30 000 feral cats

I came across this article on my local newspaper website.

http://www.thesudburystar.com/2016/0...000-feral-cats

After reading the article, I was angered by the "solutions" offered to correct this problem.

The animal welfare freaks have decided that spay/neuter and release the feral cats is a viable solution. Feral cats are a known and major predator of songbirds and small animals.

The article states that getting these cats fixed costs $60. i can't understand why, after being tapped, thy don't euthenize them? The cost would probably be less, and there would be one less cat to be fed and to kill birds and small animals in the wild. Why not encourage local hunters and shooters to kill them on sight? It would cost less than a buck per cat and the hunters get some target practice.

Dont get me wrong, I do not condone abuse of animals in any way, but when you are dealing with an invasive species, handling the problem with a soft hand will not work in the long term. Corrective actions need to be swift and severe if we want to get on top of the problem and solve it once and for all.

I'm surprised no one has came forward publicly to offer a euthanasia service. I'm sure an organized crowd funding program could enthusiastically raise enough to exterminate them.

I wonder if the health department is monitoring them to ensure they don't pose a danger to public health.

People have to get past the fact that they are cute...if they are feral, they are a public health menace.

OK here is my winning submission.
They estimate 30 000 cats and they have a $50 000 for a solution to the problem. Here we go $1 bounty for every cat tail you bring in. Problem solved. So you guys in Norfolk keep your reward for the bounty all I ask for just send me a pheasant permit for this fall.

In New Zealand hunters target feral cats, hedgehogs, and a whole list of invasive species. Just YouTube feral cat hunt. Biggest problem is in most places around here small game other then cats is very very rare, but shooting them on crown land can lead to more problems then you want.

I am sure I could find a few farmers to take fixed feral to control birds, but maybe not too many.

They had 12 presentations from all points of view. I felt the same way initially but in order to not euthanize someone's pet who is on a subsidized income and feedback from experts this was the only realistic solution.

Why would anyone think investing to 'fix' feral cats is the best solution; because they are still looking at them as 'cute' pets and not as a health problem.

The issue of folks on subsidized income feeding cats and then allowing them to wander freely around the neighbourhood is a whole other issue.

A cat with no tag, wandering freely is a public nuisance.

$60 to spay or nueter a cat? What this is is nothing but the Bambi syndrome. They are cute so they have more value than an ugly animal. If baby seals were ugly and smelled bad nobody would care if they were hunted. Certainly tells you how shallow our society is. If they want to get rid of the problem they should just give the cats to PETA. They kill most everything they get.

There won't be any small game pretty soon. I hope everyone around there shoots every cat they see

$1.8 million, Who is going to pay for that? 😮 Oh right, us!

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Originally Posted by MikePal

Why would anyone think investing to 'fix' feral cats is the best solution
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Define "fix".

Maybe someone to manage a feral coyote shelter would be the answer...

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Originally Posted by sawbill

Define "fix".

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The article define the 'fix' as;

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The OSPCA says the only "economically viable and truly humane" way to manage feral populations is to trap them, have them spayed or neutered, and then release them back into the wild.

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I know a better and cheaper fix :)

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Originally Posted by patvetzal

Maybe someone to manage a feral coyote shelter would be the answer...

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Might not be that far off. As hunters one might argue if indeed there are 30 000 cats out there one might want not to shot coyotes in that area until numbers come down. Bit of nature taking care of itself. If we can't take care of the feral cats let the coyotes do it.

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Originally Posted by finsfurfeathers

Might not be that far off. As hunters one might argue if indeed there are 30 000 cats out there one might want not to shot coyotes in that area until numbers come down. Bit of nature taking care of itself. If we can't take care of the feral cats let the coyotes do it.

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What says a hunter can't shoot a feral cat? Nothing in the F&W Act says you can't do it. Does anyone know of any law that says "no feeding high speed lead to fluffy"? I think it an option that needs to be looked into just at least to get a better understanding of what is or is not legal.

Anyone know what cat tastes like?:confused: I am thinking like Pineapple chicken or sweet and sour pork......:joker::joker:

Other recipes??

Maybe cat cacciatore ;)

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Originally Posted by finsfurfeathers

Might not be that far off. As hunters one might argue if indeed there are 30 000 cats out there one might want not to shot coyotes in that area until numbers come down. Bit of nature taking care of itself. If we can't take care of the feral cats let the coyotes do it.

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i agree. Let the coyotes put a good dent in them for now and control the coyotes later once the cats are pretty mich gone.

What about farmers, do they like cats?

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Originally Posted by Snowwalker

What says a hunter can't shoot a feral cat? Nothing in the F&W Act says you can't do it. Does anyone know of any law that says "no feeding high speed lead to fluffy"? I think it an option that needs to be looked into just at least to get a better understanding of what is or is not legal.

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Firearm discharge rules would restrict any activity in or around most towns..

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Originally Posted by seabast

What about farmers, do they like cats?

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No we don't...I have one out in my barn that is like a ghost. I rarely see it, catch a glimpse of his tail occasionally. The dogs get pretty excited when they see it, so it doesn't venture anywhere near the house. It comes from the idiots place down he road that has, at her own admission, over 40 feral cats on her property that eventually wander away to her neighbours places.

Attracting Coyotes to the area, for free cat dinners, is not a great idea...the consequences to my livestock trumps her desire to have cats.

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Originally Posted by MikePal

Firearm discharge rules would restrict any activity in or around most towns..

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On your farm, or outside of the areas covered by no discharge that would not apply, what else says no?

By the way I find that many of the discharge by laws are very cut and dry. By that I mean that if the no discharge area is defined a line running down a road, simple being on the other side is all it takes to be legal to discharge. In some cases the no discharge area is only a part of the city limits, or there are exemptions written into the by law for different things like farms.

Up my way they had to enact a bye law because one person in the Hamlet kept adopting and feeding feral cats.Now she feeds the local deer and they are all in town. Outside of the hamlet I have not seen one survive beyond a winter, to many animals in the bush make meals of them.

Our neighborhood has the absolute best cat control around and it's not costing us a nickle.......Fishers and Coyotes.

The first thing to do is to pass a bylaw against these idiots called "colony managers" who are organized and feeding these cats on mass. A hefty fine should reduce their efforts, making these ferals range further for food and closer to the coyotes.

Encouraging trappers to engage in the problem is another arrow in the quiver of solutions. To be clear, IMHO they need to be eliminated (dead) by any humane mechanism(s).
We need to treat this issue as feral cats being yet another predator in the food chain that needs to be managed. I don't think anyone wants a growth in the coyote population near urban areas because cats because a staple food source.

One winter when I used to do a lot of bunny hunting I got 18 cats!
I'm 60 now.. you do the math! I've shot them with songbirds in their mouth!
I swear my one hound like chasin cats better then any thing else.
One day the dog crawled in a huge brush pile and came out with a cat. couple shakes - dead cat. she went in 5 more times yup 5 more cats.
one tough SOB hound - and a female to boot! fantastic dog.. loved kids and slept in the house on cold nights!
I don't understand all the discussion on this. you see feral you shoot!

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Originally Posted by SK33T3R

I don't understand all the discussion on this. you see feral you shoot!

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Not everyone is sure of the where and when or if you can legally do that.

My question still has not been answered. "Can anyone show me where it says that you can not shoot feral cats?"

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Originally Posted by Snowwalker

Not everyone is sure of the where and when or if you can legally do that.

My question still has not been answered. "Can anyone show me where it says that you can not shoot feral cats?"

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in response

SHOW ME WHERE IT SAYS YOU CAN'T!

When I was a kid our hunter safety instructor (he was a cop) told us to shoot them all!
You do need some discretion and of course dispose of the corpse discretely.
I wouldn't hang it on the meat pole!

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Originally Posted by Snowwalker

My question still has not been answered. "Can anyone show me where it says that you can not shoot feral cats?"

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Already answered...if it's in your back yard and you live in the city limits you CANNOT shoot it..not because it's a cat but because of discharge laws.

Since they are not a native species to Ontario, there is no 'law' governing/protecting them. So in areas were the discharge of firearms it permitted...bye-bye kitty.

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[COLOR=#000000]Two important themes to keep in mind during this discussion are firstly, that the legal status of feral cats is quite ill-defined, and must necessarily be developed and inferred from legal first principles. The law tends to focus on either 'domestic animals' or 'wild animals', two categories which ferals straddle. There is next to no case law on this issue that I am aware of in Ontario.

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[COLOR=black]On the other hand, 'feral cats' - being cats which were once domestic but have now 'gone wild', and their offspring - straddle both the wild and the domestic legal categories. Were they native North American species (which they are not) they would no doubt flow seamlessly back into the 'wild' category such as a pet raven might if it escaped or was set free, and fall under the governance of Ontario's Fish and Wildlife Conservation Act - which is essentially a hunting and fishing regulation law.

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If you want to read thru this paper on the legal status of 'Feral' cats and the law...be my quest;

http://www.isthatlegal.ca/index.php?...og_cat_control

My take..SSS to ensure no one complains.

Now if bill 246 gets past; even if you live out in the country, it might be illegal to shot a feral cat :)

Trail Cam about 1 mile back into the bush...

http://i125.photobucket.com/albums/p...MDGC0010-1.jpg

Some years ago there was a feral cat shoot at the local dump. It was done after dark with lights and the approval of the local MNR. This was not hunting, so hunting regs did not apply. It was invite only but the kill was quite high, surprising most of the local people who had no idea there were that many cats around.

sounds like a great opportunity for some cheap shooting with the .22

maybe the local motels and restaurants would benefit from spreading the word :)

http://sd.keepcalm-o-matic.co.uk/i/s...-shut-up-1.png

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Originally Posted by terrierman41

http://sd.keepcalm-o-matic.co.uk/i/s...-shut-up-1.png

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Lol - can you get this in a bumper sticker?

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Originally Posted by mbhunter

Lol - can you get this in a bumper sticker?

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No we want that in a T-shirt....

I must admit to be surprised by the comments about yotes taking care of cats. Every cat I've ever seen being chased by a dog was usually up a tree or pole pretty quick. Now a yote is likely quicker but so are cats, specially the wild ones. Fishers now, that's a different story. They can easily out climb a cat. When we had that big influx of Fishers a dozen or so years back lots of pet cats disappeared, even some small dogs.

I'd buy one those t-shirts too. :)

Cheers

Cats try to run up trees from my drahthaars too...try. No feral cats around them.

I spend a fair bit of time in Norfolk forests each autumn, and I have NEVER encountered a cat. However having read this article I know what to do when it happens.

Yep protect your self they are mean and wild.

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Originally Posted by dilly

Cats try to run up trees from my drahthaars too...try. No feral cats around them.

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Lol, that must be a sight to see.

Cheers

A couple of days ago the sister-in-law got bit and scratched by one of the feral cats that she has been feeding for a while. Never was aggressive before, but now it turns and attacks her. The family made her go to the Hospital today because the pain was so bad. How bad? She is on super heavy duty pain killers because of her back, and this pain came thru that. She has problems that would mask any of the Rabies Symptoms, because:a general feeling of illness, fever, headache, poor appetite, muscle aches,depression are normal for her.

She feeds two cats, but one has been fixed and has had shots( don't know if the shots are all current), but the one that bit her has never been to the vet or ever had shots.

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Originally Posted by trapper

Yep protect your self they are mean and wild.

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Yes, that's right, that is exactly why. Not because grouse populations in the area are precariously low and feral cats undoubtedly would prey on grouse chicks.

A quick update on Sandra my sister-in-law, they have recommend she get RABIES shots, but she is refusing to have the shots.
It is long past the 48 hours since she has been bit. The guy next door is watching the cat, but I am not sure how long it will take for the cat to have symptoms if it does have rabies. Anyone have an idea?

For your sister-in-laws best interest would take the cat in for testing ASAP.

I take care of a farm as part of an estate that I am managing. The lady who lived there used to put out food for these feral cats. When she passed away, the cats no longer had access to free cat food. Some of the beneficiaries of the estate and some of the neighbors wanted me to continue feeding these animals (!). I looked into "other options" to address the problem, but I didn't want to take risks because of a problem created by someone else. In the end, once the food dried up, the cats died out on their own. Within a year the problem solved itself.
In summary, I agree that the people feeding these cats should be heavily fined. That will discourage them from creating this huge problem. The cats won't survive too long on their own, at least not in numbers that will cause a big problem.

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Originally Posted by 73hunter

sounds like a great opportunity for some cheap shooting with the .22

maybe the local motels and restaurants would benefit from spreading the word :)

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there is no more cheap shooting with a .22. Ammo prices through the roof after the big hoard a few years ago. Almost cheaper to hand load for your .303 or .308/.30/06...

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Originally Posted by Snowwalker

A couple of days ago the sister-in-law got bit and scratched by one of the feral cats that she has been feeding for a while. Never was aggressive before, but now it turns and attacks her. The family made her go to the Hospital today because the pain was so bad. How bad? She is on super heavy duty pain killers because of her back, and this pain came thru that. She has problems that would mask any of the Rabies Symptoms, because:a general feeling of illness, fever, headache, poor appetite, muscle aches,depression are normal for her.

She feeds two cats, but one has been fixed and has had shots( don't know if the shots are all current), but the one that bit her has never been to the vet or ever had shots.

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Sounds like those cats are due for more shots. My diagnosis is a lead deficiency in the brain. High speed inter-cranial injection of between 35grains and 1.5 ounces injected behind the ear or between the eyes at 1200 fps or higher should cure the problem. If that does not solve the problem, then it could be an iron or bismuth deficiency. Dosage instructions remain the same.

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Originally Posted by 35wailin

Sounds like those cats are due for more shots. My diagnosis is a lead deficiency in the brain. High speed inter-cranial injection of between 35grains and 1.5 ounces injected behind the ear or between the eyes at 1200 fps or higher should cure the problem. If that does not solve the problem, then it could be an iron or bismuth deficiency. Dosage instructions remain the same.

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Problem is that she lives in town, and the guy next door ( who has a large expensive and rare bird collection) has gotten in trouble already for shooting cats.

I looked up the time line for rabies to appear in an infected cat and it says a few days to a year. Holy poop bat man.

Snowwalker,
I don't know what to say other than encourage your SIL to see a doctor... NOW! There are other issues with bites

http://news.nationalpost.com/health/..._lsa=3fe2-12e4

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Originally Posted by DGearyFTE

Snowwalker,
I don't know what to say other than encourage your SIL to see a doctor... NOW! There are other issues with bites

http://news.nationalpost.com/health/..._lsa=3fe2-12e4

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After she was forced to go to emergency by the family last weekend, she was put on IV Antibiotics. She is now taking oral antibiotics, but I don't think the infection in her arm from the bite is the problem. The cat the bite her has been a real chicken the whole time she has been feeding it ( about a year to a year and a half), but then it started just standing and watching her, and then last week ran up and attacked her arm.

Big change is behavior if you ask me..

I don't even know if I want her coming up to the house this week and being around the cats and dogs.

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Originally Posted by Snowwalker

I don't even know if I want her coming up to the house this week and being around the cats and dogs.

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Shouldn't have to worry about that cats and dogs as they have their rabbies vaccine right?

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Originally Posted by Snowwalker

After she was forced to go to emergency by the family last weekend, she was put on IV Antibiotics. She is now taking oral antibiotics, but I don't think the infection in her arm from the bite is the problem. The cat the bite her has been a real chicken the whole time she has been feeding it ( about a year to a year and a half), but then it started just standing and watching her, and then last week ran up and attacked her arm.

Big change is behavior if you ask me..

I don't even know if I want her coming up to the house this week and being around the cats and dogs.

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I remember when I was kid,a neighbor of my Grandparents passed away quite suddenly with a mysterious illness contracted from what then was thought to be Tetanus from an infected wound that later turned out to be Rabies. It's not a nice way to go. I'm glad your family convinced her to seek treatment.

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Originally Posted by trimmer21

I remember when I was kid,a neighbor of my Grandparents passed away quite suddenly with a mysterious illness contracted from what then was thought to be Tetanus from an infected wound that later turned out to be Rabies. It's not a nice way to go. I'm glad your family convinced her to seek treatment.

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She is taking the antibiotics for the infection, but still will not take the rabies shots.

The infection has nothing to do with the rabies shots, they are because her arm is swollen like a cooked hotdogs.

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Originally Posted by finsfurfeathers

Shouldn't have to worry about that cats and dogs as they have their rabbies vaccine right?

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Depends how long ago they had the shots, and if they are due for a booster shot. They get the shot every two years, but protection can really be verified with blood tests.

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Originally Posted by Snowwalker

Depends how long ago they had the shots, and if they are due for a booster shot. They get the shot every two years, but protection can really be verified with blood tests.

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Well,if she survives that decision,maybe,you should give her some money to by you some LottoMax tickets.

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Originally Posted by trimmer21

Well,if she survives that decision,maybe,you should give her some money to by you some LottoMax tickets.

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I am thinking she would used up any luck she had in this life time and maybe the next few to come.

To be that 1% person that survived a rabies infection, and then in about two years if she got infected again it's a new roll of the dice.

If you are sitting in emergency and the nurse and doctor tell you, that you should go and get rabies shots it's not advice to stay off your sprained ankle.

Well we will see how it goes.