I hate my town (stray cats and corrupt bureaucrats)

[Knittycat]

I think the feral and dumped pet problem, like so many of our societal problems, stems from peoples removal from their food. People have NO IDEA where their food comes from. Sure, they know intellectually (most of the time) that meat doesn't come from the store, that the organically grown, local, non gmo corn they're buying was grown somewhere. But the reality of where their food comes from never effects them.
If it did, if they followed the train of thought back to it's station, they'd realize that wild dogs are a problem for livestock owners, that cats kill small live stock, and that sometimes, you have to kill them.
You can not house a large number of strays in a shelter indefinitely, and some strays and ferals (especially ferals) are completely unadoptable. They want the problem taken care of, but they don't want to know how it's done. They don't want to know the reality of what must be done to fix the problem. They want to think that these animals are living out their lives somewhere happy and well taken care of, forgetting that this all takes money. They want to salve their consciences, but they don't want to open up their wallets to do it, and they don't want to take responsibility for their part in the problem.
(Religious bit here, if religion offends you, stop here) God gave us stewardship over all the plants and animals. The explosion of strays and ferals of *all sorts* is an abuse of that authority and a shirking of that awesome responsibility.
Sorry, rant over.

 

[cracked egg]

I agree with you bluecoondog.. Almost. Some long bows are more than capable of killing a cat, but only in very capable hands. We see pictures way to often of cats with arrows sticking out of them. Always is blamed on bow hunters, never some kid whose mom would let her boys practice with on small moving animals in a neighborhood. Se really goes for pellet guns. Sure they can kill one sometimes maybe even usually, but not always these people are so funny as to their delicate sensitivities. If it takes 20 sec for a cat to die in the water. That's pretty quick. A 22 cal. Bullet to the heart the animal will have cognitive brain function for almost a min. Until it depletes the complete oxygen supply. Much less the horrible wounds I've seen recently as our brethren chooses not to do anything about our feral cat problem.

my boys and daughter are very proficient with their bows,consistently shooting aerial and moving targets. They shoot 30 and 40# bows. All are custom made and not a toy. If they can dispatch coons and skunks a cat isn't a problem. I shoot a 84# bow,i haven't had a problem on anything from mice to bull elk. Longbows have killed everything including elephants. Mankind's greatest invention of all time was the longbow and has defended,conquered,and fed us far longer than any other firearm.
My apologies knittycat, but some people don't realize that there are capable children that can still protect livestock.

 

[cracked egg]

I agree with you bluecoondog.. Almost. Some long bows are more than capable of killing a cat, but only in very capable hands. We see pictures way to often of cats with arrows sticking out of them. Always is blamed on bow hunters, never some kid whose mom would let her boys practice with on small moving animals in a neighborhood. Se really goes for pellet guns. Sure they can kill one sometimes maybe even usually, but not always these people are so funny as to their delicate sensitivities. If it takes 20 sec for a cat to die in the water. That's pretty quick. A 22 cal. Bullet to the heart the animal will have cognitive brain function for almost a min. Until it depletes the complete oxygen supply. Much less the horrible wounds I've seen recently as our brethren chooses not to do anything about our feral cat problem.

my boys and daughter are very proficient with their bows,consistently shooting aerial and moving targets. They shoot 30 and 40# bows. All are custom made and not a toy. If they can dispatch coons and skunks a cat isn't a problem. I shoot a 84# bow,i haven't had a problem on anything from mice to bull elk. Longbows have killed everything including elephants. Mankind's greatest invention of all time was the longbow and has defended,conquered,and fed us far longer than any other firearm.
My apologies knittycat, but some people don't realize that there are capable children that can still protect livestock.

 

[cracked egg]

I agree with you bluecoondog.. Almost. Some long bows are more than capable of killing a cat, but only in very capable hands. We see pictures way to often of cats with arrows sticking out of them. Always is blamed on bow hunters, never some kid whose mom would let her boys practice with on small moving animals in a neighborhood. Se really goes for pellet guns. Sure they can kill one sometimes maybe even usually, but not always these people are so funny as to their delicate sensitivities. If it takes 20 sec for a cat to die in the water. That's pretty quick. A 22 cal. Bullet to the heart the animal will have cognitive brain function for almost a min. Until it depletes the complete oxygen supply. Much less the horrible wounds I've seen recently as our brethren chooses not to do anything about our feral cat problem.

my boys and daughter are very proficient with their bows,consistently shooting aerial and moving targets. They shoot 30 and 40# bows. All are custom made and not a toy. If they can dispatch coons and skunks a cat isn't a problem. I shoot a 84# bow,i haven't had a problem on anything from mice to bull elk. Longbows have killed everything including elephants. Mankind's greatest invention of all time was the longbow and has defended,conquered,and fed us far longer than any other firearm.
My apologies knittycat, but some people don't realize that there are capable children that can still protect livestock.

 

[afarhat8]

blucoondawg wrote "...the more people hear about the issue the more you will have on your side and the more likely the city will want to help so as not to look like a bunch of no good do nothings who won't enforce their own ordinances. " in other words, the city will want to help so as not to look like themselves. good point, blucoondawg.

 

[Knittycat]

my boys and daughter are very proficient with their bows,consistently shooting aerial and moving targets. They shoot 30 and 40# bows. All are custom made and not a toy. If they can dispatch coons and skunks a cat isn't a problem. I shoot a 84# bow,i haven't had a problem on anything from mice to bull elk. Longbows have killed everything including elephants. Mankind's greatest invention of all time was the longbow and has defended,conquered,and fed us far longer than any other firearm.
My apologies knittycat, but some people don't realize that there are capable children that can still protect livestock.

I understand the power of a good hunting bow. My FIL bow hunts, and will be teaching me to this summer. I've never thought that children were necessarily helpless, my little girl goes hunting with grandpa, and will be shooting her first deer this season. Children are as responsible as you expect them to be.
It's the little $#!?$ that have their little toy bows and arrows that are the problem Anyway, I think you might be responding to the wrong poster!
We still can't shoot them with arrows though. :/ Stupid bureaucrats.

 

[cracked egg]

Im sorry knittycat that wasn't directed to you. I was apologizing for getting off base on your thread.

 

[Brandy1]

I have a feral cat colony on my 3 acre property now. They co exist with my chickens just fine. I love the fact that they are around. For one thing I haven't seen a mouse in the barn in years! Which is fantastic for me since I also have horses, and mice living in the hay and getting into my grain bins could kill my horses with the diseases that they carry. I am also a responsible homeowner who had the entire colony (over the period of a few days) trapped. They were then taken and spayed/neutered, tattooed, and ears notched. Yes, a few females were apparently pregnant, but I prevented anymore from being added to the world. I agree that we have a lot of cats! Since bringing them home, a few got mad I guess and took off or a fox may have gotten them. (they were still kinda young - 6 months or so) but I don't think that we should have a mass killing of feral cats! There was a country that did that once (India maybe?) that got so over run with rats that they had to have cats brought back into the cities to kill them off. Rats and mice and all those other rodents mass produce as well. How would we control that? People are desperately trying to help fix the problem by spaying and neutering these feral cats to stop the reproduction. And as far as them killing endangered species.... All species have their time here on earth. It's a cycle that will one day end for humans as we are today as well. (altho, I'm a believer that humans will be their own demise long before nature decides so). Please, Don't blame the cats for doing what their instincts tell them to do. Seeing animals euthanized is not a good experience. To see them panic and struggle for those last few moments before their bodies shutdown is enough to make u cry. I've witnessed this from working at a vets office, and from having a horse with a broken leg put to sleep. It amazes me how these politicians can use my hard earned tax money for their campaingns every election, but can't toss some money to their state organizations who are trying to help animals. Fund some programs to encourage the guy down the street, who makes barely enough money to take care of his family, to trap those 3 cats that have been hanging around the property and take them to have them spayed/neutered free of charge to him. Most people can't afford $50 per feline to have them fixed. And who would if the cat is some feral hanging around? And those once a year "specials" ain't gonna help a whole lot! The horse industry is horrible!! All these TB race horses being bred year after year after year.... Ever drive down the country and see dozens of those cute youngsters out there playing around in the fields? A handful will be lucky to see a long healthy life. If they don't race well, they sell to who ever. If they don't sell fast, ship to slaughter auctions, break a leg? Dead. And those majestic beasts that run the open plains in the Midwest, and ranches housing the round-ups that the BLM runs, are all rounded up and shipped to slaughter house in Canada and Mexico. Why? Because they are eating endangered plants. Or because some oil company can't run their pipe line underground because that land is protected as long as the horses are occupying it. Solution? Round them up and ship them to slaughter, said the government... The public will never know! Ugh!! Im not an Animal Rights person,I believe in hunting game animals for food and to control the diseases that would otherwise wipe out the species. I believe animals shouldn't suffer. If they are beyond help, or the odds of a good recovery is low, then we should end their misery. A neighbors dog came to my property once, killed my dairy goat, my sheep and ripped apart my female turkey so badly that I couldn't believe the poor girl was still alive and walking! (yes, I put her out of her misery) I also wanted to kill that dog!!! But, it's doing what a dog does, and yes it was for sport, but it's still instinct. I should have made my pen more secure somehow to deter and prevent the dog from getting in (I wasn't home when it all happened. Found the horrific scene when I got home from work) and the stupid people who owned the dog should be held responsible!!
Okay, I'm done now. Sorry!!
Ok rant over!

 

[Justin Foss]

Sounds like hell. My boys would be doing a lot of practice on moving targets with their longbows, if I was in that situation.

Sorry cracked egg, this is the real world. Practice is limited to inanimate objects. I'm sure the little crackedeggs are quite good with their long bows. I also have some experience with all types of weaponry, bows are probably my favorite also. No matter how many times you posted it does not mean "practice" is a acceptable way to deal with these animals. Knittycat needs real world solutions to her problem. She is a upstanding member of society and her living depends on her maintaining this reputation.

 

[cracked egg]

I do understand her situation and see what she is up against. In the area I live,this is a real world solution. Feral cats here have wreaked havoc on gamebird,songbird,and small mammal species. Using the term "practice" in this area means to hunt ground squirrels,rock chucks, and predators. When the term "hunting" is used,thats for elk,deer bear. We practice year round for big game. This may be a regional term,but that is the way it is here. To practice up on squirrels and chucks and other problem species is a very viable solution to the local farmers and ranchers.