Re: RC: Re: cats & horses

[CMKSAGEHIL@aol.com]

In a message dated 9/19/00 6:54:42 PM Pacific Daylight Time, greymare@jps.net 
writes:

<< I have pretty strong opinions on this, and love cats as much as the next 
person.......
 
 BUT feral house cats are NOT a natural species in USA and do tons of damage 
to native birds and reptiles....
 
 Your neighbor is making all this effort, but only spreading out the problem 
to another area,you say remote, how many of those cats will starve or be 
picked off by predators?
 
 Do the humane thing, trap them and humanely kill them if you know how, or 
haul to animal control to be euthanized.......
 
 They can be a danger to YOUR cats by carrying feline leukemia, and who 
knows,may carry and spread rabies. >>

Much as we are discouraged from "ditto" posts, you are right on, Karen, and 
these points cannot be stressed enough.  Feral cats are a human health issue, 
a feline health issue, and an issue in dealing with the balance of small 
wildlife species.  And if you are a cat lover, remember that feral cats also 
frequently suffer a great deal themselves.  I can't stress enough how much 
more responsible and humane it is to ensure that these cats do not suffer or 
propagate--if you are a good shot, that is fine, and if you are not or are 
squeamish about it, then live-trap them and take responsibility to see that 
they are euthanized.

Heidi