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Shooting Feral cats!!!

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    #32
    chrism2007
    Closed Accounts Posts: 371 ✭✭chrism2007


    Sleipnir wrote: »
    My point is they don't have any particular spots, they do it anywhere and everywhere. In the beds, on the lawn, concrete side entrance; everywhere. Should I apply it to the roof of my house too? My neighbour's bonnet?

    It's not an "it" it's a "they". There are loads of them because their owners don't neuter them. They breed and the owners don't care so what am I supposed to do? Just let them continue?

    You're talking to me like I'm an amateur at this. I know about "get off" and all the other ones. They can work, but only temporarily and only in a small area.

    Tell me how uncontrolled, breeding animals owned by others, which cause such a nuisance can be called anything other than a pest (not pet)?

    maybe you should get a dog?

    i personally hate them type of cats, but the dogs will keep them away


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    #33
    Sleipnir
    Registered Users Posts: 5,514 ✭✭✭Sleipnir


    chrism2007 wrote: »
    maybe you should get a dog?

    i personally hate them type of cats, but the dogs will keep them away

    I have thought about it but there's nobody in the house at all from 7 in the morning till around 5 in the evening. Not fair on the dog to be alone for all that time.
    I'd love one, but it wouldn't be fair on the dog.


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    #34
    chrism2007
    Closed Accounts Posts: 371 ✭✭chrism2007


    Sleipnir wrote: »
    I have thought about it but there's nobody in the house at all from 7 in the morning till around 5 in the evening. Not fair on the dog to be alone for all that time.
    I'd love one, but it wouldn't be fair on the dog.

    would it be cruel to get get two dogs and they will keep each other entertained? im no dog expert so i dont know the answer to that :confused:


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    #35
    Sleipnir
    Registered Users Posts: 5,514 ✭✭✭Sleipnir


    chrism2007 wrote: »
    would it be cruel to get get two dogs and they will keep each other entertained? im no dog expert so i dont know the answer to that :confused:

    Yeah I thought about that too but after speaking to a few people about it, I think you just end up with two bored dogs instead of one.

    One of my neighbours who volunteers with dogs offered to walk my dog every day if I got one but what if she moves away or something?
    Just don't think it's an option right now.

    Thanks for the suggestion though. I consider all suggestions to ridding my garden of cat ****!


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    #36
    boomerang
    Registered Users Posts: 3,189 ✭✭✭boomerang


    Hellrazer wrote: »
    Im totally in agreement with farmers killing vermin to protect their lifestyle.


    How does shooting feral cats protect farmers' lifestyles?

    If anything, farmers exacerbate the feral cat problem by not neutering their farmyard cats.


    And I'm from the country by the way, and I don't think all the animals here live peacefully together like a bunch of extras from Sylvinian Families! :D

    I take your point Hellrazer, but there are some on the H&S forum that like to kill just for the hell of it and have no compassion. Proving your point that nature can be cruel. :rolleyes:

    I would raise the point that by killing feral cats, you're just creating a territorial vaccum that more feral cats will invade and fill - it doesn't solve the problem. But then there are some on the H&S forum that would welcome the opportunity to practice their sharpshooting skills on even more feral cats.

    There is a place for hunting and shooting in this world and a lot of people enjoy it immensely. I just wish more gunmen would be honest about why they enjoy the sport, rather than trying to justify what they do on the basis of vermin control. One person's vermin is another person's pet.

    I've put time, money and endured a lot of bad scratches to TNR feral cats and to think someone would get a kick out of shooting those same cats - who are healthy, don't roam and are well fed - makes my blood run cold.


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    #37
    Hellrazer
    Moderators, Arts Moderators, Recreation & Hobbies Moderators Posts: 10,622 Mod ✭✭✭✭Hellrazer


    boomerang wrote: »
    How does shooting feral cats protect farmers' lifestyles?

    If anything, farmers exacerbate the feral cat problem by not neutering their farmyard cats.


    And I'm from the country by the way, and I don't think all the animals here live peacefully together like a bunch of extras from Sylvinian Families! :D

    I take your point Hellrazer, but there are some on the H&S forum that like to kill just for the hell of it and have no compassion. Proving your point that nature can be cruel. :rolleyes:

    I would raise the point that by killing feral cats, you're just creating a territorial vaccum that more feral cats will invade and fill - it doesn't solve the problem. But then there are some on the H&S forum that would welcome the opportunity to practice their sharpshooting skills on even more feral cats.

    There is a place for hunting and shooting in this world and a lot of people enjoy it immensely. I just wish more gunmen would be honest about why they enjoy the sport, rather than trying to justify what they do on the basis of vermin control. One person's vermin is another person's pet.

    I've put time, money and endured a lot of bad scratches to TNR feral cats and to think someone would get a kick out of shooting those same cats - who are healthy, don't roam and are well fed - makes my blood run cold.

    Ok the point I was trying to make is that Farmers loose livestock to "insert name of vermin here" whether thats a cat/fox/dog/lion/burmese python.
    Surely its within their rights to lets say "remove" that vermin by whatever means necessary.Obviously TnR is my preferred choice but theres no denying that farmers use the gun as a preferred method and in my opinion is quick and humane unless theyre a crap shot and the animal suffers.
    Im as anti hunting(for sport) as the rest of the do gooders here but Im not anti shooting/hunting for vermin removal or if the kill is going on the table.

    I also dont think
    One person's vermin is another person's pet.
    You ever tried to pet a feral cat---I still have scars from trying to rescue one years back.


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    #38
    boomerang
    Registered Users Posts: 3,189 ✭✭✭boomerang


    Sorry if I wasn't clear HR, the point I was making there is that some of the guys over on H&S would shoot a cat on sight, assuming it's feral... How many cats actually wear a collar and tag? Feral cats are very wary; if there's a cat idly sauntering along your back garden wall, it's most likely tame and belongs to someone.


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    #39
    boomerang
    Registered Users Posts: 3,189 ✭✭✭boomerang


    Hellrazer wrote: »
    Ok the point I was trying to make is that Farmers loose livestock to "insert name of vermin here" whether thats a cat/fox/dog/lion/burmese python.
    Surely its within their rights to lets say "remove" that vermin by whatever means necessary.Obviously TnR is my preferred choice but theres no denying that farmers use the gun as a preferred method and in my opinion is quick and humane unless theyre a crap shot and the animal suffers.

    Ah, I get what you're saying now. Yes, as far as I know, they are within their rights to protect their livestock from pests - be it a dog/fox/mink or whatever.

    I would agree with you HR, but not "by any means necessary" - ideally, it should be humane. But I'm sure you'd agree with me on that one anyways.


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    #40
    tom123456
    Closed Accounts Posts: 6 ✭tom123456


    What about electric fencing. If they get some shocks it will frighten them and deter them and it's used as a form of control for a lot of other animals. Or cage traps. when you've caught them you can get onto local council about getting rid of them.

    Crows, magpies and pidgeon's are shot when they become a nuisance also.


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    #41
    Jesus1222
    Closed Accounts Posts: 301 ✭✭Jesus1222


    I have no problem with farmers and so on looking after their business properly. Targetting pests and so on, but what really gets to me is the sadistic enjoyment alot of these scumbags get from slaughtering defenceless animals. The mindlessness of it.


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    #42
    Amalgam
    Registered Users Posts: 6,026 ✭✭✭Amalgam


    When I lived in Dublin people would get.. 'involved' in feeding groups of cats, a local would put out catering tin foil trays, full of mince, kittens and adults would come out of every nook and cranny to feed, in a swarm, literally. The ability of feral cats to breed is.. surprising, any time of year too.

    As much as I like animals, I would class the animals feeding as vermin, and the person feeding them contributing directly to a serious problem for many people. There's a point at which you have to remove the kitten goggles and be practical.


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    #43
    boomerang
    Registered Users Posts: 3,189 ✭✭✭boomerang


    A practical solution would be to have the colony neutered and tested for FIV/FeLV. Virus-free cats returned to site where the caretaker will continue to feed them. Thus you have a healthy, stable, monitored population which will ward off other feral cats coming in to the area.

    Looking at the bigger picture, a practical solution would be low-cost neutering coupled with a lot of publicity to highlight the campaign.

    Feral cats are the same as pet cats in every way, except that they have not been socialised with people. Every feral cat is the descendent of someone's un-neutered pet cat. If more Irish people caught on to the idea of neutering their pet cats, we wouldn't have such a grave problem with feral cats.

    But all of the above requires someone with a big budget, a big imagination and big commitment - and therefore it's unlikely to happen.

    If we had a similar problem with feral dogs, people would be up in arms. But cats are invisible and people either like them or loathe them. They don't garner a lot of sympathy. Personally I love cats and I have the utmost compassion for feral cats. They're a human problem - it's not their fault. And from a purely practical point of view, shooting the odd feral cat solves nothing.


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    #44
    Our man in Havana
    Closed Accounts Posts: 29,476 ✭✭✭✭Our man in Havana


    But all of the above requires someone with a big budget, a big imagination and big commitment - and therefore it's unlikely to happen.
    Also I would hardly expect a farmer to do it and if his land is being over run with feral cats he has every right to shoot them.


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    #45
    boomerang
    Registered Users Posts: 3,189 ✭✭✭boomerang


    No, I'm not talking about a farmer or any other individual taking on such a project - I'm taking nationwide and it's a job for one of the animal welfare organisations. In the UK the animal welfare groups including Dogs Trust have had an enormous success in promoting responsible spay/neuter of companion animals over the last few decades, with the result that the UK has the highest rate of neutered dogs in the world! (Over ninety per cent.)

    For cats, we would only need a spay/neuter rate of 80% to maintain a stable population and reduce the feral cat population over time.


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    #46
    boomerang
    Registered Users Posts: 3,189 ✭✭✭boomerang


    Bond-007 wrote: »
    Also I would hardly expect a farmer to do it and if his land is being over run with feral cats he has every right to shoot them.

    In my experience, farmers actively allow their cats to breed because they want a large cat population in the yard to stamp out rats and mice. We get calls all the time from farmers looking for barnyard/feral cats but they end the conversation when we tell them they're neutered.

    I therefore have little sympathy for farmers complaining about feral cats and wanting to take potshots at them.


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    #47
    bunny shooter
    Closed Accounts Posts: 6,096 ✭✭✭bunny shooter


    Them cats are not all furry and innocent I tell ya ...........

    catwithgun.jpg

    cat-shooting.jpg

    :)


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    #48
    boomerang
    Registered Users Posts: 3,189 ✭✭✭boomerang


    :D


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    #49
    cloudy day
    Closed Accounts Posts: 312 ✭✭cloudy day


    bunny shooter wrote: »
    Them cats are not all furry and innocent I tell ya ...........

    catwithgun.jpg

    cat-shooting.jpg

    :)

    :D:D:D


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    #50
    PCros
    Registered Users Posts: 2,072 ✭✭✭PCros


    ^^LOL a warning to anyone in the hunting forum that might take aim at a cat!!:D

    You shot my ear off!
    angry%2Bcat.jpg


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    #51
    bunny shooter
    Closed Accounts Posts: 6,096 ✭✭✭bunny shooter


    I am a shooter (name might be a bit of a give-away :)) I have frequently met cats while out shooting and don't/wouldn't shoot them unless they are diseased looking, which tbh they never are.

    My father has a cat and over the years she has brought home woodcock, young rabbits, full grown rabbits and has killed more than her share of songbirds in the yard too. But she has also killed her share of mice in my fathers sheds and the odd rat too. Some people put a collar with a bell on it to stop them sneaking up on prey.

    Cats don't need humans to survive and generally only tolerate us as it suits them. They do untold damage to wildlife despite a lot of them being fed at home. Even the local fox would think twice before tackling them I reckon so therefore, they have no natural predators, which is not a good thing.


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    #52
    sorella
    Closed Accounts Posts: 923 ✭✭✭sorella


    Some wild generalisations there. Badgers attack cats; we lost one last year in that way, after a few initial attacks.
    bunny shooter wrote: »
    I am a shooter (name might be a bit of a give-away :)) I have frequently met cats while out shooting and don't/wouldn't shoot them unless they are diseased looking, which tbh they never are.

    My father has a cat and over the years she has brought home woodcock, young rabbits, full grown rabbits and has killed more than her share of songbirds in the yard too. But she has also killed her share of mice in my fathers sheds and the odd rat too. Some people put a collar with a bell on it to stop them sneaking up on prey.

    Cats don't need humans to survive and generally only tolerate us as it suits them. They do untold damage to wildlife despite a lot of them being fed at home. Even the local fox would think twice before tackling them I reckon so therefore, they have no natural predators, which is not a good thing.


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    #53
    boomerang
    Registered Users Posts: 3,189 ✭✭✭boomerang


    bunny shooter wrote: »

    Cats don't need humans to survive

    I would always have agreed with you bunny shooter until I got into rescuing cats. I agree that they don't need humans to survive, but they do need humans to allieviate suffering. I've brought stray cats to the vet that had to be euthanised because they were so ill and in so much pain. One had advance FeLV and was riddled with tumours. It was nothing but a skeleton. Another had a collar on and was clearly lost - but he had advanced liver-failure and had fallen away to nothing. Another one had the lower half of its front leg amputated in a snare and was close to death's door with gangrene. Last week I rescued a feral cat that got its head stuck in an empty whiskas tin can and was slowly smothering. (Got it off with an old fashioned tin-opener, brought him to the vet, had him neutered and released him back in the same spot.)

    Cats are able to hunt and scavenge for food enough to survive, but when they have a health problem and there is no one for them to step in and help, they suffer terribly. That upsets me greatly.

    Tbh, I would rather see a diseased feral cat humanely dispatched with an accurate shot from a rifle than for it to die a slow and agonising death from disease.


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    #54
    My name is URL
    Registered Users Posts: 25,068 ✭✭✭✭My name is URL


    I was attacked by a feral cat once, it jumped me while I was retrieving a ball from the hedge in my garden.

    The thing stank to high hell and had half an ear missing...

    It latched onto my leg with it's claws and bit me fairly badly, (or brilliantly from it's pov lol)

    I had to have a tetanus injection and 4 stitches afterwards, was not nice.

    If I had of had a gun at the time I defo would have shot it, in fact it's lucky it escaped after the attack because I fully intended to kill it

    My point is that it is not an urban legend that these animals pose a threat, to other animals and to humans.

    Though I can't stand people that let on that they'd only shoot ferals, because I know some shooters that would gladly set thier aim on any cat... that's cruel and it doesn't make you a tough guy, it makes you a tosser

    That last part wasn't directed at anyone btw =)


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    #55
    bunny shooter
    Closed Accounts Posts: 6,096 ✭✭✭bunny shooter


    sorella wrote: »
    Some wild generalisations there. Badgers attack cats; we lost one last year in that way, after a few initial attacks.

    Please explain what you mean by these "wild generalisations" :eek:

    As for the badger attack I reckon the cat instigated that and got more than it bargained for ;) which serves it right :)


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    #56
    bunny shooter
    Closed Accounts Posts: 6,096 ✭✭✭bunny shooter


    boomerang wrote: »
    I would always have agreed with you bunny shooter until I got into rescuing cats. I agree that they don't need humans to survive, but they do need humans to allieviate suffering. I've brought stray cats to the vet that had to be euthanised because they were so ill and in so much pain. One had advance FeLV and was riddled with tumours. It was nothing but a skeleton. Another had a collar on and was clearly lost - but he had advanced liver-failure and had fallen away to nothing. Another one had the lower half of its front leg amputated in a snare and was close to death's door with gangrene. Last week I rescued a feral cat that got its head stuck in an empty whiskas tin can and was slowly smothering. (Got it off with an old fashioned tin-opener, brought him to the vet, had him neutered and released him back in the same spot.)

    Cats are able to hunt and scavenge for food enough to survive, but when they have a health problem and there is no one for them to step in and help, they suffer terribly. That upsets me greatly.

    Tbh, I would rather see a diseased feral cat humanely dispatched with an accurate shot from a rifle than for it to die a slow and agonising death from disease.

    I take your point and will not disagree with you. Cats from what I've seen very rarley die at home. They always seem to go away to die. As for the distress you have found them in all wildlife suffers like this it's called nature and as an old man once said to "in nature there is nothing so cruel as nature itself" and I reckon he was right. Survival of the fittest and even then not for long :(

    As I stated earlier I will only shoot one obviously in distress and my rifle or shotgun is/would be a very humane death for them too ;)


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    #57
    fish slapped
    Registered Users Posts: 1,793 ✭✭✭fish slapped


    tom123456 wrote: »
    What about electric fencing. If they get some shocks it will frighten them and deter them and it's used as a form of control for a lot of other animals.

    :D:D:D :rolleyes: you are joking aren't you ??

    OK an electric fence for a cat 12" tall and that can jump about , what 12 foot!!

    So is that an electric wall 15 feet high around each farm with livestock??:rolleyes::rolleyes:

    FS


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    #58
    Sparks
    Registered Users Posts: 40,038 ✭✭✭✭Sparks


    boomerang wrote: »
    Tbh, I would rather see a diseased feral cat humanely dispatched with an accurate shot from a rifle than for it to die a slow and agonising death from disease.
    Just to expand on that and on Vegeta's earlier post with a single point - all the people posting on this topic over in Hunting are talking about using rather large-caliber rifles. The cat isn't going to be injured and left to die in an agonising, drawn-out manner (speaking as a long-time cat owner, who's spent silly amounts of money and time on the health and well-being of his pet cats over the years, I'd rather that than the "natural" deaths some of my pets have suffered at the paws/teeth of dogs, badgers, other cats and even cat diseases). The odds are high that the cat in question will never even know what hit it. We have had posters asking about less humane methods of dispatch before - they have not been entertained, in fact they've been banned for it.

    We do actually realise that folks in here won't appreciate the topics covered in Hunting; that's why we don't require folks in here to read stuff in there, and generally recommend that they give it a wide berth.


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    #59
    BrianD3
    Registered Users Posts: 8,325 ✭✭✭BrianD3


    Shooting feral cats has been discussed on a few occasions. Anyone remember this older thread from the hunting forum
    http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2054971546

    Feral cat is shot three times with a shotgun, the poster comes on boards asking what ammo to use on feral cats. Might have been an idea to ask that before shooting at one?

    One thing that bothers me about these threads is the casual and ignorant attitude to differentiating between ferals and escaped pets. "ah if it doesn't have a collar its probably a feral, shoot on sight!". Also the "humorous" comments eg the one from guy who joked about running cats over with his Ford Focus.

    That doesn't take away from the fact that far too many cat "owners" have a casual attitude to neutering and letting their cats roam free.


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    #60
    Sparks
    Registered Users Posts: 40,038 ✭✭✭✭Sparks


    BrianD3 wrote: »
    Shooting feral cats has been discussed on a few occasions. Anyone remember this older thread from the hunting forum
    http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2054971546
    Or this one from this forum?
    http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2054972171

    With such well-reasoned responses as
    I hope somday Mr Barretta gets turned on him
    and
    If I had my way Id set all you hunters off running in a field and gun you lot down with a few farmers thrown in for the "sport"
    Would be better than shooting innocent animals.

    'Twould be nice if we didn't go down that road this time.


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    #61
    My name is URL
    Registered Users Posts: 25,068 ✭✭✭✭My name is URL


    Sparks wrote: »
    Or this one from this forum?
    http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2054972171

    With such well-reasoned responses as and

    'Twould be nice if we didn't go down that road this time.

    There's an element of extremism on both sides tbh.

    Middle ground is rare these days

    Anyone that wishes or hopes that an animal is killed is way OTT... fair enough if it has to be done but taking enjoyment from it is awful imo


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