Is it humane to drown a cat because it attacked your livestock?

[TinaMarieofFL]

Is it humane to drown a cat because it attacked your livestock? I was reading on a quail thread earlier today. Someone had trapped a feral cat because it had tried to get into the quail cage. Then that person took the cage with the trapped cat inside and pushed the cage under water. I know farmers need to protect their livelihood. Any time it is necessary to get rid of a predator, i always hope a person can reason in the midst of their anger to do the job quickly with as little suffering as possible.

Inhumane. Drowning any animal is inhumane. A quick death is the best thing any of us can hope for. I am certain I could not (and will not) intentionally drown any animal.

 

[Willowspirit]

In case anyone wonders what it is like to drown there is good coverage of this in “The Perfect Storm” the book. I mean. Summary: It is intensely painful as the body fights to keep water out of the lungs and air in. The body convulses violently because of muscle spasms. Any mammal would go through this. And it actually takes a long time to die.

No. It is not humane. Better to shoot it accurately than to drown it.

 

[Chickassan]

This is a silly question, it isn't nice to drown anything.
But angry people arent always the clearest of thinkers, sad but it is a rotten spot on a good percentage of our species.
Act now, regret later....maybe.

 

[ColtHandorf]

As it has been stated above by many, no it is both cruel and inhumane. A man in Florida was recently arrested on charges of animal cruelty for trapping and drowning a raccoon that was preying on his chickens.

https://www.clickorlando.com/news/florida-man-accused-of-drowning-raccoon

And here another story about a teacher (again in Florida) that drowned two raccoons and an opossum in front of students in his class:

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news...p-heres-why-he-wont-be-charged/?noredirect=on

 

[Henry&Friends]

Never a cat, and I don’t think I could do it to a coon either. At least let it die real quick, even if it ate your birds.

 

[ValerieJ]

Is it humane to drown a cat because it attacked your livestock? I was reading on a quail thread earlier today. Someone had trapped a feral cat because it had tried to get into the quail cage. Then that person took the cage with the trapped cat inside and pushed the cage under water. I know farmers need to protect their livelihood. Any time it is necessary to get rid of a predator, i always hope a person can reason in the midst of their anger to do the job quickly with as little suffering as possible.

No, not only is it inhumane, in my state it's illegal.

 

[Tesumph]

No, it’s definitely not humane, but I disagree with most saying that it is an act of anger.

It is very common for farmers around here to collect their live traps in the morning and take them down to their creek and leave them for some time. They walk away, come back later, and dispose of the drowned animal (usually raccoon or possum). It’s not anger, it’s routine; and it’s cheaper and cleaner than a bullet.
As for it being a cat.. well, a predator is a predator. I don’t think that most people who could drown a raccoon would be much more bothered by drowning a cat. Maybe I’m wrong.

Please understand that I am NOT condoning this in any way.
Even some of my extended family members practice this method. It’s important to understand someone’s point of view before you can educate them on why it’s wrong, and teach them humane alternatives that fit into their lifestyle.

 

[red horse ranch]

No matter how you dispose of an animal it will not be pleasant, for you or the animal. Drowning is a horrible death for the animal and not at all pleasant for a person to watch. I use a BB gun for chicks that must be put down and a 22 pistol for cats and larger birds. It's quick and the animal doesn't have time to suffer. But it still bothers me no matter how it has to be done.

 

[ValerieJ]

I was once trying to get rid of a persistent mouse that came into my basement laundry room repeatedly. I would live trap it and put it back out in the forest and it would come back the next day. My MIL is the one who told me I was feeding the same mouse every day in the mouse trap. FIL said to drown it. I was horrified at the thought. I mean, why not just use a death trap then? Why live trap and then kill? So, after listening to both of them, I picked the mouse up the next day and drove it to a several thousand acre national forest and released it there. I never had another mouse in my basement laundry. @Tesumph is right. Some people do this as a matter of course with no thought of what that means to the animal. It's sad, but true, so now I would just try to explain that, which is what I do with my DH all the time. He has largely come around. Perhaps in my case it is my city roots vs his country roots.

 

[The Phantom]

No it’s horrible. I do kill predators around my birds but I use a 22 and that’s very fast.