Shooting Feral Cats A Felony ????

[BIG IRON]

I'll say it before anyone else can, **** rifle hunters!!!!

[Tmag]

Is it really illegal to trap and release feral cats?

[Steve W]

I have a Question.

If it is a Federal offence to harm a feral cat, why is it OK to shoot a Prairie Dog?

SSSS first S is for .22 Short

[J-DAWG]

Just a simple case of our "Good Ole" elected officials telling us what's right and what's wrong!

[splitfinger]

Kathi Richardson needs to be locked up with a room full of feral cats for a couple of days and I bet she would change her opinion on them as "pets". ahere kitty,kitty, kitty...

[Chunky]

Releasing a cat into the wild should be a crime.

That is a jury I would like to sit on.

[Russ81]

I wonder where those 93 confirmed...... ahhh ommp I mean 93 sweet little kittys went from around my house?

[Birddog]

Shoot'em all as far as I'm concerned

[Flame-Tamer]

Why isn't ms richardson responsible for the mockingbirds that her pets have guarenteed to have killed. I mean aren't people responsible for their pets??

She admittedly feeds the colonies she helps protect. That makees them hers???

Is it illegal to use them for catfish bait.

At least they can't be loud under water.

[TXJon]

I looked into this a few years ago, and I would swear I saw something on the TPWD website that recommended destroying feral cats. I went back and checked after seeing this thread, and I can't find it again, although they do say that feral cat populations should be "humanely controlled".

They also said the feral cats will outcompete native predators like coons, possums, fox, etc., mostly because they kill for fun, are given supplemental food by folks like the lady mentioned in other posts, and are vaccinated against diseases that kill native predators.

I don't understand how shooting a cat with .22 is any more or less cruel than shooting a deer or hog with a .30-.30, an arrow, or anything else.

[stevesflyshop]

That's the argument the anti-hunters will make when they try to outlaw hunting.

I agree with the shoot, shovel and shut up approach. Or out here, we shoot leave it and look for another. Coyotes got to eat same as the worms. Plus, if they find out that these little cats taste good, maybe the 'yotes will start hunting for them.

[Gerald S]

Great.....Now we'll never get a confession out of Tex if he shot the cat that caught the mouse that was eating his corn.

[DFWPI]

Here is the penal code violation. Yes, if she captured the cat and then released it back, she should also be arrested and charged with a crime. At the very least, how about popping her for a leash law or something...Geesh, some people and their passion for cats. My motto on this is they got 9 lives, your just doing the count down on them. AND YES, I BELIEVE IN THE SSS......
§ 42.09. CRUELTY TO ANIMALS. (a) A person commits an
offense if the person intentionally or knowingly:
(1) tortures an animal;
(2) fails unreasonably to provide necessary food,
care, or shelter for an animal in the person's custody;
(3) abandons unreasonably an animal in the person's
custody;
(4) transports or confines an animal in a cruel
manner;
(5) kills, seriously injures, or administers poison to
an animal, other than cattle, horses, sheep, swine, or goats,
belonging to another without legal authority or the owner's
effective consent;
(6) causes one animal to fight with another;
(7) uses a live animal as a lure in dog race training
or in dog coursing on a racetrack;
(8) trips a horse;
(9) injures an animal, other than cattle, horses,
sheep, swine, or goats, belonging to another without legal
authority or the owner's effective consent; or
(10) seriously overworks an animal.
(b) It is a defense to prosecution under this section that
the actor was engaged in bona fide experimentation for scientific
research.
(c) For purposes of this section:
(1) "Abandon" includes abandoning an animal in the
person's custody without making reasonable arrangements for
assumption of custody by another person.
(2) "Animal" means a domesticated living creature and
wild living creature previously captured. "Animal" does not include
an uncaptured wild creature or a wild creature whose capture was
accomplished by conduct at issue under this section.
(3) "Cruel manner" includes a manner that causes or
permits unjustified or unwarranted pain or suffering.
(4) "Custody" includes responsibility for the health,
safety, and welfare of an animal subject to the person's care and
control, regardless of ownership of the animal.
(5) "Necessary food, care, or shelter" includes food,
care, or shelter provided to the extent required to maintain the
animal in a state of good health.
(6) "Trip" means to use an object to cause a horse to
fall or lose its balance.
(d) An offense under Subsection (a)(2), (3), (4), (9), or
(10) is a Class A misdemeanor, except that the offense is a state
jail felony if the person has previously been convicted two times
under this section.
(e) It is a defense to prosecution under Subsection (a)(5)
that the animal was discovered on the person's property in the act
of or immediately after injuring or killing the person's goats,
sheep, cattle, horses, swine, or poultry and that the person killed
or injured the animal at the time of this discovery.
(f) It is a defense to prosecution under Subsection (a)(8)
that the actor tripped the horse for the purpose of identifying the
ownership of the horse or giving veterinary care to the horse.
(g) It is a defense to prosecution for an offense under this
section that the person had a reasonable fear of bodily injury to
the person or to another by a dangerous wild animal as defined by
Section 822.101, Health and Safety Code.
(h) It is an exception to the application of this section
that the conduct engaged in by the actor is a generally accepted and
otherwise lawful:
(1) use of an animal if that use occurs solely for the
purpose of:
(A) fishing, hunting, or trapping; or
(B) wildlife control as regulated by state and
federal law; or
(2) animal husbandry or farming practice involving
livestock.
(i) An offense under Subsection (a)(1), (5), (6), (7), or
(8) is a state jail felony, except that the offense is a felony of
the third degree if the person has previously been convicted two
times under this section.

[DeerTexas]

(2) "Animal" means a domesticated living creature and wild living creature previously captured. "Animal" does not include an uncaptured wild creature or a wild creature whose capture was
accomplished by conduct at issue under this section.

Looks to me like a feral cat would not be considered an "animal" by definition as it relates to this charge, for it is "an uncaptured wild creature." If so, the argument would then have to be made that the cat in question wasn't feral. Of course, I'm no atty, but I'm bettin on the good guy who snubbed the feral cat.

[AtTheWall]

I bet they would make excellent shark bait?