Utah politician is not feral friendly

If you open this thread, please take the time to sign the petition!

Here's the link to the petition to sign against this insane proposition: http://animals.change.org/petitions/..._feral_animals

That is absolutely absurd.. Is this the sixteenth century. Haven't they any compassion!! Who determines if the dog/cat are feral by just looking at them from around the corner!!!! This makes sick and . I am sure though that there are animal caretakers of ferals in Utah, arn't there, who will fight this. I will gladly sign this petition and will pass it on to everyone I can think of.

I'm quite sure Best Friends, Alley Cat Allies, and the HSUS - in addition to many local rescues - are all over this. There was a bill in FL, WI, and the latest was NJ, to enable hunting/shooting of feral cats. Now this is the first I've seen that clubbing them would be legal... and that people should use their own judgment and ANY animal that "appears to be feral" .... but I find it hard to believe that even the anti-free-roaming cat activists are going to get behind this one. This is just wrong, and Representative Oda needs to be told what an insane proposition this is!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I live in Utah and I didn't know about this until now! I immediately signed the petition AND I googled and found Rep Oda's cell phone # from this webpage - http://www.utah.gov/house/detail.html?i=ODAC and immediately called him to express my concerns.

OH MY GOSH. I was so disgusted at his reply. When he answered, I asked if this was Curtis Oda and when he replied affirmatively, I said I was very disappointed to see that he would suggest to allow killing of feral cats and dogs! He basically said well many people support me on this so do you have anything else to add?

I was speechless! I plan to compose an email with facts and statistics about TNR being more effective and humane and send it to him AND all other Utah representatives. I will post it here first to get feedback okay?

Pamela, here are some resources that may help you:

http://www.quadracats.com/important-tnr-statistics/

http://www.neighborhoodcats.org/uplo...ls_2nd_Day.pdf

...and if you want to be "armed" with information about the impact of cats on the environment (birding organizations are usually behind these types of proposals), this will be useful: http://www.straypetadvocacy.org/cat_predation.html

And though my letter to NJ was addressing the proposal that feral cats be reclassified as exotic animals and the basis of the concern was their impact on the environment, you may find some information in it helpful: http://www.straypetadvocacy.org/PDF/...andaLetter.pdf

And the TNR section of the Stray Pet Advocacy website: http://www.straypetadvocacy.org/non-lethal_control.html

And this site is not searchable, but it does a great job at debunking anti-cat "research": http://www.voxfelina.com

The bottom line is that the "inhumane" argument rarely works. It's the effectiveness of TNR and the NUMEROUS questions about their actual impact on the environment that appeal to policy-makers. That said, this proposal is particularly insane, giving people license to just kill an animal they think is feral!

Since Utah is the home of Best Friends, and Best Friends has many friends in high places, I imagine Representative Oda is in for some very interesting calls from people like Sharon Stone and a number of other celebrity supporters.

This is the link to the article on Best Friends Website.

http://blogs.bestfriends.org/index.p...ewing-in-utah/

I reported your post for you. But just FYI, you can report your own posts!

This "Representative" Oda is disgusting.

That's awful! How can clubbing, decapitating and shooting with a bow and arrow be considered humane? Unless it's an instant death, which is 99.99% unlikely, then there's no way he can say that's humane. I would never dream of killing a cat or dog on sight! I'd love to sign the petition but I live in Australia so I can't!
I can't imagine how many trigger-happy idiots will jump on the opportunity to maim beloved family pets or wild animals. Absurd.

I think that if they're going to pass that law, they should simultaneously pass another law that it's ok to shoot the Utah Politician if the shooter has significant and verifiable cause to believe he's a wanted criminal, crazy or breathing.

That's just sick. You really can't tell the difference between a feral cat and a house cat that slipped out. I actually think Mama looks in a lot better condition than Nuts, she is certainly plump(keep in mind these cats live outside so they need the insulation, they go back to being thin/normal body composition once the weather warms up,they naturally 'bulk up' for the winter, not to mention Mama is Maine Coon fluffy as well so that only makes her look even bigger)as well as all the others. If you put Nuts and Mama(or any of the others other than Runt since his fur is all matted) in front of me and asked who is feral and should be shot I would 100% choose Nuts. So I guess if I lived in Utah I would have to fear or the life of Nuts if he were to escape. Luckily no one here cares about the cats, they know they are here and see them regularly and let them go about their regularly scheduled outdoor feral existence. They aren't harming anyone, and that includes birds, I saw them playing with one dead bird all year last year and honestly it looked like a hawk killed it and not one of the cats, plus if it was a cat kill they would have ate it.(The birds are too smart for the cats, the cat's 'stalk' them for fun but have yet to ever catch one, both sides the cats and the birds recognize it as a game.) OK, they killed 2 moles and a garter snake, that was their big 'impact' one the environment, they killed 3 pests that were on our property.

Taryn

On February 25th, the Utah House of Representatives voted 44 to 28 in favor of HB 210, that amends the state’s animal cruelty laws.

http://www.deseretnews.com/article/7...tah-House.html

Critique of Oda's comments, information, and the discussion when debating the bill at Vox Felina: http://www.voxfelina.com/2011/03/a-house-deluded/

My stomach is flipping and turning, and my mind is racing after reading the discussion and debate on this bill. I am just mortified that this is going to be allowed. And now they are turning it into a cat issue and discussing the issue of predation and and TNR bashing. This is just crazy, and it really comes down to just giving someone license to kill or seriously injure (if they miss...) a cat and possibly someone's pet. . this is a sad day in Utah in my opinion and even worse for the "feral" and "non-feral" animals in Utah. There is no way possible that you can tell the difference between the two.... Alot of animals will suffer now. Very, very upsetting. thanks for updating us on this, Laurie