http://www.sunherald.com/2012/12/11/4353095/biloxi-woman-convicted-of-hoarding.html
Biloxi woman's sentence in feral cats case draws national attention
BILOXI -- A Biloxi Community Court judge has sentenced a 78-year-old woman to 100 hours of community service for the hoarding of cats in a case believed to be unprecedented.
The judge decided the cats are domesticated, not feral. He said the only reference he found in state law about feral animals applies to hogs. (KEY WORD - DOMESTICATED. When a cat is free roaming, they can give an impression of being "feral" because they are scared outside. Many of them come out of the trap friendly yet are abandoned once again under the guise of being "feral".)
The judge said the cats create "unsanitary and unsafe conditions. There's a growing problem in the city with distemper." (Obviously this judge did some homework. Cats are mobile in that fences, etc., don't stop them like it does dogs roaming around. Cats are allowed to bring disease to your front door.)
"On the surface, it seemed to be a noble solution," Creel said. "I don't recall this being presented as a program to set up people in single-family neighborhoods to become agents of the Humane Society and turn single-family homes into a feral cat colony.
"Any time you have domesticated animals that are not enclosed, they are going to get onto someone else's property, leave excrement, urinate, and possibly damage property, and that's when it becomes a public nuisance. (I think that about sums it up.)
Excellent. It's about time SOMEBODY acknowledged that free roaming cats are a nuisance, menace and a health hazard. Amen, Amen, I say to that. Now, if only EVERY Community across America could have the common sense that this Judge did, wouldn't that be something?
ReplyDeleteAnd acknowledging that means hopefully that animal control will start enforcing the abandonment laws when it comes to these "caregivers". It is immoral to release these cats. You have to live up to the title rescue by taking the cats in and adopting them out. If you can't do this, then don't condemn them to a life outside with all those dangers. That is just inhumane in my book.
DeleteI am sure you will get both positive and negative responses to your posting and I am hopeful one of the respondents can answer this question.
ReplyDeleteWhen taking a cat, having the cat altered, transporting that cat to another area, then releasing that cat (like a TNR program; how is this not just simple animal abandonment? The only positive thing for this I can say is at least the cat won't be reproducing (at least it won't until it dies by some 'unforeseen means like disease, a predatory encounter, starvation, etc.).
And how can this been considered 'humane'?
I think the worse part of all, they aren't adhering to the mandatory REQUIRED BY LAW SIX-MONTH QUARANTINE for any animal when harvested from the wild and intended for any sector of the pet-trade. This is why rabid kittens are now being adopted direct from shelters. (Google for those fun cases.) The 10-14 day holding period for bite & scratch cases is ONLY meant to see if they were infectious at the time of the incident, but DOES NOT IN ANY WAY prove that that cat does not have rabies. The incubation period for rabies can be (on average) from 21 to 240 days. And in some cases as much as 11 months. One rare case being 6 years. This is why when you take your pet to another country they MUST quarantine your pet for a MINIMUM of 6 months to be relatively sure (not 100% certain) that you are not bringing rabies into their country. Giving a rabies shot to an animal that has not been quarantined for AT LEAST 6 MONTHS does NOTHING to ensure that that animal does not have rabies!
ReplyDeleteBut these TNR advocates, and the veterinarians and shelters that support them? EACH AND EVERY ONE IS IN DIRECT VIOLATION OF WELL-ESTABLISHED *INTERNATIONAL* *LAW*.
Now add on top of that that anyone who feeds these cats is training them to approach humans for food (contrary to them always claiming feral cats run from humans). What happens to the child or foolish adult that reaches down to pet or try to pick up that "cute kitty"? The wild animal lashes out and bites or scratches the hand that has no food for them.
Google for: rabid cat attack rabies
Don't be surprised at the number of search-hits you get or the horrendous stories that go with them. The number of suspected rabies cases and the then required mandatory rabies shots for each individual costing them well over $1000 out of their own pockets, has been growing as exponentially fast as cats breed. Ask a cat-feeder to pay for your shots and lost work-time and suffering? Neither they, nor shelters, nor the local government who supports TNR carry ONE PENNY of liability insurance for the deadly dangers they are bringing to their communities by allowing them to feed and TNR cats.
Let's make 2013 the year where ALL aspects of TNR are ILLEGAL nationwide. It's the only solution.
Well said, my Friend.
DeleteWhen the idiots in the public find out that a TNR person is maintaining a colony, THEY DUMP MORE CATS.
ReplyDeleteThey say, hey, these people will clean up after me, so I don't have to be humane, the TNR people give me permission to be cruel, I don't need to spay and neuter.
I know bcause I'VE BEEN THERE and experienced it.
I am a former TNR afficionado and learned first hand how cruel it is to do this.
It makes the whole problem worse in so many ways.
Only the deeply mentally disturbed and cruel continue to say this works.