Western Courier

Issue date: 4/15/05 Section: Opinion

Any time humans try to adjust the natural balance of animals in the wild, what they are really doing is playing God. Actually, they are fixing the mistakes they created. Humans domesticated cats with cross breeding and now the cats aren't co-existing with other wildlife. But don't worry. Wisconsin has the solution. Shoot the cats. Well, actually, the exact terminology is "hunting feral cats." And two other states - South Dakota and Minnesota - thought of it first and already have laws allowing it.

According to an article in the Wisconsin State Journal, the cat population apparently kills too many birds and small mammals. This in turn decreases the prey for other animals such as hawks, owls and coyotes, which leads to an ecological unbalance in rural areas.

It does seem sensible that humans should go back and fix the problems they created in the first place, but killing cats still seems extreme. The most efficient thing to do to reduce the numbers of the overpopulated animal is to shoot them. But efficiency shouldn't be the bottom line in this situation.

Cats are not born with the ability to exist in the wild. A cat knows dinner is ready not because it just killed it, but because it heard the can opener. Cats are domesticated, unlike deer, ducks and rabbits, so they simply don't have the instincts to avoid being hunted. There is no challenge in killing a cat. When people hunt deer they strategize and plan and wait because a deer can escape the hunters. Cats don't have the same advantages.

Also, it doesn't seem like there is going to be a rush to butcher shops around the country because of the demand for cat meat.

So the only reason for hunting cats is because their large numbers throw off the ecological balance. Killing them is not the only option available for lowering the size of the cat population.

Instead of killing cats, there should be a large-scale neutering/spaying campaign. And we don't just mean Bob Barker, we mean the entire state of Wisconsin and any other state that has an over populated cat population. We mean public service announcements, flyers and forums. Think of it as birth control for cats - by preventing the births we can prevent the deaths.

Page 1 of 1

Article Tools