Any Cat Aficionados or just plain aninal concerned citizens see this?

April 15, 2005

Wis. Residents Seek Legalized Cat Hunting

Last Updated:

04-13-05 at 8:04AM

Although Wisconsin residents have voiced their support for a plan to legalize

wild cat hunting, some legislators and cat lovers say they will continue their

fight.

The proposal would allow licensed hunters to kill free-roaming cats, including

any domestic cat that isn't under the owner's direct control or any cat without

a collar, just like skunks or gophers, something the Humane Society of the

United States has described as cruel and archaic.

Outdoor enthusiasts approved the proposal 6,830 to 5,201 at Monday's spring

hearings of the Wisconsin Conservation Congress, a citizens' advisory group.

The results, released Tuesday by the state, get forwarded to the Natural

Resources Board for its consideration. Ultimately, though, any measure would

have to be passed by the Legislature and signed by Gov. Jim Doyle.

Already, two state senators, Fitzgerald and Neil Kedzie, are promising

they'll do everything they can to keep the plan from becoming law.

Kedzie, who chairs the Natural Resources and Transportation Committee, called

the issue " a distraction from the main tasks we have at hand. "

" I don't see a whole lot of momentum for it, " Kedzie said. " It's not the

responsibility of the DNR to regulate cats. "

Fitzgerald, co-chairman of the Legislature's powerful Joint Finance Committee,

said he will " work against any proposed legislation to legalize the shooting of

feral cats. "

At least two other upper Midwestern states, South Dakota and Minnesota, allow

wild cats to be shot, and have for decades.

Every year in Wisconsin alone, an estimated 2 million wild cats kill 47 million

to 139 million songbirds, according to state officials. Despite the astounding

numbers, the proposal has been met with fierce opposition from cat lovers such

as Ted O'Donnell.

O'Donnell, who gathered more than 17,000 signatures in an online petition to

oppose the plan, was joined at Monday's meetings by scores of other animal

lovers who held pictures of cats, clutched stuffed animals and wore whiskers.

Even Hale, the head of the Madison Audobon Society, one of the largest

pro-bird groups in the country with 2,500 members, voted no. She said the

proposal was just too controversial, even though wild cats have reduced the

state's bird population.

~ " If I could reach up and hold a star for every time you've made me smile, the

entire evening sky would be in the palm of my hand. " ~

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