Time for legislation regarding [I]Felis Catus[/I]

Felis Catus - The domestic cat

When are lawmakers going to try to ban them? Statistics say to me that we should, and I would even consider working for the legislation myself if I weren't positive that it would make it easier to ban snakes, as well.

http://www.motherjones.com/environme...nr-birds-feral

Seems legit, or AT LEAST people have to keep them in cages....people get more protective about their cats then their own childeren.:O

I don't think that there should be any legislation regarding what sorts of pets that you can have, aside from possibly calling for a licensing system for large carnivores, but cats are definitely the most destructive common pet that I can think of.
Don't get me wrong, I've had cats literally since birth, and I love them. However, the sheer number of critters that they kill and don't eat is incredible, and I'm hard pressed to think of a more successful predator. I can't really think of a solution to this, of course, but I look forward to reading the discussion this will spawn.

I saw where someone on yahoo answers had posted a question about poisoning cats. I think that at least a third of the replies were indirect threats against the poster's life. What the hell is wrong with people!?!? Also, they claim that killing cats is illegal in many posts. If I trap a cat on my property and kill it humanely is this actually illegal? I believe that I'll be looking into it once I get home.

I love PET cats that stay indoors and have had them most of my life. When I see a cat running around outside I want to kill it. Just my immediate response that arose from my time in combat zones surrounded by feral cats.

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Also, my suggestion to ban them was me being facetious, if for no other reason than it would never happen. I do support some form of pet legislation if it is solely to promote responsible ownership, and I feel the same way about guns. I would fully support mandatory classes before owning both pets and weapons, and also responsible keeping of both pets and firearms. What I would not support is the government telling people what types of pets and firearms they can own. That said, a civilian shouldn't be able to own an F22 Raptor with a GBU 38 strapped to the underside nor should someone be able to keep an elephant in their backyard.

I saw a special on the news regarding cats and how they are killers. A study was done where a lab strapped a bunch of cameras to owners' cats and recorded what they are doing on a daily basis. A lot of the owners were seriously disgusted and shocked by the amount of animals they killed. It doesnt surprise me as I have had a number of outdoor cats growing up and every other day we had some poor little creature laid to rest on our welcome mat outside the door...

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Originally Posted by gsarchie

F22 Raptor with a GBU 38

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Are you serious?! This is my daily commuter! ;)

My state(CA) has a terrible number of feral cat colonies and populations.
I grew up with cats and have no problems with people owning them. But I do think there needs to be such legislation that dictates mandatory spay/neuters for all pet-only(aka not intentional breeders) cats. And/or perhaps an indoor-cat only rule, which will actually benefit the cat as well. Cats who live outside have shorter life spans (average 3 years). Maybe this is extreme to some people, but drastic times call for drastic measures.
And in regards to ferals, I've participated in a few trap and release spay and neuter feral cat clinics. While it is helping, I don't think it's enough. Feral cats are a pest and should be regulated/eradicated just like any other invasive species.

Just my .02

I keep my cats in a rack system on newsprint

Cats kill way more prey than the burms down in FL. And they get to come back home for a treat afterwards.
With that said, I don't mind the alley cats because I find dead mice outside and not in my house.

So serious question - who would support talking to someone about going and trying to get legislation passed in regards to keeping cats indoors, where it be local, state or federal? It wouldn't have to incorporate a TNR doctrine or deal with feral populations at all, it would simply deal with responsible ownership of housecats.

I don't think I would ever make an effort to pass such a law but I wouldn't fight it.
I think way more time and energy needs to be put into stopping abuse and dog fighting. I hear about bait dogs being throw off bridges more than I should. We also have the new trend called "trunking" where you put 2 dogs in the trunk, turn up the bass, drive around for an hour. Who ever is left alive, wins.
If this can't be stopped. I don't see anyone slapping a fine on the little old lady who let's her cats out to roam the streets.

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Originally Posted by gsarchie

I saw where someone on yahoo answers had posted a question about poisoning cats. I think that at least a third of the replies were indirect threats against the poster's life. What the hell is wrong with people!?!? Also, they claim that killing cats is illegal in many posts. If I trap a cat on my property and kill it humanely is this actually illegal? I believe that I'll be looking into it once I get home.

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Depends on where you're at. Poisoning is considered inhumane/illegal here, but I don't recall there being anything against just outright shooting them.

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Originally Posted by satomi325

And/or perhaps an indoor-cat only rule, which will actually benefit the cat as well. Cats who live outside have shorter life spans (average 3 years). Maybe this is extreme to some people, but drastic times call for drastic measures.

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My outdoor cats would like to disagree. Squeak was an entirely outdoor cat that lived to be about 16 or 17 before needing to be euthanized due to health issues. Shawn was 10ish. Jules was about 13 when he was euthanized (we think; might have been older). Sable is about 8, Lichen is about 9, and Fraiser is a year or so old. An indoor only policy wouldn't work with cats that have been outdoors their entire life, nor would it work very well for cats that have been kicked out for behavior issues. Fraiser for example, started peeing outside the cat box/ in the ash bucket, and nothing could fix it. Brought him in some time later, and almost immediately, he started peeing everywhere.

Not to mention, I don't like the idea of having to rehome three cats, because there's already two indoor ones.

I don't know how I feel about this one. Outdoor cats have always been in my life, but mostly as pest control. Of course getting rid of rats and mice doesn't stop them from killing MANY other forms of wildlife... but mouse/rat traps and poison never seemed to fix the problem.

It's something I'd want to read more about and educate myself on. We don't have any cats as of right now (not on a farm anymore, or an urban house backed against a school dumpster). If I ever do get another it'll be something I consider more seriously though

I firmly agree that feral cats are a huge problem, there's TONS here in Phoenix. My mom has owned cats my entire life and I do understand that it can be hard to keep cats inside, some just WANT to be out and it's tricky to avoid having them run out from between your legs every time a door gets opened.

I personally feel that something that would make a HUGE difference would be if all states made it free to spay or neuter cats, this could be great for dogs too. Even better yet, for the first few years they could encourage people by awarding something (store credit to a pet supply store maybe???) for bringing a cat into get fixed. You know there'd be people going around rounding up cats by the droves to get fixed if they got something for it.

I know for a fact many of the unwanted cat births arise from people owning cats and not being able to afford to have them fixed. Cats are generally seen as a low cost, low-responsibility pet and are easy to come by, meaning a LOT of low-income individuals own them. It can be VERY difficult or impossible to find assistance with free or low cost sterilization. To me this is along the same lines as charging to properly dispose of hazardous waste, it's just plain stupid because all it does is encourage people to hide it in the regular trash and further ruin the environment. To fix a problem everything has to not be so much about money money money.

As to the already feral cat population, many will disagree with me, but I'm of the opinion that they should probably be exterminated by the state. I find it stupid that certain animals: cats, dogs, and horses mainly, have so much more protection than other species. Why can I own chickens, pigs, or cows and slaughter them for food but if I did the same with cats, dogs, or horses it's considered animal cruelty. It's a ridiculous double standard imo.

Where I am they have attempted 3 times to pass legislation on cats. The legislation basically would restrict cats to indoors unless you build a enclosed run (roofed over) The last time it was voted on only one vote separated it. They would also require tags with name and address of owner.

I would say that so far people opposed to legislation feel the way they do based off of their emotional attachment to cats/their cats and aren't considering the affect that they have on the environment. Let's get some more input on this, I am very curious to see how more people feel.

When I forst saw the cat proposal on the docket I thought there was no chance but not so it was and it has been every version placed forward, I expect to see it passed in the next year at least it seems very likely. I hope so where I live there is a huge feral cat population they are a massive issue.

I'd love to get the actual legislatiion that was proposed. Do you think that you could PM more info so that I can contact the folks that proposed the legislation?

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Originally Posted by gsarchie

I would say that so far people opposed to legislation feel the way they do based off of their emotional attachment to cats/their cats and aren't considering the affect that they have on the environment. Let's get some more input on this, I am very curious to see how more people feel.

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I know the impact it has on the environment, however, I also know that it's going to be close to impossible to enforce.