shooting an animal guilt.

[Sally8]

oh my.. i am so sorry.. you can call a pest control or exterminator to help, but cats are considered a domestic animal.. If he has "fed" those cats they are his by law. call your code enforcement or animal control too. Its your property. his animals are killing your livestock and most state law won't allow it to continue. This is just awful. You should not have to be subjected to it, let alone your poor birds!
Message me, i am willing to pm you the links to where you are to contact the right agency to help stop this! Its so painful to lose the babies you have worked so hard to raise and care for

My families all come from large farms and yes at times welcomed new cats/kittens to be dropped off. What happened to the so many I don't know. Today, the counties/states offer programs to spay/neuter at a very low cost. It wouldn't stop them from coming over but would from repopulating if he would have it done. I have 7 cats, all rescues and all indoor kitties now. Is that the best life for a cat? I don't know that either, but it's the best mine are getting. They range from 1-15yrs and are all spayed/neutered. I'm with whoever advised to to call pest control. Do whatever is necessary to protect your flock.

 

[Faith67]

I feel so sorry for you. I KNOW how you feel. I had five of my chickens get killed by a fox. I am so so sorry for you.

 

[epeloquin]

I can understand the guilt. I am a hunter and there is always a sting when we take a life, even if it is for the table or to protect your flock.

It sounds like you had no choice. I would be rather dubious about any effort to rehab such a cat. You said it was feral (wild) so this cat was following it's instinct to hunt and kill. That is awfully difficult to suppress to the point that it would be safe. I suspect that chickens would have always have been in danger around this cat. It seems like you protected your flock as well as other flocks in the area. Feral cats are like any wild animal. When they find a food source they will continue to return until the food is gone or they are prevented from returning.

I am sorry for your loss too.

 

[Chic-n-farmer]

For me the hardest is killing a dog that could have been a fine pet if it had responsible owners. Please think, of what you did, as your responsibility. By owning chickens it is your duty to keep them safe. I have been through it several times with dogs and it is never easy. It makes me heartsick.

Research all you can and see if there is a rescue for the wild cats, but I can't imagine one. Build your coops as predator proof as you can. See if you can hold the neighbor in any way liable. Then, if all that fails, do as you have been. At least you will know that you have exhausted all possibilities and you have no option.

If your neighbor had handled his responsibility you wouldn't be saddled with feral cats. It is always the animals that end up paying for our human failures.

 

[sargent spurs]

You did the right thing, it could have killed many more of your chickens.

 

[BadScorpio]

I'm sorry you had to do that. I understand it is always a hard thing to do.

 

[messawith3]

I'm 32 years old and over the last few months had to take care of 9, possibly 10 feral cats on my property. I swear took them out as cleanly as possible, but that doesn't stop the guilt and I don't know what to do. The last shot was about a hundred yards and he took off running so I don't know if it was a hit or not, like the other one when he dropped after three yards of running (shot went thru the chest and out the back at twenty yards). I don't know what to do.

 

[diamond g]

We just build everything as predator proof as possible. We are major cat people. We have 8 inside cats and 4 outside cats. We know feral cats help themselves to our outside cats food but as long as they are not causing a problem we don't mind. We ve only had to put one feral tom down and that was because he attacked my husband.

I completely agree with putting a animal down that has resorted to killing when you have no other choice. We will put a coyote down with out a second thought (we live on a cattle ranch and they put a hurting on our calf crop every winter) but I guess its our loveof cats that keeps us from being that way with feral cats

 

[aprophet]

He probably would have been hit by a car,killed by a fishercat,or died from some horrible disease eventually anyway.
Probably did him a favor in the long run.

most times coyotes really clean up feral populations shame is after they get done with the cats they will eat lap dogs as well I get rid of quiet a few fox for homeowners and when they tell me they are missing small dogs I know it is yotes not fox

 

[BCMaraniac]

most times coyotes really clean up feral populations shame is after they get done with the cats they will eat lap dogs as well I get rid of quiet a few fox for homeowners and when they tell me they are missing small dogs I know it is yotes not fox

We always know if a fox is around because the rabbits disappear. Right now we have lots of rabbits, so there must not be one nearby. We never see coyotes, but we have a Great Pyrenees and an Australian Shepherd who look after our chickens.