“The greatness of a nation,

And its moral progress,

Can be judged by the way its animals are treated.”

Gandhi

There was a time on this planet

When humans respected all life forms

But our modern world has gone mad

Now destroying everything is ‘the norm’

Timber wolves will no longer be considered endangered

Numerous migratory birds are losing their treaty protection

Western wild mustangs will be sent to slaughterhouses

And the feline is now mankind’s latest target selection

A proposal has been drafted in the state of Wisconsin

To allow anyone to shoot a cat seen outdoors on sight

And I believe this gross lack of stewardship and compassion

Should fill all of our human souls with repulsion and fright

If this proposal passes in the state of Wisconsin

It may soon spread across these United States

And who knows if your dog or pet hamster will be next

Is there a genetic flaw that fills mankind with such hate?

The following animals are presently designated as ‘unprotected’ in the state of Wisconsin. No closed season, bag limit, size limit, or possession limit applies to these animals:

• Opossums, skunks, and weasels
• Starlings, English sparrows, quails, and partridges
• Any other wild animal that is not a Game Animal, Game Bird,
  Game Fish, Fur-bearing Animal, Protected Wild Animal,
  or Endangered or Threatened Species.

If this feline hunting proposal passes, free-roaming domestic cats will be added to this list and designated as ‘unprotected,’ and it will become legal to hunt them year round in Wisconsin, with absolutely no limit.

The bizarre justification for allowing the hunting of cats is this:

Free roaming feral domestic cats are not considered a native species in Wisconsin. The above mentioned cats do, however, kill native species reducing native species populations.

What is also extremely troubling is that feral, free-roaming cats will be defined as:

Any domestic type cat which is not under the owner's direct control, or whose owner has not placed a collar on such cat showing it to be their property.

This means that any cat that is outdoors - unattended, with no collar - could be hunted – even on your front lawn, with your small child or your pet dog in close proximity.

If this scenario does not frighten you, I don’t know what will.

If you live in Wisconsin, I urge you to get involved in stopping this proposed feline hunting madness.  State Hearings on this issue will be held on April 11^th.

If you live anywhere else in the United States, I urge you to contact your legislators protesting the loss of protection for migratory birds, wolves, and wild mustangs, and demanding that feline hunting never be allowed in your home state, even if it becomes legal in Wisconsin.

The life you save may be your own pet cat, or God forbid, someone’s innocent child who happens to wander in front of the cross hairs of some hate-filled cat hunter’s rifle or hand gun in your own neighborhood.

The true humane solution to this country’s millions of free-roaming urban and rural feral cats is two-fold, and it does not involve shooting them at will:

-        Requiring cat owners to spay or neuter their pets

-        Initiating Trap, Neuter, Release (TNR) procedures across America to live-trap feral cats, have them spayed or neutered, and then released back into the wild

Killing them only causes colonies of existing un-neutered cats to expand in size to take up the territory of those that have been eliminated.

In 7 years, one free-roaming un-spayed feline and her offspring can produce 420,000 cats.

Imagine your own community turning into Dodge City, where legal cat hunters roam the streets, back alleys, country lanes, parks, school yards, and picnic areas, shooting them down at will.

I’ve been involved in feral feline TNR procedures for years, and as someone who’s been in the field utilizing it, I know it works; and it is far safer for all of us, and far more humane than this proposed mass slaughter ever could be.

“If you have men who exclude any of God’s creatures

From the shelter of their compassion and pity,

You have men who will deal likewise with their fellow men.”

St. Francis of Assisi