-away feature so that when it struggles in the hanging position, the collar comes off before it strangles to death. Then it is trapped for wandering free, taken to animal control, and destroyed. The real reason so many legislators want these laws is NOT because of a sudden burgeoning of hatred for cats. It's a windfall of hidden taxes. Every time Bush cuts taxes for the richest 2% in the country, everyone else gets higher local fees, fines, liscenses to pick up the slack -- fees, fines, & liscenses that regulate every aspect of daily life. The Illinois legislation will permit multiple fees be charged every one who has a cat even if their cat never roams free. High fees that will be raised higher year by year. The public health & well being is NOT the real consideration of (as present example) Illinois legisation. It is a MAJOR revenue-enhancer for the state, as even if they don't get to fine you, you'll be paying three separate fees or your cat is not legal. There will be a cat REGISTRATION FEE, annual LISCENSE fee, a LITTER TAX if your cat reproduces, FINES if your cat so much as suns itself on the sidewalk in front of where it lives. Plus the cost of cutting out its sex organs, plus the cost of legally required microchipping, because the Illinois legislation also proposes to require microchipping of all cats. Note that microchipping protects animals only if an owner signs up & pays for a 24 hour service for tracking lost animals; otherwise the whole purpose of microchipping is to track down & levy fines against owners. If there is insufficient funding to call & let an owner know its cat will be killed if not picked up within the day, then no phone call will ever be made, but a ticket will arrive in the mail since come what may money must be given to the state. If Illinois does get this state-wide legislation in place, which is by far the most draconian of cat leash laws to date, it will be the model for all other states that need to come up with novel methods of raising revenues -- & there aren't a lot of ways to get MULTIPLE hidden taxes all in one swell foop, so this one's a big winner. In favor of cat leash laws: bird advocates have claimed increasing populations of some of the more easily captured songbirds after cat-leash laws & mass-round-ups & cat-killings lowered the population of roaming cats. It is estimated that in an average small city, cats kill a quarter-million birds annually, with delicate birds more easily preyed upon. Cats kept indoors also have longer average lifespans, no longer susceptible to diseases from encounters with feral animals, getting run over by cars, poisoned by irate neighbors, or mauled in cat fights or by dogs. For these and other reasons, the Humane Society supports cat leash & confinement laws. So my prediction that cat leashing was going a FUTURE certainty was offered too late to be merely alarmist. My sense that such laws would mainly occur in cities & suburbs but not rural areas was dead wrong, as it is already a counties-wide & state-wide bans are in effect or pending. It is estimated that in less than ten years the age of the free-roaming cat will be over. Since cat-disdain recurs so often in this gardening group, among people who don't want cats fertilizng their gardens, I assume there is more support for this than I personally feel. To me it's just one more of the million little ways every breath any of us take, man or beast, is criminalized or otherwise regulated by the government. These laws empower loony animal-haters to harrass even the most responsible pet owners at risk of fines or having animals carted off & destroyed to the delight of Mister or Missus Evil****s who wish they could also burn down your whole damn house with you & your kids in it, but will settle for the legal right to trap & destroy your cat if it sets foot in their yard, or report you to the government if your cat lounges even so far from the house as the immediate sidewalk. -paghat the ratgirl -- "Of what are you afraid, my child?" inquired the kindly teacher. "Oh, sir! The flowers, they are wild," replied the timid creature. -from Peter Newell's "Wild Flowers" See the Garden of Paghat the Ratgirl: http://www.paghat.com/ |
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For some inexplicable reasons, (paghat)
wrote: : Second because cats on leashes frequently hang :themselves on trees and fences. Why don't the people on the other end of the leashes notice that the cat has hung itself on a tree or a fence? They can't be more than 6 to 12 feet away. -- Wendy Chatley Green |
#4
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In article ,
enlightened us with... Leash laws kill cats in two ways. First because any cat that is not also collared & liscensed will be taken to animal control and in the majority of cases destroyed. Second because cats on leashes frequently hang themselves on trees and fences. For this reason a good cat collar has "pop bead" break-away feature so that when it struggles in the hanging position, the collar comes off before it strangles to death. Then it is trapped for wandering free, taken to animal control, and destroyed. Gee, this doesn't happen to dogs. And how does a cat hang itself when the owner has the other end of the leash in their hand? How bizarre... Dogs should be leashed. Cats should be leashed. In fact, no pet, regardless of species, should wander around unsupervised, be it a dog, a horse, a cat, or a ferret. They should be on their owner's property or under their control at all times. It's a pet. Take care of it. Your neighbors shouldn't have to deal with the nuisance. It's not their animal. ------------------------------------------------- ~kaeli~ Black holes were created when God divided by 0. Not one shred of evidence supports the notion that life is serious. http://www.ipwebdesign.net/wildAtHeart http://www.ipwebdesign.net/kaelisSpace ------------------------------------------------- |
#5
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In article ,
enlightened us with... Leash laws kill cats in two ways. First because any cat that is not also collared & liscensed will be taken to animal control and in the majority of cases destroyed. Second because cats on leashes frequently hang themselves on trees and fences. For this reason a good cat collar has "pop bead" break-away feature so that when it struggles in the hanging position, the collar comes off before it strangles to death. Then it is trapped for wandering free, taken to animal control, and destroyed. Gee, this doesn't happen to dogs. And how does a cat hang itself when the owner has the other end of the leash in their hand? How bizarre... Dogs should be leashed. Cats should be leashed. In fact, no pet, regardless of species, should wander around unsupervised, be it a dog, a horse, a cat, or a ferret. They should be on their owner's property or under their control at all times. It's a pet. Take care of it. Your neighbors shouldn't have to deal with the nuisance. It's not their animal. ------------------------------------------------- ~kaeli~ Black holes were created when God divided by 0. Not one shred of evidence supports the notion that life is serious. http://www.ipwebdesign.net/wildAtHeart http://www.ipwebdesign.net/kaelisSpace ------------------------------------------------- |
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"kaeli" wrote in message ... In article , enlightened us with... Leash laws kill cats in two ways. First because any cat that is not also collared & liscensed will be taken to animal control and in the majority of cases destroyed. Second because cats on leashes frequently hang themselves on trees and fences. For this reason a good cat collar has "pop bead" break-away feature so that when it struggles in the hanging position, the collar comes off before it strangles to death. Then it is trapped for wandering free, taken to animal control, and destroyed. Gee, this doesn't happen to dogs. And how does a cat hang itself when the owner has the other end of the leash in their hand? How bizarre... Are you really that stupid? When you let your dog into the back yard to dump, there is (should be) a fence to keep them in. This doesn't work with cats, so all you can do (according to the cat haters) is leash them to a tree/post so they don't get out of the yard. Cats are OUTDOOR animals. If you want an indoor animal, get a fish. Dogs should be leashed. Cats should be leashed. In fact, no pet, regardless of species, should wander around unsupervised, be it a dog, a horse, a cat, or a ferret. They should be on their owner's property or under their control at all times. It's a pet. Take care of it. Your neighbors shouldn't have to deal with the nuisance. It's not their animal. I assume you roam the neighbourhoods making sure that the wildlife is the only thing on the streets? Foxes and skunks aren't a problem at all. It's just the pets, eh? |
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"kaeli" wrote in message ... In article , enlightened us with... Leash laws kill cats in two ways. First because any cat that is not also collared & liscensed will be taken to animal control and in the majority of cases destroyed. Second because cats on leashes frequently hang themselves on trees and fences. For this reason a good cat collar has "pop bead" break-away feature so that when it struggles in the hanging position, the collar comes off before it strangles to death. Then it is trapped for wandering free, taken to animal control, and destroyed. Gee, this doesn't happen to dogs. And how does a cat hang itself when the owner has the other end of the leash in their hand? How bizarre... Are you really that stupid? When you let your dog into the back yard to dump, there is (should be) a fence to keep them in. This doesn't work with cats, so all you can do (according to the cat haters) is leash them to a tree/post so they don't get out of the yard. Cats are OUTDOOR animals. If you want an indoor animal, get a fish. Dogs should be leashed. Cats should be leashed. In fact, no pet, regardless of species, should wander around unsupervised, be it a dog, a horse, a cat, or a ferret. They should be on their owner's property or under their control at all times. It's a pet. Take care of it. Your neighbors shouldn't have to deal with the nuisance. It's not their animal. I assume you roam the neighbourhoods making sure that the wildlife is the only thing on the streets? Foxes and skunks aren't a problem at all. It's just the pets, eh? |
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#10
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(paghat) wrote in message ...
In article , (-L.) wrote: (paghat) wrote in message ... [someone said] Such laws are not enforced in most jurisdictions. I never had more rogue cat problems than I did in San Jose. Oh, they're enforced now all righty. Not in San Jose, as of last March. I lived there three years and never had any law enforcement agent do anything about the 10 or 12 rogue cats in our neighborhood. But it really depends on how loony the neighbors are & whether they're sufficiently cat-hating to insist to police or animal control that no cats be permitted to lounge on the sidewalk off their property. Leash laws kill cats in two ways. Nope. Owners who do not contain their cats are the ones responsible for killing them. Responsibility starts at home. I love my cats dearly, but rogue cats are a nuisance, and it is the people who allow their cats to interfere with other's enjoyment of their OWN property are that to blame, if their cats are caught and destroyed as a result of their negligence. As point of fact it is the collar that kills cats, & no degree of responsibility makes it safe to collar a cat. I agree that a cat should not ever be collar4ed, break-away or not. It's why good cat collars are break-away like pop-beads, My point was, break-away collars injure and kill cats as well. & that's why laws should not permit a lost cat to be summarily destroyed. If the cat is microchipped, this sin't an issue. The lack of collar may NOT be the owners fault. And if you think the fence has ever been made that cats cannot climb over, you've really been doing a very good job of not observing cats. http://www.catfencein.com/ It does a damn good job of keeping my cats in the yard, and other cats out. I have cats and when they go outside, I go with them. They are not allowed to go outside my fenced property. I expect my neighbors to do the same. Second because cats on leashes frequently hang themselves on trees and fences. Any cat owner who tethers their cat is a complete idiot. But that is what the law requires. The law does not require tethering a cat and leaving it unattended. besides, leashing and tethering are separate acts. I walked my cats on leashes prior to living in Oregon because I didn't have suitable places to allow them to roam - they jumped the fence, and since we didn't own the home, I couldn't install the barriers. But anyway, it is the collar itself that can get caught on branches & hang a cat. Since no fence holds a cat, A fence will hold a cat, especially if the owner is present to make sure the cat doesn't foil the barrier. containment laws means it can never be let outside at all unless tethered. That's ridiculous. The issue is you want to allow cats outside *unattended*. Ok. I have given you a system that works for me (and other people I know) - a 6 ft. cedar fence with a CAT BARRIER. I still don't trust my cats outside unattended because I fear they will escape although they have not to date. You have to accept responsibility for your pet. Allowing it to roam is not responsible, and YES society has the right to make you responsible for the actions of your companion animals. Both a non-break-away collar OR a tether can kill a cat, but without one or the other, a cat can "escape" to no further than the next yard, & be at complete risk of being destroyed, and/or the owner fined because the cat behaves as a normal cat. For this reason a good cat collar has "pop bead" break-away feature so that when it struggles in the hanging position, the collar comes off before it strangles to death. "Break-away" collars can cause death or injury as well. One of the worst degloving injuries I have ever seen was caused by a "break-away" collar. An argument that furthers the idea that the greater "responsibility" is to not collar cats at all. Like I said, I don't believe in collaring cats. Then it is trapped for wandering free, taken to animal control, and destroyed. The real reason so many legislators want these laws is NOT because of a sudden burgeoning of hatred for cats. It's a windfall of hidden taxes. Every time Bush cuts taxes for the richest 2% in the country, everyone else gets higher local fees, fines, liscenses to pick up the slack -- fees, fines, & liscenses that regulate every aspect of daily life. The Illinois legislation will permit multiple fees be charged every one who has a cat even if their cat never roams free. High fees that will be raised higher year by year. While I agree with your politics, one can rebel by simply not registering their cats. If your cats are controlled and you take responsibility for them, not registering them is never a problem. The public health & well being is NOT the real consideration of (as present example) Illinois legisation. Cats are not currently a threat to public health. Some are, however, vectors for toxoplasmosis which is serious only for the immunocompromised and pregnant. (Although the primary route of infection in humans is undercooked meat). Zoonotic diseases from cats number around 100. Yes, but how many of those are a threat to public health? The only disease that is considered worthy of warning by the CDC is toxoplasmosis. While immunocompromised individuals (individuals with HIV or anyone receiving chemotherapy or allergy-prone or asthmatic) are at far greater risk of outright death by kitty, but death is the slightest component of a frightening public health picture. I dunno that I should correct your misinformation as I like cats & don't want to further arm the legions who apparently think the only good cat is a caged cat. MANY bacteriums (but few viruses) spread readily to humans from cats, especially cats manifesting overt symptoms of illness such as diarrhea. The so-called "Cat scratch fever" is EXTREMELY common & probably no child reaches teenage years without at least one of the infections associated with cat scratches, though it is never specifically diagnosed but generically treated. One study found that in shelters, 40% of cats carry the Rochalimaea bacteria that is the key cause catscratch fever. If it (or other zoonotic diseases) was a threat to public health, there would be an aggressive campaign to eradicate the disease in cats and humans, or at least, warnings would be disseminated as they are for toxo. Those programs simply do not exist because the threat from the disease is small. snip And so on. That's not even a tenth of the possibilities. Some are rare, some are extremely common, some are severe & life-threatening, Which are "severe and life threatening" AND pose a threat to public health in the US? many pass quickly enough even without a trip to the doctor. Virtually everyone who has ever had pets has had at least one or two zoonotic diseases in their lifetime whether they know it or not. In the main it's no more frightening than having had the mumps when a kid & no reason to kill or restrict all cats. But for the many people in this world who are already cat-haters, People who let their cats roam do way more to fuel the fires of the cat-haters of the world than any perceived threat to public health. it's just one more reason it's a "good" thing that cat-leash laws are spreading like wildfire so that a cat's normal three or four property territory will soon be illegal in most places. Good, as it should be. plus the cost of legally required microchipping, because the Illinois legislation also proposes to require microchipping of all cats. Note that microchipping protects animals only if an owner signs up & pays for a 24 hour service for tracking lost animals; Microchipping is inexpensive and *essential* for anyone who loves their cat, and wants to get it back, if it were ever to be lost. Cats rarely become "lost" You haven't worked in rescue much, have you? & microchipping is not essential. A normal cat ranges over three to five properties & always knows its way home. The ONLY reason the Illinois legislation will require microchipping is so the owner of the cat rounded up for going next door can be fined. good. Identifying the "owners" of problem cats takes the blame off of use who abide by the law. Cat leash laws do not make it a requirement that the cat be cared for properly until returned to its owner. If a cat is turned into the proper authority, they have an obligation to keep the cat under standard conditions until it is claimed, rehomed, or destroyed. Raising revenue is the real purpose, & the safety of the public or of the animals is extremely secondary. Seems to me that people who let their cats roam wantonly are the ones who are unconcerned for the safety of their animals... Which is why funding for shelters gets cut even as the law demands more animals be rounded up. The issue of killing birds has some credibility. The issue of roaming cats being injured by dogs, cars, or each other, has some credibility. Or humans But the idea that microchipping is necessary because cats easily become lost is absurd, I didn't say they "easily become lost". I said if they were to become lost. A microchip is the only safe way to identify a cat - not collars with tags, which you yourself admit is undesirable for good reason. I worked for a feline specialty veterinarian and cannot tell you how many times people "found a new stray" in their neighborhood, and brought it in to us for care. Our policy was to scan it for microchip, and if one was found, the registry was contacted and the cat reunited with the original owner. Microchipping works. I'm damn glad my cats are microchipped. If you let your cat roam and have irate neighbors, they might just pick up your friendly kitty and drop him off in another neighborhood, or another town. The only way you are going to get your cat back is if it is microchipped. & it is not the reason microchipping is being legislated. It is being legislated SOLELY so that the owner of the captured & possibly destroyed cat can be fined for revenue purposes. Sorry, but having worked in the rescue arena for over 15 years, I can tell you that not all animal control people are heartless witches. Most want nothing more than to help reunite animals with their owners. Nobody likes to euthanize an animal. I'm sorry, but cats *are* a problem for many people. Just as I wouldn't allow my dogs, cats, snakes, turtle, husband, child, or myself, to urinate or defecate on, or otherwise destroy, your property, I expect the same level of respect from my fellow citizens. Some sense of decorum must be maintained. ANd there's the real problem. Very little wildlife is permitted to survive around humans because humans hate wildlife. Cats aren't wildlife. All wildlife is re-defined as "vermin" and rooted out of the environment, everything paved over. Not where I live. People have already killed most of the wildlife, now an increasing percentage of people & places are seeing what can be done to get rid of domestic animals too. Domestic animals are not a problem if they are well cared-for by their responsible "owners". You cannot *pretend* to take responsibility for the life of another living creature, and then shirk all of that responsibility. The day will come when "there are songbirds pooping in my garden!" will allow the bird protection act to be overturned & all birds will go the way of passenger pigeons, except for any that can be microchipped & caged & benefit the government through increasing numbers of increasingly expensive taxes, liscenses, & fees. Oh, please. Now you are being melodramatic. Cats and dogs are not wild animals. You cannot expect them to be given the same protection under the law. They are part of an artificial system which HUMANS created, and HUMANS have to be responsible for them. -L. |
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