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To kill or not to kill? (1 Viewer)

I can never understand anyone that has such passion for one type of creature but could dispense so lightly with other animals .

Also if it is ok to kill a cat for stalking birds would it also be ok to kill people that disturb nests? I think most would say no to that well I hope they would ;-)
 
Surely killing a cat to protect a population of a rapidly declining species is totally justified. If the cat is feral then it is no different from eradicating introduced predators from islands to conserve native species. If someone claims to own the cat then it serves them right for not keeping their pet under control and allowing it threaten an endangered species.
 
I'm not a cat-lover by any means, but his actions seem wrong to me.

What efforts did he make to find out if the cat belonged to anybody?

However, 2 years in prison seems wholly disproportionate to the alleged crime.

Adrian
 
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I can never understand anyone that has such passion for one type of creature but could dispense so lightly with other animals .....

I don't think it's as simple as that. I love cats and yet hate them at the same time. As an individual animal, a cat is a wonderful creature, good looking and perfectly designed. Who could hate Tigers, Lynx, Wildcats etc. They're much more attractive than dogs for example.

Yet I also hate them. It's not actually the cat I hate, it's the fact that domestic cats are in the wrong place at the wrong time. They've been introduced into a habitat which has been created by man, and have no controls put upon them. They are allowed to roam as free as they like.

It's actually the introduction of cats that I hate, as well as the destruction of habitat and the fact that they are allowed to roam free.

I can easily understand how you can have a passion for both birds and cats, yet still wish for the removal of cats, and take drastic action like this if you think it warrants it.
 
I can never understand anyone that has such passion for one type of creature but could dispense so lightly with other animals .

Also if it is ok to kill a cat for stalking birds would it also be ok to kill people that disturb nests? I think most would say no to that well I hope they would ;-)

The difference is between killing individuals and allowing the disappearance of species. Some years ago a natural vagrant Snowy Owl arrived on the breeding grounds of the Bermuda Petrel (Cahow) and ate 15% of the total world population before the local conservationists took the only possible decision and shot it. I love Snowies: they are beautiful birds and impressive predators but I entirely endorse the action taken.

Ditto in the present instance.

I hope you can appreciate the difference.

Personally I would put the army onto rare species nest protection and have them snipe intruders. So there.

John
 
Not sure we could trust certain portions of the army with that one. A certain ginger half-prince springs to mind...

Mind you, they probably wouldn't deploy him if there was an element of danger involved.
 
I wish he'd come and shoot mine!! lol

Im not sure 2 years is fair, animals are killed all over the world to save another. Cormorants are killed regularly in this country to protect fish stocks, some rare. And if we spent the next 10 years culling them, they still would be numerous. If this 'wild' cat was killing a Rare Bird then the Cat world wont suffer much effects from its demise. Mind you, a nice long ride somewhere remote would have got rid of the problem too, but, if the so-called owner had looked after it better, at home, this wouldnt have come about.

I say let the bloke go free. Sod the Cat.

Mick
 
Not sure we could trust certain portions of the army with that one. A certain ginger half-prince springs to mind...

Mind you, they probably wouldn't deploy him if there was an element of danger involved.

Post of the week - at the end of a crap week and a crap day, it certainly woke me up!

:cat:
 
i ve said this before... the life of an individual animal is worthless when compared to the survival of a species. If one owns a household pet, one should keep it indoors, hence the name 'household'.

the fact that the cat was being fed means nothing... i feed birds in my garden, but that does not make them mine. for me, a feral cat is an introduced species causing as much harm as the rat... so ERADICATE!
 
The US Govt eradicated rats from Midway Island. Is that wrong? It is a large seabird colony now.

The Piping Plovers I have seen are on the beach. In most states the beaches are public and it was probably illegal to discharge a firearm.

Private citizens blasting away at cats is not a great plan.
 
i ve said this before... the life of an individual animal is worthless when compared to the survival of a species. If one owns a household pet, one should keep it indoors, hence the name 'household'.

the fact that the cat was being fed means nothing... i feed birds in my garden, but that does not make them mine. for me, a feral cat is an introduced species causing as much harm as the rat... so ERADICATE!

I think that was very well put. Mick
 
No one wants animals to suffer but considering half the US population blast native birds and animals (and even fellow maniac gunmen if you think of Dick Cheney) it is hard to reconcile prosecuting a man trying to save an endangered bird. Of course how many animals suffer a lingering death with cats playing with then for hours! If the usual standards of modern Justice are followed he probably will get sent down and the cats will wipe the plovers out.
I would probably do the same if I was in his shoes.

Craig
 
He won't do two years-probably will be fined. Prosecutors in the US overcharge in order to force a plea bargain-they think its justice. The issue to the prosecutors is the weapons charge.

Number of hunters in the US approx 14 million. How many on Cyprus or Malta.

Mike
 
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dnt know about cyprus... but i can speak with authority on Malta since i am Maltese... Hunters in Malta number fluctuate around 15,000 give or take a few each year cause of deaths and new licences
 
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