Don't Punish The Cat!

March 12, 2005




Mr. Paul Scott Hassett
Secretary, Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources
101 S. Webster Street
AD/5
Madison, Wisconsin 53703


Dear Mr. Hassett,

I am writing in regards to the "Conservation Congress advisory question asking whether feral cats should be classified as an unprotected species". My vote for this question would definitely be a NO! And I ask the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources to reject this proposal!

I have owned cats since I was a young girl, until today. We have a beautiful male tiger cat named Oliver, he will be a year old in April. Oliver is a indoor/outdoor cat and he does not wear a collar, due to the fact that every time I buy a collar for him, he loses it within the week. I refuse to buy a collar that does not have a safety release, which protects the cat from being hung. So, Oliver is collar free. To think that if a law like this could pass, people would have to worry about their cat being shot, because it didn't have a collar on is ludicrous!

Why punish the cat for being carnivores! We as a society have to take responsibility to maintain the cat population. The human race is responsible for domesticating the cat 6,000 to 10,000 years ago in ancient Egypt for the purpose of hunting mice to protect the food storage. Then the cat was brought to America by boat and used for the same reason, to kill rats! I would bet the cat's main diet is still rats, not birds! And the birds they do catch are most likely already injured, sick or dead. I have plenty of cardinals and blue jays in my back yard, and I have not ONCE found one dead on my lawn or in my cat's mouth. Now, my Old English Sheepdog, named Tully...last summer she came to my front door with a owl in her mouth! So, should we classify dogs as an unprotected species?

Long ago Indians lived off the land and killed buffalo for food and clothing for their livelihood. Then white men came along and almost killed the buffalo to extinction for their fur. Should we have classified white men as an unprotected species?

DNR says this:

Department of Natural Resources attorney Tim Andryk said the vote would simply be an advisory recommendation to state lawmakers. He said that to have open season on roaming cats, laws that relate to abuse of domestic animals may have to be amended. This sounds like a good alternative...NOT!

We, as the human race are more responsible for the decrease in songbirds, pandas, tigers, elephants, buffalo, etc., etc., because of our selfishness! Our everyday actions, such as the increase in motor vehicles, decrease in forests, use of pesticides, etc. is much more hazardous to the death of small animals, than cats. Please do not punish the cat. Punish people who don't take care of the cat. Crack down on laws to protect the cat and maintain the pet population. Thank you.

Sincerely,



My Name



The exact proposal is listed as Question #62 of the Wisconsin Conservative Advisory Questions, to be addressed on April 11, 2005:
http://www.dnr.state.wi.us/org/nrboard/congress/sh/cca/index.htm

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