Hunting outdoor cats, yes or no?

I admit I was too p*ssed off to open the link within the story, but what defines an "outdoor cat"? Literally ANY cat that is outdoors, whether collared, tagged or ???

The slippery slope here is obvious. It is going to open up the door to hunting the hunters of outdoor cats. In a perfect world, anyway.

French hunters shoot cats if htey see them. They hate them as they say they kill the birds and rabbits they want to shoot! I keep all my cats double locked up at weekends in the hunting season from October to MArch.

Are you serious? I have this inexplicable love affair with all things French, and it seems lately all I've read are negative things...the World Cup debacle, a homosexual soccer player recently being refused registration, and now this! Bah!

I am from Kentucky and my uncle hates cats too he says they kill birds and rabbits too which his dog does that but he blames it on a feral cat he found her kittens and luckily she moved them because he was going to kill them. I can't stand the way he does I would not want a law like this here cause he would take that as an okay to go after the neighbors cats.

Some people who hunt, just like to kill Cats have always been easy targets as are tiny "yappy" dogs. Why on earth anyone could consider a sign of manhood is beyond me. If those guys are so brave, then they should volunteer to take someone else's place in Afghanistan

The NJ Fish & Game Council passed a resolution against free-roaming cats a number of years ago. No one really noticed it until the council started talking about changing the status of feral cats to "exotics" - then all heck broke loose. The Fish & Game council is under the NJ Dept of Fish & Wildlife, and Administrators there - at the time - weren't aware of the discussions. This is something that is not going to happen. Further, it is in contravention to a 2004 task force that was pro-TNR. NJ Animal control is under the Health Dept., and so basically it's a political tug-of-war.

If you want to read more about it, I posted a thread asking people to sign the petition back in April in this thread: http://www.thecatsite.com/forums/sho...d.php?t=214452

I wrote a letter (like 15 pages of research) that we sent to about 50 members of various departments in NJ government. I also e-mailed it to as many (appropriate) people's e-mail addresses I could find in Fish & Game, Dept of Fish & Wildlife, Dept. of Health, the Governor's Office & etc. I received non-descript replies from most, but a reply from one of the F&G higher-ups that was in attendance at a number of the council meetings. This is the important part of the response: "Both the Committee and the Council have stated that there is absolutely no consideration being given to allow hunting of feral cats." (The reply was in August, I sent the e-mail in April, but the reply did come with an apology for taking so long).

Ugh, New Jersey, why!? I am so proud to say I was born and raised in the state, but this makes me livid and sad My kitties I had when I lived there were indoor/outdoor, as were many neighbors kitties because we lived in a low traffic area. Horrible horrible idea, supporters of this, horrible.

Yeah, well, it turns out that the person who pushed the idea (for the Resolution Against Free Roaming Cats) in the first place (The "W" guy mentioned in the article) is married to a family that owns a kill shelter with a town animal control contract (the "B" family mentioned in the article - the animal control officer's family owns the facility), and he (The "W" guy) owns the property that is leased by the facility.... Fortunately a reporter dug up this information. Sadly, there's been no further news, so I don't know if he was asked to step down from the F&G Council or at least to recuse himself of any further participation on this particular subject. Of course I included the State Ethics committee members in my list of recipients.

If anyone wants to read the letter Gary and I wrote, it's here (PDF file): http://www.straypetadvocacy.org/PDF/...andaLetter.pdf

Sorry - it's 17 pages.

I cant beleive that any normal society would condone this sort of thing, what sort of person would go out of thier way to shoot a cat, let alone knowing that it may be someones loved pet.

I also have to stand up for some of the hunters in France, I know a few and the ones I know would never think of shooting a cat, yes there are some but they are not all like that. Just to let you guys know I do hate hunting so I wouldnt normally stand up for them.

Of course not all hunters would shoot cats, but some do, and I have friends who have lost their cats to the hunt. Towards the end of September I always get phone calls from French friends reminding me to keep my cats in - as if I would forget!

This surpasses comprehension. Please sign a petition against it here:

http://www.theanimalrescuesite.com/c...aign=FeralCats

I signed it!

If people haven't already signed the petition, please do so!

And Carol....

But this is actually an issue from earlier this year. I started a thread in April in the Ferals forum: http://www.thecatsite.com/forums/sho...d.php?t=214452

And recently someone started a thread in the Lounge, that for some reason got moved to IMO. ????? Not sure why that thread wasn't merged with the thread in the ferals forum as long as it was being moved, but here's a link to the IMO thread about it: http://www.thecatsite.com/forums/sho...d.php?t=220873

I will reiterate what I wrote in the thread that's now in IMO.

I wrote a letter (like 15 pages of research) that we sent to about 50 members of various departments in NJ government. I also e-mailed it to as many (appropriate) people's e-mail addresses I could find in Fish & Game, Dept of Fish & Wildlife, Dept. of Health, the Governor's Office & etc.

I received non-descript replies from most, but did get a detailed reply from one of the F&G higher-ups that was in attendance at a number of the council meetings. This is the important part of the response: "Both the Committee and the Council have stated that there is absolutely no consideration being given to allow hunting of feral cats." (The reply was in August, I sent the e-mail in April, but the reply did come with an apology for taking so long).

If anyone wants to read the lengthy research letter Gary and I wrote, it's here (PDF file): http://www.straypetadvocacy.org/PDF/...andaLetter.pdf

I signed it but for some reason my comments did not show up. I told him a thing or two, what an absolute idiot to kill innocent animals. I told him if he did this that he was an inhuman person and will get his comeuppance eventually. I hate this man for even thinking of doing this.

People are absolutely despicable!!! Don't they have anything better to do than this?? My God!!! I'm sending this link to ALL my friends to sign the petition. This is BULL. Let's shoot and kill all these innocent animals; we don't have enough rapists, murderers, and child molesters to hunt down!!! My God, feral cats are such a threat to our safety and well being in our country!!! These people should turn their guns on themselves and eliminate the real problem

I couldn't find mine at first either, but it finally showed up. They're probably screened for obcenities before posting.

This was a response I ran across on another site. So the Council cannot eradicate feral cats through hunting - but if a change in the status of feral cats occurs it could still effectively end the efficiently run and highly successful Trap/Neuter/Spay and Return programs in the state.


Thank you for your concern about feral cats.

Neither the Fish and Game Council (Council) or the Endangered and Nongame Species Advisory Committee (ENSAC) is proposing anything allowing the hunting or trapping feral cats.

The Council and ENSAC have passed a joint resolution acknowledging the detrimental impact of free-roaming cats on wildlife. Recent studies have indicated that feral cats prey on over 1 billion wildlife each year. The resolution strongly states that TNR (Trap-Neuter-Return) is not an effective means of reducing the feral cat populations and thus not an effective means of addressing the impacts of cats on wildlife.

The Council and ENSAC also state that feral cats should be treated as dangerous exotic animals. The Fish and Game Council is considering formally “listing” feral cats as “dangerous exotic” animals under a statute that gives them the responsibility and authority to do so. If this were to happen it would allow the Division of Fish and Wildlife (DFW) to regulate the release of feral cats without a permit. This would give the DFW some leverage in addressing the proliferation of TNR.

Again, there is no proposal to open a season or allow hunting or trapping of feral cats. PT

Paul Tarlowe, Wildlife Education Specialist
NJFishandWildlife@dep.state.nj.us
The N.J. Division of Fish and Wildlife is a professional, environmental agency dedicated to the protection, management and wise use of the state’s fish and wildlife resources.

Just FYI, The Humane Society, Alley Cat Allies, and the Animal Protection League of NJ are working very closely with the NJ EPA and Dept of Fish & Wildlife on this issue. It is HIGHLY unlikely the feral cat would be reclassified, there just isn't (real) science to support the claims made by the Fish & Game council. There is propoganda, and there are studies that are flawed and inappropriate to this environment.

In the meantime, the Deptartment of Health & Human Services is responsible for Animal Control, and NJ has laws in place that make it neither legal nor illegal for towns to formally adopt TNR, and many have. A 2004 task force report to the Governor supports TNR. What is in contention is a Bill supporting another task force to conduct an environmental impact study, which, if it concluded there was little impact of cats on native wildlife under proper colony management conditions, would then lead to a Bill supporting Statewide TNR programs as a formal method of animal control.

In this economic environment where most state services are being cut back, this current Bill, stuck in committee, will likely stay stuck there for years to come.

Signed .........................................