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A La Crosse man who hunts and traps wants to make free-roaming domestic cats an "unprotected species" that could be shot at will by anyone with a small-game license.
Mark Smith's suggestion will be placed before hunters on April 11 at the Wisconsin Conservation Congress spring hearings in each of the state's 72 counties. Smith, a 48-year-old firefighter for the city of La Crosse, said any cat not under its owner's direct control, or which does not have a collar, should be considered fair game.
"If I'm in the woods and see a cat that doesn't have a collar, then I could shoot it," Smith said. "It gives people some leeway if they want to remove cats."
He added, "I get up in the morning and if there's new snow, there's cat tracks under my bird feeder ... I look at them as an invasive species, plain and simple."
Millions of birds eaten
UW-Madison wildlife ecology professor Stanley Temple, who trapped more than 100 cats and analyzed their stomach contents during a four-year study, has estimated that between 7.8 million and 219 million birds are killed by rural cats in Wisconsin each year.
Still, Smith's proposal horrifies cat lovers.
"We're opening up a whole can of worms here, where they could be shot by anyone anytime," said Dr. Susan Krebsbach, a veterinarian who is president of the Dane County Veterinary Medical Association and founder of Dane County Friends of Ferals, a group that has trapped and neutered nearly 6,000 feral cats since 2001 with support from the Dane County Humane Society. About 30 percent of the trapped cats were adopted, while the rest were returned to rural "colonies" where they can roam, but are fed and cared for by volunteers.
Humane thing to do
A 1991-2002 study of "trap, neuter and return" used at a free-roaming cat colony at the University of Central Florida showed the cat population dropped by 66 percent, Krebsbach said. "We know trap and kill just doesn't work. It's standard procedure that's been used for decades in the U.S., yet several shelter surveys show the over-population of unwanted cats persists," she said. "All the scientific evidence leads to trap, neuter and return. ... It's also the right thing to do, the humane thing to do."
Cat enthusiasts Cheryl Balazs, Ted O'Donnell and Adam Bauknecht are trying to organize opposition to Smith's proposal. O'Donnell, a co-owner of MadCat Pet Supplies, recently set up a Web site, dontshootthecat.com, to inform people about it. "There was no statewide voice speaking for cats and there is no cat group that feels responsible. We knew we had to do something," O'Donnell said. "I'd like to think we could be a no-kill state, like Utah."
Bauknecht said, "I don't think it's appropriate to be hunting cats. Cats are seen as a pet and not wild by most people."
Balazs said the fledgling group calls itself the Wisconsin Cat Action Team. "We're trying to put together a network of animal welfare organizations around the state that will collect information on how we're serving cats and how we can move forward and be a no-kill state," she said.
Support for cat hunt
Smith's proposal was approved last year by the La Crosse County branch of the Conservation Congress on a vote of 53-1, according to Al Phelan, liaison between the state Department of Natural Resources and the Conservation Congress. The Conservation Congress, a five-member elected body whose duty is to advise the DNR and Legislature on natural resources issues, decided to put the issue before the public at the spring hearings.
Smith's proposal asks that the DNR take steps to define free-roaming feral domestic cats with no obvious signs of ownership as an unprotected species, such as opossums, skunks and weasels (which can be hunted any time with no bag limit).
However, legislation would have to be passed to permit hunting of cats, said DNR attorney Tim Andryk. "We (the DNR) don't have authority to regulate domestic animals. Legislation would have to be passed to accomplish this," Andryk said. "You might also have to amend laws relating to abuse of domestic animals."
If Smith's proposal passes when put to a vote at the spring hearings, its impact would be purely as "an advisory recommendation to the state Legislature," Andryk said.
Phelan said that a legislator could then draft language adding cats to the list of public nuisances, so that landowners "could kill them, trap them or move them."
Cats aren't natives
Professor Temple said he would argue that legislation is not needed, because the DNR actually does have the authority to declare rural cats an unprotected species. "House mice, Norway rats, pigeons, starlings — all are non-native species and not protected in Wisconsin and can be trapped and killed," Temple said. "The logic behind cats is they are the same ... if they are not a pet, if somebody doesn't claim ownership, they become a non-native wildlife species and not entitled to protection by the state," he said.
Temple added that "it's obviously a very controversial proposal. I think there really is a basis for having a debate about it."
Sheri Carr, senior humane officer at the Dane County Humane Society, said the group has not yet taken a position on the proposal, but wants cat owners to abide by their local ordinances and not let their animals roam.
Shoot neighbor's cat?
"I would hate to think that tame, owned cats who happen to slip out would be at risk of being deemed a wild, unprotected species," Carr said. "It's a delicate (ecological) balance out there, but does that mean people should be able to shoot their neighbor's cat? Probably not."
Mark Smith, the man who brought the proposal, said he is not a cat hater and has owned cats in the past. "They don't belong in the environment. All I want is for people to be responsible for them," Smith said. "If I catch a cat in the yard in a live trap, I should be able to put that animal down."
Smith added, "There needs to be something to protect the average guy. Cruelty to animals is one thing. Dispatching them is another. ... What I'm trying to do here is make a distinction between a domestic cat and a feral cat. Domestic cats are under the ownership of an individual. If you open the door and kick your cat out at night, you've changed its status."
Karen Etter Hale, executive secretary of the Madison Audubon Society, said the society favors education as the best solution to bird predation by cats. "I'm not sure redefining cats and having an open season on them is the best way to address the issue," she said. "The Madison Audubon Society believes all cats should be kept indoors. We might make an exception for working farm cats."
The DNR is concerned about the killing of small mammals and birds by pet and feral cats, said Bill Vander Zouwen, wildlife ecology section chief for game management. "We urge owners to prevent their cats from roaming. That's always been our approach, rather than ask for authority to let hunters shoot cats," he said.
O'Donnell of the Wisconsin Cat Action Team said Smith's proposal "is a callous response to cats."
"There's more humane solutions," he said. "We as citizens should step up and solve the problem humanely."
Brenda Ingersoll, a Wisconsin State Journal reporter, can be reached at bingersoll@madison.com or (608) 252-6144.
