Deputy Sheriff in Rolla City, Missouri, USA. Suggests "Shooting Feral Cats" as a means of disposal.

by Mary F.
(North Carolina, USA)

The USA is supposed to be a country who is well educated and "fair" and for the most part "positive advocates" in treatment of animals both wild or tame in our country.
As a United States citizen, I was APPAULED at the news of a Deputy Sheriff in Rola City, Missouri who stated in his city counsel meeting that there was a Feral Cat problem and that if one report of rabies should be reported then the citizens of that community would be allowed to SHOOT any Feral cats spotted.
Here is the link to view the actual city counsel meeting for yourself.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xtyGXjMCouM

Just copy and paste the link into your browser to view.

Bless the councel womans heart who tried to make him see that there are other ways to deal with Feral Cats and suggested seeking funding for a local Spay/Neuter program to aid in the problem instead of citizens going around shooting cats.

I love my country and stand behind it in everyway a citizen should but I am shocked at how a local law emforcement official can make such a comment and remain in his job position.

I have worked in Cat Rescue and Feral Cat programs for years and NEVER have I seen it necessary to SHOOT THEM. This is the USA for heaven sakes and if this kind of treatment of animals is allowed then I have to ask: What has happened to the country that I thought we live in and support?

I am not sure of the laws about Feral Cats in the UK or Canada or other countries but as advanced as we claim to be on animal rights then I cannot believe that this kind of behaviour from a law official would be tolerated.


Yes, Ferals are a problem everywhere but the fact that they even exhist is because somewhere back in their bloodline, some human didn't spay or neuter their own cat and this is what has resulted.

I plead to Cat lovers everywhere, stand up for these cats who cannot speak up for themselves.
Demand your community to develope a spay/neuter program and a TNR (Trap-Neuter-Return) program where feral groups are allowed to go out and trap these cats, have them fixed,vaccinated and ear tipped and then returned to their location where they can live as they are use to living but vaccinated against disease and not able to reproduce anymore.

If you have a problem with Strays or Ferals in your community then I beg of you to PLEASE Contact a local Rescue group about low cost or FREE Spay/Neuter programs as well as TNR programs for Ferals to assist in the problem.
Please do not take the law into your own hands (and put your guns away) and allow someone to come help with the problem and help these poor cats who at no fault of their own are out there surviving the best way they can without any help from humans.

We need to be a part of a positive solution and not create an additional problem.

Mary in NC

Comments for
Deputy Sheriff in Rolla City, Missouri, USA. Suggests "Shooting Feral Cats" as a means of disposal.

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shooting feral cats
by: Anonymous

The shooting of feral cats may sound barbaric, however, if the situation is seriously out of control, and people's safety/health is threatened
then shooting is a sensible method of quickly reducing the number of feral cats.
I have shot several feral cats with my .22 because they were starving and/or in bad health.
I don't like to kill anything, however, I don't want to leave this problem of feral cat overpopulation to get worse, so I use my .22
I refer to this solution as C.A.T.S. which means Controling Animals Twenty-two(.22)Style.

Comment from Kate Site Owner

Why oh why are humans so stupid (I don;' mean you dear contributer, I mean in general). Feral cats are a problem i know and their suffering is terrible and yes in some cases the kindest thing is to put them out of their misery quickly, I agree. But why do we allow this situation to happen in the first place, we shouldn't have to shot cats at all. I fully understand your comment here and appreciate your point of view, I only wish that more people would have cats neutered even feral ones or so called feral ones who live on farms, keep the mice down and get fed sometimes but the farmers won't take on the responsibility of having them neutered. Sorry as you can hear i am quite passionate about this subject and I just see red. Thank you for your contribution to the discussion.
Shooting Feral Cats
by: Mary in NC

Hello Andrew
I read your comment and I wanted to respond.
I do respect your opinion and you as a person who appears to be troubled by this problem which is nation wide not just in your area.

Yes, I am a pet lover of cats and all animals, all species (by the way, I never heard of FERAL HOGS) but admit they may exist.

However, the point I am making here is that ALL animals deserve to be humanely euthanized if there is no other way to bring the problem under control.

If there is not any groups in your area that handles feral colony's of cats then the humane thing to do would be to have the ferals trapped and euthanized. Shooting them on site is in-humane and not legal in many states.

I do take offense when you call these feral cats BEASTS when it is NOT their faults that way back in their bloodline, some HUMAN did not spay or neuter their pet.

Everyone is entitled to their opinion on this subject as well as other subjects but my thinking is this.
If a problem exist, then seek proper HUMANE results to take care of it and seek to support laws in your area to make sure pet owners spay and neuter their pets (especially the outdoor ones) to make sure that down the road this problem does not continue.
Blaming the animals is a cop out when in fact it is the HUMANS who have failed to do what is necessary to make sure this problem does not get out of hand by failing to spay/neuter.

I live in a small area where there are about 300 feral cats roaming the hillside.
This is a result of people dropping litters of unwanted kittens that THEIR own outdoor cats have given birth to several times a year because they are not FIXED.

These are NOT MY cats to have fixed but instead of taking a rifle and shooting the cats, I seek out groups who are willing to spay/ neuter and vaccinate these animals and humanly euthanize the sickly ones to bring the problem under control.

Just last week I took 7 cats who are NOT mine to be fixed and vaccinated at a low cost clinic locally. this is a slow process and no, I dont have to do it if I didnt want to but I feel I need to step in and work to bring the problem under control instead of just SHOOTING them and waiting for the next unwanted litter to be born only to be shot!

Pardon my view and straight forward way of speaking but I would be afraid to live n a town who allow their "Gun happy" residents to go out and shoot cats on site just because they think of them as BEASTS or nuisances.
Next thing you know they will be allowed to shoot Homeless people just because they are a growing number and considered to be a nuisance to some people in some areas.

I hope some residents in your town decide to do the right thing and seek animal groups to come in and help with your problem there.

If not, some poor child will come home from school one day only to find his or her pet cat shot to death, mistaken for a feral.

SAD INDEED!
RE:
by: Anonymous

Hello Mary in North Carolina.

Andrew in Rolla Missouri here.

I live in the area in question and while I've never met the gentleman in the video, I have to say I agree with him. There is a huge feral cat problem in Rolla. There's a group of about 10 cats that wander around my yard all the time and live in the shed of the vacant house next to mine. Any time I walk in my yard there is either feces (which can spread disease, or I get flea bites (which again, spreads disease). These animals are a nuisance and none of these pansy ass "solutions" are working.

It's time we put human wellbeing over the wellbeing of these beasts and swiftly eliminate the problem.

If shooting is a good enough solution for feral hogs, then it's a good enough solution for feral cats. Just because some people have cats as a pet and therefore have an emotional attachment to the entire species is irrelevant.

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