Felling kinda guilty`

Just kill all of the animals that don't belong to you. That way you won't miss a possible predator or some other animal that just might be passing through your property. You Gotta Protect Your Livestock! And they might eat some of your chicken feed or make them nervous.

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Freedom isn't Free

i have shot some cats when i was younger. i do not have the heart for it anymore. they can adapt to the environment and replace some of the more dangerous predators we have eliminated. so in that sense, i view a ferral cat like a possum or raccoon. it is natures way even though it started with irresponsible humans. something needs to fill the niche.

even predators can over-populate. so if you have ferral cats running amuck and the heart to shoot them, do so i guess. it sounds like this was revenge for a chicken friend, lol. whatever.

mountainman_bc There is a time and place for killing predators. I haven't had to but people I know have and I respect that fully. What you did is shoot the neighbours cat for tresspassing. You'll have to live with that. And if the neighbour asks you'll have to lie. The truth was a bad call and wouldn't be understood by the owner.

I want it known that I did NOT shoot a neighbors cat, that I know of. I do know most of the pets in our area and did not reconize this cat at all. What made me WONDER is that this cat after picking it up seemed pretty heavy and well fed. It could have been full of my Cochin Bantam rooster Slippers, or the other bantam hen we lost Raindrop. Both chickens named by my 6 year old DD. I do not feel bad about killing the cat, it took a head shot and NO suffering at all. I just hope this was not a cat that someone loved but did not put a collar on or keep it indoors like we do ours. We also have a dog, but she is on a tie out, in her pen or in our house, Never running loose. We feel very strong about keeping animals of ours in our yard.
3 years ago we had a neighbors dog run up to our DD and stand on one of her feet whike knocking DD to the ground and broke her lower leg. The neighbor NEVER said sorry, offer to pay the Dr. bills or anything. She was a single mother of 2 and we felt sorry for her at the time, Now I wish I would have handed her the Dr. bill. I am a softy at heart but if you have a pet always know where it is and what it is doing like we do.

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Ronald Reagan
We are never defeated unless we give up on God.
Ronald Reagan

Columbia
don't sweat it. if god didn't want us to shoot cats he wouldn't have made them so dang annoying. besides you just saved about 200-300 song birds a year for what would have been the rest of the vermin's life. i live in military housing and so can't shoot them outright. over 90% of the cats HERE are unvaccinated, poorly cared for & uncontrolled. i also have a live trap, a truck & some guns. i don't hate cats but i sure as hell hate most cat owners.

Well... I'm not going to say much on this topic other then I hope that we don't have any neighbors as annoying and heartless as some of you posters.

Pops2,

I am the proud owner of nine Cats. Go ahead and hate me if you want.

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Rachel

http://theworldofgoats.proboards77.com
The Message Board for Goats.

Thank you Rachel K.!!! I have 12 cats all spayed and neutered. For starters cats are not meant to live outside and when I had chickens I never once had the problem with them "wanting" to kill chickens. I also have 9 dogs, goats, rabbits, etc and with proper care, cages, fencing killing another animal is uncalled for. It is the people that I have read the "kill happy " responses that makes me wonder why my husband went to Iraq to fight for your freedom and what was believed to be above all a respect and caring for ALL life!!!!

But..
Having lost whole broods of baby chicks to the neigborhood cats I thank God that I do have the freedom to protect my property from predators - How long did it take me to earn the money to buy a chicken? It's according to how much I wanted a certain breed. My time earning that money is taken from my life - a life that is not dedicated to buying expensive poultry for cats that don't seem to have the same appreciation for them that I do. Unlike dogs, cats can and do climb fences and take the unsuspecting chick. I have seen it happen on more occasions than I care to admit. Do I need to build a fortress against dogs AND cats? - well I have, and the fence I build around my chicken pens don't always work. Baby chicks seem to find that tiny hole to go through. I have had cats all my life and they cease to be cats and become personalities - mine are "house" cats. Neighbors do not care that much I guess and often I see cats that emulate the 'possum lying along side the road. I say, thanks for protecting my rights to protect my rights and property. I will approve of killing a cat that is miles (even blocks) away from home and destroying other people's pets and property.

My grandpa shoots every cat and dog people drop off near his place.Do you sad people on this thread know how many wild birds and animals a cat kills in a year?Personally I won't kill an animal unless I know that it is killing my critters,(I don't own cat's but see them on my property at times catching mice and rabbits).Or I am killing it for food.But more power to you.You had everyright to shoot it.

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marching to the beat of a different drummer

That was soo sweet! People do have a heart;after all!!!

If you still feel guilty, get a strong slingshot and pop the next cat with that. If it comes back, then shoot it.

Here is what really annoys me about most cat owners - this belief that their cats are entitled to wander all about thru other neighbors properties with impunity. Most dog owners would never allow their dog to do that and not expect it to get shot. But a cat - oh so harmless and cute how you you hurt it. Sorry - cats are killers - birds, chicks, etc. A cat will get in the brooder and kill the babies for sure. If you do not want them harmed, be responsible. Keep your animals on your property. If you allow them to roam and they get shot by a neighbor - the fault is yours, not the one protecting his animals and property.

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Ultra Lord is not afraid of chickens!

Annoying and heartless??? Are you kidding?
This is intelligent debate and conversation on a very valid point. Cats do kill for fun, everyone knows it. They do affect songbirds and native populations of everything from chipmunks to frogs. PBS did a documentary on a neighborhood population of indoor/outdoor cats who were properly fed and cared for but allowed to be outside. The owners recorded the number of kills these cats presented and the numbers were astounding. I don't see anything wrong with tackling the situation in the manner it was handled.

If you feel guilty, then you probably are. So you posted here in hopes of being punished, hopefully you will get what's coming to you.

I owned a cat that thought it WAS a chicken. He would sleep in the nest boxes and roost amongst the chickens like he was one of them!

I agree with those who have said that if you raise your chickens in a predator proof environment, or as much so as possible, then you don't have to worry about kitty kitty from down the street.

If your lamb, horse, goat or calf got out and meandered over onto my property, eating my grassland, do I have the right to shoot it too? Afterall, it IS trespassing, isn't it? It is eating MY grass, isn't it? So we shoot first and ask questions later because it keeps us and ours safe, right?

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Rachel K
my neighbors are GOOD cat people their little killers are 100% indoor cats. because they are responsible i have memorized their cats. any i catch that look remotely similar, they get a call. the girl from the vet's orange tabby two houses down gets the same treatment for the same reasons. i have yet to catch either persons cats. now when i catch the himalayan from two houses down the other direction, off to the base animal shelter. i have already caught & put down the three of the four that were abandoned that tore a hole in the porch screen. the fourth disappearred on his own.
so Rachel if your cats are 100% indoor cats we won't have issues. but if you let the disgusting little unvaccinated vermin crap & spray on my truck, rip open & scatter my trash & harass my properly controlled dogs, then be prepared to lose some effing cats.

Sorry you had to kill someone's possible pet. The fact that you feel kinda bad is your conscience talking to you. Listen to it. It's a helper..trying to tell you there might be another method to dealing with that kind of situation. Maybe next time..you'll handle the situation a little differently..and perhaps save someone else from a bit of heartache.

As for the deed already done..I think you probably did the right thing considering the circumstances..you've lost a couple of your 'girls'..and you reacted solely to protect your remaining 'girls'.

FWIW: It is somewhat refreshing to know that you didn't rejoice over the killing.

Bring on the cats, because they are natural born killers. I had a cat that killed it's weight in grass hoppers every day. I've had fruit trees stripped by "song birds" rows of salad geens pecked to bare ground by grouse, commando robins that weasle through bird netting to get at strawberries and raspberries, I've even had cute little birdies raid chicken feed. I'm all for the neighbor cats patroling the hay fields. My chickens are like little ninjas, a cat wouldn't have a hope in hell, my chickens would eat breakfast out of it's skull!

I've had neighbors that threatened me with that whole "gonna shoot yer dog" thing, my reply was "that whole shoot your dog thing works both ways"

While I am not necessarily a cat person, I am certainly glad I am not your neighbor.

I agree completely with thequeensblessing. Well said.

I will generally give a dog or cat a chance to think twice about coming around with a paintball pellet in the backside. A little extra color on the animals hide should give their owners the message to keep their animals closer to home. If I was losing livestock however, all possible suspects get shot.

I think it depends on the area that you live. Is your 'neighbor' so close you can see their house or are they a few acres away? I assume you are in the country and they are a little away from you & you know them but aren't best buddies or anything. If it has happened more than once they obviously aren't keeping their cat under control. If questioned I would apologize and tell them you had no idea that it was their cat but that it had happened more than once & that your sorry you had to do it. I would say however, it may have been the better choice to bag the cat and take it to the neighbors first & let them know that the next time you catch it you may have to take action. I wouldn't be too upset, if it was their 'beloved' he wouldn't be roaming loose on someone else's property regularly. I know where my dog is 24/7 as if she were a 2 yr old child because she is to me.

I'm sorry to hear it, it sounds like you weren't happy about it.

Truth be told, I'd be more skeptical if you came on bragging about how big n' bad you were for "puttin' one" in that cat's head.

I have one cat, old, and Bunners stays inside 100% of the time. She likes to watch the bird feeders and has considered stalking the (big) chickens, but stays inside. I applaud her sense.

But I believe some of the big cats I've seen would certainly have no problem taking down banties.

Keep your pets where they belong, at home, or pay the consequences. End of story.

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Gun-toting, church-going, homeschooling, right-wing conservative, happily married, stay-at-home mom of three living in the real United States of America!