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

[PNWhens]

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. cats are predatory animals. killing it like that is acting out of anger. that's lifes cycle.

 

[The Moonshiner]

D@mn near everything is predatory towards chickens.
Should we all just throw our birds to the predators because that's just life cycle?
I take it you wouldn't mind if I brought my dogs by to snack on a few of your birds?

 

[ColtHandorf]

so in your opinion its okay for domestic animals to die a horrible death then for a farmer to protect his livestock?

lets be real here. i live in the western Canada. there are a lot of ranchers and farmers. so am going to tell a story. i was hunting on this guys ranch up north. tells us that the wolves and bears are so bad they eat and kill the calves and cows when there giving birth. he has seen bears rip the calf out of its mother and eat it alive. so in your opinion that is 100% okay that he lost income, the animal (which by the way is only minutes old) gets to be torn to pieces alive?

has to get people to trap and hunt on his land. to keep everything in check (which i should note is legal here for us to hunt and trap both bears and wolves)

First of all, what makes a domestic animal's life inherently worth more than the life of their wild/non-domesticated brethren? Because you or another human owns it and it therefore has monetary value associated with it? I don't see outrage over elk, caribou, etc. facing the same fate...

Of course predators are going to take advantage of a situation like that. They would do the same to any wild animal. Just because mankind has domesticated animals and settled areas that are ancestrally the home of apex and lesser predators that might prey on them does not give mankind the right to upset the balance by driving them out and hunting species to near extinction. However, people are completely within their right to provide secure enclosures and protect them as best we are able. Time and time again history has shown us that mankind upsets the balance of nature. One of my favorite examples is Hawaii. The birds on those islands evolved without ground predators. When Europeans discovered the islands with their seagoing vessels they introduced rats that preyed on the birds' nests, eating the eggs and hatchlings. In an effort to fix the mistake, it was decided that mongoose would be introduced to the islands to prey on the rats. But of course birds and eggs on the ground were easier fare and thus the native birds were put into further peril. Elephant culls in Africa create young bulls that grow up without the influence of their mothers and other females and as they mature, behave like gangs, raping and killing rhinoceros, another animal endangered by the actions of man.

 

[Biddybot]

Day-um...is this thread still running? Was interesting to read all the posts, though. Thanks, everyone.

I still can't help wondering how some posters would've replied had the thread been called 'Is it humane to drown a mouse because it ate your chickens' feed?" instead of being about a cat, however.

 

[The Moonshiner]

I wonder how different the replies would of been if some of the posters have had idiot neighbors that seem to thrive on over populating the area with half to full feral cats and have lost dozens upon dozens of chicks to cats.
It's easy to set back and give politically correct feel good replies when you've never had a real cat issue.
The its in their nature so you can't blame them answer is ridiculous.
I can tell you I'm a chicken eaten fool but I'd guarantee no ones gonna let me stop by and take some of their birds home to roast just because its in my nature.

 

[Ginmary]

Many Many years ago my neighbor and I found a stray kitten, only about 4 weeks old that was suffering with no hope for getting better. It could barely lift its head, was full of pus running from its eyes and nose, and its head was covered with maggots. We thought we were doing the best thing by ending its suffering. So, we got a pail and drowned it. We thought it would be quick. That kitten fought with more strength than we thought it had. I still have nightmares about it. So, no, drowning is not humane.
When it's my turn to pass the rainbow bridge I hope that kitten is not waiting, or at least understands that our intentions were honorable if not our actions.

 

[Galeann]

Many Many years ago my neighbor and I found a stray kitten, only about 4 weeks old that was suffering with no hope for getting better. It could barely lift its head, was full of pus running from its eyes and nose, and its head was covered with maggots. We thought we were doing the best thing by ending its suffering. So, we got a pail and drowned it. We thought it would be quick. That kitten fought with more strength than we thought it had. I still have nightmares about it. So, no, drowning is not humane.
When it's my turn to pass the rainbow bridge I hope that kitten is not waiting, or at least understands that our intentions were honorable if not our actions.

Thank you for your honesty in sharing that story. I'm sorry the results of your good intentions still haunt you.

 

[Fishkeeper]

It's not humane to use those mousetraps designed to drown mice, either. If you have to kill something, for whatever reason, do it quickly and cleanly. Drowning is not quick and clean. Find another way to kill the animal, period, or find a way around killing it.

 

[froggyphore]

you may have already gotten this reply, but aside from being extremely inhumane its also illegal to kill feral, stray, & outdoor cats in most of the US.

 

[Compost King]

why should we worry about what is legal and illegal when our own government can't even obey its own laws. Do the moral thing, and keep in mind you have a moral obligation to protect your chickens. Its not my place to dictate how you do this, my own moral code probably needs tweaking. If Feral Cats are a problem where you live, solve it with the means that you have to solve it.