Thread: Disposing of feral cats

Originally Posted by goingbush

posted in another thread, but none the less appropriate




No doubt there are 18 million ferals, just a pity you never see them squished on the road like our poor roos, emus & lizards . At least you do see the odd occaisonal feral pig roadkill.

killing cats one at a time is fine by me,

This is why I hate them, as far as I'm concerned if they're not inside someone's home then they're fair game. Why is it the do gooders can show compassion to these things but do not seem at all concerned for the destruction to our native animals? Anyone who owns one of these things should only be able to own them on the proviso that they are kept indoors at all times.

Exactly. it's not just the ferals.

We have two domestic cats owned by someone in our street that wander past our block into the bush behind to hunt.

I've just got a good pic of one and am going to print it with a snotty letter and do a letterbox drop to all houses in the street.

As for the ferals, I recall disturbing a mum and three kittens in a termite mound in the remote NT. Mum ran off. The three kittens won't be killing any wildlife anymore.

This will always be a hugely emotive subject, whilst cat lovers are blinded by their love for their pets to the massive damage that even a single cat can do to it's local environment, saying things like "Oh little Flossie wouldn't do such a thing" as if they can see inside their cat's mind.....

They refuse to get their cat desexed "because it's cruel", instead they are happy to cover their eyes and ears when the damage to the local wildlife is mentioned.

It seems that shooting is the approved method, and there is a very detailed guide here: http://www.feral.org.au/wp-content/u...ooting_web.pdf

What ever u do , dont take the thing out of the trap alive if they are like the ones I trap here in tassie they are incredibly vicious and more than likely diseased. A 22 in the head or throw the trap and cat in the drink

I live in suburbia here in Perth but actively encourage the local frogs, lizards etc... Into my garden and lately I have disturbed a neighbours cat in my yard. I will not tolerate it, I have warned them that they need to restrict this creature to the inside of their house to be sure of its well being. I was a tour guide from Perth to Exmouth for eight years and used to Eliminate these things out bush as often as I could, I wouldn't hesitate to do the same down here if irresponsible owners show no respect for our native animals. Be it legal or otherwise to do so.

I hate feral and roaming cats.
We have abundent and beautiful wildlife around my place.
I regularly sets traps to catch cats, wish there was a bounty on them.
I have never met one that is tougher than a hammer.
If folks dont like that, STIFF.
Neighbours around the place keep replacing them, they will never learn.
I wish there was a bounty on them too.
All of the wild ducks and birds that come into my yard know me by name.
There is a couple of Willy wagtails and a pair of Finches that build a nest in my open back room every season and a pair of Plovers always bring their newborns into my yard to graze and a mob of Lorikeets live in my mango tree and give me a lot of cheek when I go into the yard. I give back as good as I get.

Cheers.

As far as humane for killing them,

- .22 with low velocity rounds. Nice and quiet, quick, and don't have to touch them.

- Blunt object over back of neck/head, such as shovel, axe, hammer.

- last resort, ring the neck. Works well for rabbits, however these cats are most likely invested with who knows what, and will more than likely put up a fight and scratch and bite, so a pair of riggers gloves would be handy.

But as someone said previously, i would check the local requirements for "removing" wild cats. Last thing you want is someone breathing down your neck whilst removing vermin.

Originally Posted by sheerluck

This will always be a hugely emotive subject, whilst cat lovers are blinded by their love for their pets to the massive damage that even a single cat can do to it's local environment, saying things like "Oh little Flossie wouldn't do such a thing" as if they can see inside their cat's mind.....

They refuse to get their cat desexed "because it's cruel", instead they are happy to cover their eyes and ears when the damage to the local wildlife is mentioned.

It seems that shooting is the approved method, and there is a very detailed guide here: http://www.feral.org.au/wp-content/u...ooting_web.pdf

A couple of paragraphs for the link,

To minimise the animal welfare implications of leaving
dependant kittens to die a slow death from starvation,
it is preferable not to undertake shooting when
females are lactating eg September to March in non-
urban habitats. There is a high probability that any
female cat over six months old that is caught during
this time will be pregnant or lactating.
•


If lactating
females are shot, efforts should be made
to find dependent kittens and kill them quickly and
humanely. Litters may be found near to the trap site
in the base of hollow tree trunks, among boulders etc
Now these rules about no shooting lactating females at certian times is half the problem. Before any one jumps at my throat about animal cruelty think of this. If the young are allowed to survive they then increase the population of feral cats maybe 6 fold, so where you had one feral cat, you now end up with possibly 7 of them, multiple that my the number of feral cats that are at age of breeding the number greatly increases. So native fauna is under threat by a bigger population.

Cruelty about letting baby animals starving, who is more important?

The feral cat and kittens or the nest of fledgelings, dying of starvation because a feral cat ate the foraging parents. Do birds feel less pain dying?
Is a feral cat more valuable than native wildlife?