How/why in the heck did hunters let shooting a feral cat with a 22 cal rifle become felony animal cruelty? This is exactly the same as hunting any non-game animal like rabbits, hogs, or ring neck doves. How can shooting a feral cat be a felony when we shoot feral hogs?
What's to keep anti-hunters from including all animals?
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GALVESTON — An ornithologist charged with animal cruelty in a fatal cat shooting this week is a self-professed cat hater with a killing record that goes back to the time he arrived in one of the world's best birdwatching areas on west Galveston Island a decade ago.
Wildlife author and photographer Jim Stevenson said in a 1999 Internet posting that "there were cats out the wazoo" when he built his isolated island home.
"And I'm sorry if this offends, but I sighted in my .22 rifle and killed about two dozen cats in about the first year," the passionate birdwatcher and professional birding guide wrote. "When we allow feral cats to roam free, we might as well be out there with BB guns plinking away at the songbirds ourselves."
Stevenson's arrest Wednesday stirred cat and bird lovers whose passions clash frequently across the nation and world. It has raised anew long-fought debates about what damage feral cats do to wildlife and how to stem the population growth of wild cats.
Stevenson's alleged cat shooting Wednesday surprised most who know him or follow his writings, even those who know about his antipathy for cats. Others responded differently.
"I'm not surprised at all," said Kathi Richardson, one of about a dozen Galvestonians who regularly trap feral cats for spaying or neutering, then release them and feed the colonies the cats form.
Richardson said Stevenson expressed his hostility toward cats in an article he wrote in the Galveston Ornithological Society magazine he publishes. Stevenson founded the society.
"I was appalled and I sent a copy to the national humane society," Richardson said.
Others who know Stevenson's aversion to cats said they thought shooting cats was out of character for the man they know.
What's to keep anti-hunters from including all animals?
----------
GALVESTON — An ornithologist charged with animal cruelty in a fatal cat shooting this week is a self-professed cat hater with a killing record that goes back to the time he arrived in one of the world's best birdwatching areas on west Galveston Island a decade ago.
Wildlife author and photographer Jim Stevenson said in a 1999 Internet posting that "there were cats out the wazoo" when he built his isolated island home.
"And I'm sorry if this offends, but I sighted in my .22 rifle and killed about two dozen cats in about the first year," the passionate birdwatcher and professional birding guide wrote. "When we allow feral cats to roam free, we might as well be out there with BB guns plinking away at the songbirds ourselves."
Stevenson's arrest Wednesday stirred cat and bird lovers whose passions clash frequently across the nation and world. It has raised anew long-fought debates about what damage feral cats do to wildlife and how to stem the population growth of wild cats.
Stevenson's alleged cat shooting Wednesday surprised most who know him or follow his writings, even those who know about his antipathy for cats. Others responded differently.
"I'm not surprised at all," said Kathi Richardson, one of about a dozen Galvestonians who regularly trap feral cats for spaying or neutering, then release them and feed the colonies the cats form.
Richardson said Stevenson expressed his hostility toward cats in an article he wrote in the Galveston Ornithological Society magazine he publishes. Stevenson founded the society.
"I was appalled and I sent a copy to the national humane society," Richardson said.
Others who know Stevenson's aversion to cats said they thought shooting cats was out of character for the man they know.
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