Planning a vacation to the Wisconsin Dells this summer? You might want to reconsider...

Wisconsin Considers Legalizing Cat Hunting

Alexis Ernst-Treutel of Madison, Wisc., shows her opposition to reclassifying feral cats as small game animals before a Monday meeting of the county conservation congress.

MADISON, Wis. (April 12) - Feline lovers holding pictures of cats, clutching stuffed animals and wearing whiskers faced-off against hundreds of hunters at meetings around Wisconsin to voice their opinion on whether to legalize cat hunting.

Residents in 72 counties were asked whether free-roaming cats - including any domestic cat that isn't under the owner's direct control or any cat without a collar - should be listed as an unprotected species. If listed as so, the cats could be hunted.

The proposal was one of several dozen included in a spring vote on hunting and fishing issues held by the Wisconsin Conservation Congress. The results, only advisory, get forwarded to the state Natural Resources Board.

Statewide results were expected Tuesday.

La Crosse firefighter Mark Smith, 48, helped spearhead the cat-hunting proposal. He wants Wisconsin to declare free-roaming wild cats an unprotected species, just like skunks or gophers. Anyone with a small-game license could shoot the cats at will.

At least two other upper Midwestern states, South Dakota and Minnesota, allow wild cats to be shot - and have for decades. Minnesota defines a wild, or feral, cat as one with no collar that does not show friendly behavior, said Kevin Kyle with that state's Department of Natural Resources.

Every year in Wisconsin alone, an estimated 2 million wild cats kill 47 million to 139 million songbirds, according to state officials. Despite the astounding numbers, Smith's plan has been met with fierce opposition from cat lovers.

Critics of Smith's idea organized Wisconsin Cat-Action Team and developed a Web site - dontshootthecat.com. Some argue it is better to trap wild cats, spay or neuter them, before releasing them.

In Madison, about 1,200 people attended the Monday evening meeting at the Alliant Center - more than the 250 or so in a typical year, but less than the 3,000 or so who took part in a debate in 2000 over whether to allow hunters to shoot mourning doves.

One of the attendees was Katy Francis, who wore cat ears, whiskers, a cat nose and a sign that read, ''Too Cute to Kill.'' For Francis, ''The cat hunting thing brought me out because it was very extreme.''

"Breaking News" is NOT good...

Wisconsin takes step to OK wild cat hunts

Tuesday, April 12, 2005 Posted: 10:06 PM EDT (0206 GMT)

MADISON, Wisconsin (AP) -- Wisconsin residents support a plan to legalize wild cat hunting, according to voting results released Tuesday.

At meetings across the state Monday night, residents in 72 counties were asked whether free-roaming cats should be listed as an unprotected species. If so listed, the cats -- including any domestic cat that isn't under the owner's direct control or any cat without a collar -- could be hunted.

A total of 6,830 voted yes and 5,201 voted no, according to results released by the Department of Natural Resources.

The prospect of feral cat hunting has more hurdles to clear -- and faces the considerable opposition of a number of national animal rights groups. The Humane Society of the United States called the proposal cruel and archaic.

The DNR would have to ask the Legislature to support the change. Lawmakers would have to then pass a bill, and Democratic Gov. Jim Doyle would have to sign it.

"I can assure you that the campaign is undeterred and we will still be working tirelessly to defeat this in whatever form it takes," said Ted O'Donnell, who gathered more than 17,000 signatures in an online petition to oppose the plan.

South Dakota and Minnesota both allow wild cats to be shot. Some estimates indicate 2 million wild cats roam Wisconsin. The state says studies show feral cats kill 47 million to 139 million songbirds a year.

At Monday night's meetings, animal lovers held pictures of cats, clutched stuffed animals and wore whiskers as they denounced the plan.

Few hunters publicly spoke in favor of the plan, first proposed by Mark Smith, a La Crosse firefighter. Smith had faced death threats over the plan.

Even Karen Hale, executive director of the Madison Audubon Society, one of the largest pro-bird groups in the country with 2,500 members, said she voted no. While the cats have reduced the population of birds in the state, she said the question was too controversial.

"The whole issue of possibly hunting them is so controversial and there has been so much misinformation that we really need a lot more discussion on this issue," Hale said. She called for another study looking at the impact of feral cats.

Cats granted new life...

Wisconsin is no place for cat-hunting, governor says

MADISON, Wis. (AP) — A proposal to legalize the killing of feral cats is not going to succeed, Gov. Jim Doyle said Wednesday.

"I don't think Wisconsin should become known as a state where we shoot cats," said Doyle, a Democrat who neither hunts nor owns a cat. "What it does is sort of hold us up as a state that everybody is kind of laughing at right now."

He told reporters his office had received calls from around the country denouncing a proposal adopted Monday at meetings of the Wisconsin Conservation Congress, a public advisory group, that would classify wild, free-roaming cats as an unprotected species that kills song birds and other wildlife.

Outdoor enthusiasts approved the proposal 6,830 to 5,201 at Monday's spring hearings of the group.

The results get forwarded to the state Natural Resources Board for consideration, but any official action would have to be passed by the Legislature and signed by the governor.

Animal rights groups belittled the idea as inhumane and dangerous.

Doyle said he respects the Conservation Congress but "on this one I think everybody recognizes it's not going anywhere."

Some experts estimate that 2 million wild cats roam Wisconsin, and the state says studies show feral cats kill 47 million to 139 million songbirds a year.

South Dakota and Minnesota both allow wild cats to be shot.

Two state senators — Scott Fitzgerald and Neil Kedzie — had promised to do everything they can to keep the plan from becoming law.

Kedzie, who chairs the Natural Resources and Transportation Committee, called the issue "a distraction from the main tasks we have at hand."