Is it illegal to shoot feral cats?
Monday, March 1st, 2010 at
11:09 pm
My son and his friends learn in school that feral cats are causing our native birds to become extinct. They have decided to start hunting the feral cats in the wood area near our home where there a lot of them. Animal control has been asked to trap these animals but refuse to. Can my son get in trouble for doing this to save the native birds?
Filed under: Cat Behavior
Like this post? Subscribe to my RSS feed and get loads more!
Discharging a firearm in city limits? Yeah, that’s a no no. Depending on your state laws, that could buy your son some time.
Isn’t it illegal to hunt and shoot people?
You know, humans have caused numerous species extinctions…
Hope this answers your question.
And when they accidentally shoot each other or someone else……??
i dont think so
it depends on your state & county laws
if you live in the country area
its probably legal
personally opinion:
if you shoot cats your jus bein a lil B!TC*
jus catch em your self and admit them to
a shelter, if your so worried about the birds
No feral cat is going to affect any population of native bird(s) unless you are in a very isolated place where even just one loss can have diverse affects on the eco system.
Birds have wings, so if the threat to life gets to bad, they just fly away and carry on with life there.
I am an avid birder, and I used to struggle with the same situation you are in. I finally decided to let life be life, and well, the birds have learned how to not become cat food when they are eating at my feeders. The ones that do, well, they will no longer be able to pass alone the gene that says cats are ok to eat around.. LOL
As far as letting your son shoot cats… I can preach about how bad it is to just kill for "a so called reason" but that would get neither of us anywhere.
If you and your son really what to help the native birds thrive, then put out feeders for them, supply nesting boxes for them, and even build a habitat for them that is safe for them against cat attacks. Put feeders up high enough that cats can not leap up and grab the birds. Never put seed on the ground. Put feeders near trees and shrubs so the birds have a quick place to go if threatened.
Humans, birds of prey, snakes and sickness kill more birds than cats can ever think about; its just that feral cats always get the bad rap.
Ok, to answer your question, unless you get complaints from your neighbors or some group that you happen to tell this to, then the law will just turn a blind eye because you are doing them a favor as well.
You should NEVER shoot cats!!!
you certainly bringing your children up ia a way that is appropriate, lets go kill animals what next i don’t like the neighbours it has been proven that all these nutters you know the ones child killers rapests etc started of hurting animals, and your encourageing this think about,
I like how schools are selective about the info they give. Cats are NOT the #1 killer of birds–human pesticides and deforestation are the #1 cause of native birds dying off. Those nice little ‘lawn treatments’ kill all ground feeding birds that come into contact with it.
It’s illegal to shoot feral cats, not only is it animal abuse (and can get you jail time) there’s no way to know if these are owned cats of your neighbors, or farm cats, strays or true ferals. Every city has a TNR program, if you really want to help, sign up with the TNR and do a spay/neuter to reduce kittens from being born. Our shelter does it for free in Milwaukee, they have a TNR program for the entire city.
Any bird that is healthy is alert, and cats can’t catch them. Slow ones are often sick, and those can and are caught by raccoons, cats and foxes. I would highly encourage you to stop your son’s tendency to want to kill animals he does not own. Firing a gun inside city limits has it’s own ‘rewards’, your police will definately let you know about that after you bail him out of jail.
I have a feeding station for our strays in this area, they eat when they can’t find food on their own, and are healthy. I also have two bird feeders and no, we don’t have feathers under it from cats grabbing them. I do see some try to stalk, but the birds are completely aware of the cats and are not fooled. We do not have a mouse or rat population, thanks to the cats, but they won’t touch the squirrels. Our songbirds are just fine.
We had a severe problem with people dumping cats in our area. We contacted our county board of supervisors and work with them to address this issue. We first placed web cams in area where the dumping took place and started to go after the violators. Then we setup traps and humanely put down the cats we could capture. We also establish controlled dusk hunting teams where we used .22 rifles. Before we put started these initiatives, we had a massive communication effort with the community and handed out fliers. It has been very successful and it is wonderful to see the beautiful birds coming back. Do not let the short sited, so-called animal lovers stop you from doing the only true humane thing. Good luck.
definitely – leave it up to animal control or there could be animal cruelty charges.
shooting wolves to increase deer population is stupid since human kill more deer than wolves…
But DONT LET YOUR KID SHOOT ANIMALS, EVEN IF HE IS A TEENAGER, you realize people stick with habits from childhood, good and bad ones. Even if they know its wrong, this can be a gateway to shooting people pets, and unliscensed hunting(aka POACHING)
People keep your guns away from your children!
Edit: Just dont let your kid shoot animals….