Don't shoot at cats..........................

[Pawcatch]

For those who feel for the birds,Darwin actually works;the cats aren't getting the smart and well.

Benewton,so I guess you don't care if a non-native species like feral cats kill off native birds.I don't think many state wildlife conservationist would agree with you.

Just look at New Zealand,95% of kiwi chicks won't make it to adult hood because of feral speicies like the ferrets,stoats,and cats.

 

[MLH]

Let's keep things civil

That said I keep my cats indoors.

Cats are like Glocks, you either love them or hate them or you really don't care one way or the other as long as you don't have to fool with them.

If it weren't for cats there would be a whole lot more mice and rats running around the world and I like cats more than those little crittters.

 

[JohnKSa]

I have a cat. It is a pet and therefore is not allowed to roam the neighborhood freely.

I have a neighbor who feeds cats. They roam the neighborhood at will and therefore are NOT pets they are simply animals that someone feeds regularly.

I know that these people do not care about these cats or they would restrain them so that they would be safe from:

1. Cars.
2. Disease.
3. Other animals
4. Irate property owners.
5. Animal Control

Therefore since these animals are pests and the people who feed them don't really care about them I would have no problem humanely eliminating them if I find them damaging property or creating a health hazard of any sort.

People don't seem to understand that they are endangering their cats by allowing them to roam. And the major danger isn't people with BB guns.

Animal Control in one midsize Texas city (Lubbock) reports that it picks up eleven tons of animal carcases in a single month. Mostly roadkilled cats.

Feral cats which may come into contact with roaming "pets" often are infected with Feline AIDS, Feline Leukemia or other nasty diseases and parasites.

If you care about your pets you won't allow them to roam freely. If you allow them to roam freely, you shouldn't be surprised or angry if they come back injured, sick, shot, or don't come back at all.

 

[Pawcatch]

If it weren't for cats there would be a lot more mice and rats running around the world and I like cats more than those little critters.

MLH,
Actually,studies from Hawaii and New Zealand have shown that native ground nesting birds make up more of feral cats diets than non-native rodents.

 

[El Rojo]

I was taking down the Christmas lights yesterday when I saw a kitty up on the back wall. I retreated to the garage and considered shooting it with the BB gun, but nah. I grapped my carbine instead! After a quick burst, the kitty leaped off the fence! It was only a Airsoft MP5, and probably annoyed him more than anything else. Next time I might use the pistol.

I personally wouldn't shoot anyone else's kitty. My father has his own technique that if it were necessary, I would use. Take a small animal, live cage trap. Trap the cat in the privacy of your own back yard. Once the kitty gets stuck inside, apply liberal amounts of water from the garden hose for approximately 30 minutes. Release kitty. Repeat treatment if kitty returns.

As I said, I am not big into shooting other people's pets, as I love my own dearly. However, if you want to keep your pets safe, don't let them roam the neighborhood un-attended unless you are sure the neighborhood has also adopted your pet. Even then, you are taking a pretty big moving vehicle risk.

 

[redneck]

The situation is entirely different for you folks that keep fluffy in the living room, and have a neighbor 20 ft away.I can see how it might be hard to understand but some people's situation is different, and things have to be done that aren't necessarily pleasant.
Taking joy in hurting an animal is sick, I don't disagree with that. Escalating an issue over a pet/animal into a life or death situation between people is absolutely absurd. Get control of your emotions and use your head. The antis choose emotion over logic and look at the wonderful results If they hurt your pet for the fun of it, they might deserve a beating, give them one if you want. But forget the nonsense of grabbing your glock. If its like a family member, stop and think about whether your letting it be the son who robs, vandalizes, tresspases, and has no respect for other people, but is really a good kid according to his mom.

I live in the country, we have horses, a dog, and barncats (2 right now). Now I can't keep tabs on the cats all the time, but every time I'm in the barn they are too. If they roam around, I don't know anything about it and if they're causing problems on someone else's property, I'm not gonna be upset when they disappear.
About 2 weeks ago a big yellow tomcat started showing up in the barn. Would high tale it out the door every morning when I came to feed, or would run up on top of the hay in the haymow when I went up. Within that same time period the hay mow started smelling like cat piss and there was s### all over the floor. Then a dead kitten showed up in the middle of the floor, which looked like it had been shook to death.
Is the yellow cat a stray or somebody's pet? I don't have a clue, and either way its not friendly and I'm not putting up with it killing my animals and making a huge mess of my barn. Given the chance I'll shoot it. I don't intend to torture it, or see how gory I can make it but I do intend to eliminate the problem. Its a varmint plain and simple, every bit as much as a racoon, possum, or ground hog.
The owners clearly don't care about it enough to keep it at home, if it even belongs to anyone.

 

[Calamity Jane]

I am very much a cat person. Or a person who loves cats. Or something like that. Anyway...

Hubby and I are owned by a big, fluffy orange cat who doesn't go outside at all. Why should she, when she's Kitty Czarina of the house?

And if someone did try to shoot her, why, she's liable to start shootin' back. She's quite bonded with my Winchester Model 1894, as this picture shows:

 

[BigJake_old]

I love cats and all, despite the fact they make me itch, but like everyone else said, if your cat is on my farm, it will be a target of oportunity. you can thank the domestic housecat for the destruction of the pheasant species around here. if you let your cat run unchecked it WILL disapear. i'm a huge advocate of fixin the dang things, kittens are cute and all, but if you don't know what will happen to them, don't let your cat have em.

 

[KP95DAO]

Yeah, non-native species.

Pawcatch,

"Benewton,so I guess you don't care if a non-native species like feral cats kill off native birds.I don't think many state wildlife conservationist would agree with you.

Just look at New Zealand,95% of kiwi chicks won't make it to adult hood because of feral speicies like the ferrets,stoats,and cats."


Of course we all know which non-native species was responsible for the demise of the Do-Do bird. And it wasn't a feline.

One of my cats goes where she pleases in the neighbor hood. Everyone knows her just as I know the other cats that roam. There is one very pretty tabby that eats out of my cat's bowl in the garage. I am sure my cat eats out of other cat's bowls. Maybe I just live among some good people.

And, yes, my cat catches and eats birds, mice, moles, and also a baby rabbit on occasion. That does not reduce their numbers as much as habitat encroachment.

 

[gun-fucious]

A buddy uses a 22lr to dispatch feral cats on his farm.
His new wife decided to be nice to a new stray cat and fed him for a week.
She got biten and had to get rabies shots.
Animal Control eventually live caught Mr. Stray
and beheaded him for a rabies test.

It seems like the 22lr method was more efficient.

 

[Lochaber]

Some days I wonder about some people. Some of you have decided that if something bothers you or your garden you shoot it. I honestly hope that you dont carry a gun day to day because you would be a danger to yourself and those around you.

I tend to avoid flame inducing conversations, but *** happened to using deadly force only when aboslutly necesarry? Ever heard of a friking water gun? What happens if that cat that you saw sitting on your car and killed was the dear pet of the 12 year old next door? Maybe the cat never seen the ouside of a house or maybe it is friking blind? Did you talk to your neighbor? Do you know who's cat it is?

So maybe you asked every one and the cat is a feral stray. So you decided to kill it. Next day there will be another, and then another and so on. Perhaps if you called a local rescue group you migth have gotten some education about the subject. There are about 10 cats for each human in North America. And each pair will make about 6 more in the average EVERY YEAR. How much ammo do you have?

Do you want to actually solve the problem? Then put out a trap and pay your vet to spay it, test it, and give it a set of shots. Then put it back out. Not only will it stop destroying your property but being that they are territorial it will keep the rest of the strays away. Yeah ... you may have 10 strays. It may cost you $500 to fix them all. But it would have trully solved the problem as opposed to bitching about it and shooting innocent animals we have dragged across the ocean with us. You do know that their are not native dont you?

Sure there are pleanty of iresponsible people that let their pets ran around, and there are plenty of reasons to kill dangerous animals. There are many reasons to hunt and control dear populations and whatnot. The difference is that you can actually do it. You simple cant contain feline populations by killings them. Dont believe me ... go to the library and read.

It drives me batty that some of us think that it is macho to brag about shooting animals they know nothing about. "I'm just defending my proprety" is a fine position if the Huns or the JBTs are invading. ITS A FRIKING CAT!!!

Sorry about the tone of this posting. I may be a bit furious but this is exactly the kind of behaviour that paints gun owners as compete buttheads. People that shoot local pets over a scratch are the reason while gun owners are viewed as uneducated rednecks and they are also the reason while it is so easy for the gun grabbers to convince the people on the fence.

THINK BEFORE YOU ACT!!!

Loch

 

[BigJake_old]

for 500$, you could have 25000 rnds of .22 ammo...lota cats

 

[gun-fucious]

deja vu


also see:
http://www.abcbirds.org/cats/catsindoors.htm

 

[TexasVet]

.. the cat is a feral stray. So you decided to kill it. Next day there will be another, and then another and so on.
--------------------------------------------------------------

Actually, in about a year the problem seems to go away. Kill the breeders and the population declines drastically. The 'don't kill such sweet animals' bunch seem to be mostly city folk. Watching your chickens die or your neighbors ducks (our FOOD!) die nightly will change your minds quick. Feral cats are the WORST predators in these Texas woods. Even the biannual trip through the county of the mountain lion causes less damage to our foodstocks. The pet cats around here stay home. Every other cat is a target, period. Same as the packs of gone wild dogs that show up once in a while. I may regret shooting that pretty Shepard and his three friends that killed my friends calf last year, but it did NOT slow down the shot.

As for...
"Some days I wonder about some people. Some of you have decided that if something bothers you or your garden you shoot it. I honestly hope that you dont carry a gun day to day because you would be a danger to yourself and those around you. "

I thought we left the liberals behind on TFL wondering where everyone went. You LET things steal (or just crap on) your food with no response?
Sorry, but most of us can't afford to do that. We hate qualifying for the Darwin Awards (or the PETA Animal Hugger of the Year Award) around here. In the country, reality is still important, more so than it seems to be in the cities anymore.

 

[nsf003]

If its like a family member, stop and think about whether your letting it be the son who robs, vandalizes, tresspases, and has no respect for other people, but is really a good kid according to his mom.

A cat that destroys things and trespasses is no different. The owwner will always say "but he was a good cat, never hurt anyone"

ITS A FRIKING CAT!!!

But officer, It's just my 13 year old son, he would never do such a thing. I'm sure he didn't mean to break into your house. I thought it took a village to raise a child.

What happens if that cat that you saw sitting on your car and killed was the dear pet of the 12 year old next door?

I guess that 12 year old needs to get some responsibility. Talk to your neighbors first, then shoot.

There are about 10 cats for each human in North America. And each pair will make about 6 more in the average EVERY YEAR. How much ammo do you have?

So your saying that we should all buy live traps and pay a vet to spay and give it shots? How much money do you have?

But it would have trully solved the problem as opposed to bitching about it and shooting innocent animals we have dragged across the ocean with us. You do know that their are not native dont you?

How did they get rid of the " innocent rabbits that they dragged across the ocean" that overpopulated Australia? They shot and poisoned them. I guess they should have trapped them, payed a vet to spay(you know how those rabbits multiply) and give shots, and released them so they could overpopulate, starve, and wreak more havok on the fields. That is much more humane and cost effective than a 2 cent 22 to the head.

Use more logic, less emotion. Think twice, post once.

nsf

 

[Pawcatch]

Of couse we all know which non-native species was responsible for the demise of the do-do bird.And it wasn't a feline.

Yes,man and the introduction of non-native species like pigs,dogs,rats,and monkeys played the biggest role in the demise of the dodo.That doesn't mean that feral cats shouldn't be controlled.And that means FERAL cats.Benewton basically said no cat should be shot.

nd,yes,my cat catches and eats birds,mice,moles,and also a baby rabbit on occasion.That does not reduce their number as much as habitat encroachment.

Of course,cats aren't going to reduce native animals numbers that much when those native animals are already use to being hunted by small predators like foxes,bobcats,ect.
The same can't be said for kiwi and weka in New Zealand where there are no native predators.

 

[Kcustom45]

We have about 2 or 3 cats that live in my barns. I don't bother them and they don't bother me (sometimes they irritate my dog). If someone shoots them I would hope they had a good reason to, but I probably wouldn't even know about it. I see them on occasion, but never even thought about shooting them. As long as they are eating the mice and rabbits and watch out for they coyotes they should be all right.

 

[BigJake_old]

Exactly Texas Vet, NSF003. The only way to take care of the critters is careful extermination with cheap bullets such as the .22 I fully agree with having YOU domestic pet spayed or neutered, thats a good thing, but why should i pay to fix half a dozen animals at my exxpense when i could just elimanate the problem with 100% less problem?

 

[-B-a-M-]

Me and my friends were shooting at cans behind my house one day with bb guns and one of them turned and SHOT MY CAT RIGHT IN FRONT OF ME!!!! I turned to him pulled my air pistol out of my holster and shot him in the calve. He jumped needless to say and swore some but then we kinda looked at each other and saw how serious we were both trying to be and started laughing. I just told him not to do it again or I would use my Co2 Pistol next time.

 

[piccolo]

1. I have been a cat's human for qiute a while.

2. I own a .45

3. I own a canvas tarp and have a lot of scrap iron around

4. I work as a seaman

5. If I decide to give you a break, you will not be a happy camper because you will find yourself on all fours replacing the duties of this little guy.

Go to the competitive forum and look at the pic posted under the thread 'A good excuse for poor shooting'.

 

[BigJake_old]

Better keep it in the house....
did i mention i firmly agree with the last guy that said that no animals life is worth that of a humans.

 

[Okiecruffler]

"did i mention i firmly agree with the last guy that said that no animals life is worth that of a humans."

If you come into my house to take my TV, I will shoot you. My TV is worth more to me than your life. If you are in my driveway trying to jack my truck, I will shoot you. My truck is worth more to me than your life. Why would I let you slide if you shot my pet for no reason? That being said, it is very unlikely that you will find any of my animals on your property. Right now, my cats do a little roaming out here in the boonies, but when I lived in town they stayed inside. I think the problem here is that those who will shoot an animal to protect what is their's somehow got lumped in with the same crowd as those who kill just to see something die. I think there's a big difference there.

Good thread, can't believe it's stayed as civil as it has.

 

[Daniel]

(Intro: Hello all, I hope to learn as much here; like the tick that I am, as I did on TFL.)

Cat or dog on my property, that I cannot ID. I shoot; I like echidnas and koalas better.

 

[DadOfThree]

I am not really a cat person. We used to have anywhere from 4 to 20 cats on the farm where I grew up. The number fluctuated so much because the farm is a dangerous place for kittens (machinery, vehicles, water tanks, dogs etc). They kept the mouse and rat population down. Even though I am not a cat person, killing a neighbors cat would have to be a last resort for me.
Benewton said,

For those of you who feel for the birds, Darwin actually works: the cats aren't getting the smart and well.

People have the right to watch wild birds on their property without someone's cat killing the wildlife. If you carry out the Darwin theory to it's full extent, people being higher on the food chain don't kill the well and the smart either. The smart cat stays home.
KP95DAO said,

One of my cats goes where she pleases in the neighbor hood. Everyone knows her just as I know the other cats that roam

That is well and good but if your cat gets shot taking a dump in someone's flower garden, you are as responsible for the cat's death as the guy or gal who is protecting their roses. You have let your cat invade their space, not the other way around.

Again, I would personally talk to the owner first, throw tennis balls at it second, maybe use a Red Ryder third and only shoot it as a last resort. I don't think that I should have to go through all of the because someone won't control their own property.

 

[benewton]

FWIW, I didn't say, nor did I mean to imply, that no cat should be shot. After all, if my dogs are running deer, I'd expect they'd pay the price, and, I guess, if it's a real PIA cat, I guess that there could be some justification.

That said, though, I'd think something other than wandering through your back yard on the way to elsewhere is required to qualify as a PIA. Too, since I'm not really interested in killing anything, I'd try the other methods first.

With the exception of the moron with the lawnmower, I doubt I'd shoot another over an animal. But don't think that that's the same as ignoring the event: I've a very long memory and payback is!