Marion County has a pet targeting problem

[SonicBlue03]

Marion County family alarmed after second pet shooting

A St. Paul family adopted Milo and Matteo from the Humane Society last year after their family cat of six years, Dipper, was shot and killed. On April 16, Milo was shot but thankfully survived. The…

www.koin.com

If this were any other forum, I'd write down a Tarantino-worthy list almost fetish-worthy of long-torture/abuse the assailant should suffer upon being caught, but it's NWFA so I'll simply say, "I hope they catch the little defective."

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[The Heretic]

I would suspect a neighbor (naturally) that maybe takes offense at what cats do naturally - defecate somewhere the neighbor objects to (such as their garden) or gets into a fight with their pets (especially their cat(s)) or preys on their livestock/pets. In the latter two situations, a landowner is legally justified (I think - at least with dogs) in shooting the attacking animal - but in all situations, since it is a neighbor's pet, they should probably have a conversation with the owner of the offending animal first, or at least report it to animal control in the latter situations.

All that said, cats should be kept indoors.

I like cats and dogs and I would not shoot a domestic pet unless it was an extreme situation (attacking my animals or family).

 

[bigbearbear]

Put a GPS tracking collar on the cat(s), it'll track where they went and stop etc. It'll help pin down where the shooter is, and if they're lucky, perhaps the collar will also prevent the shooter from firing because they know the cat is being tracked and shooting will give their position away.

 

[Hop Sing]

It isn't like St. Paul is that big and cats typically don't wander all that far, so hopefully they can zone in on the shooter pretty easily.

 

[Ruger Rich]

Most domestic pet issues that I've heard about or have been familiar with involve
some level of culpability on the owner. Additionally, the very few times I've been
involved in one of theses issues I go straight to the pet owner and try a little
civility and rational face to face. Sometimes it works and I consider that face to
face a necessary first step.

 

[TTSX]

If I found out who was shooting my animals, I'm not guaranteeing a peaceful outcome. Crimes like this should have forceful genital removal as standard practice. No more Gene pool for you, bucko.

You don't shoot people's pets. You may want to and for good reason. But you don't.

 

[The Heretic]

You don't shoot people's pets. You may want to and for good reason. But you don't.

If your dog is attacking my sheep, it will get shot.

 

[TTSX]

If your dog is attacking my sheep, it will get shot.

That's different and you know it. Most people would shoot someone's pet over misplaced poop and poorly timed barking. I doubt, STRONGLY doubt that these cats were violently attacking anything worth shooting over. Multiple times.

 

[Hal OPeridol]

Domestic cats out wandering around are decimating the song bird population. Keep your cats at home.

 

[SrMachoSolo]

They state that the cat which was killed was "onery"... should be fairly obvious that someone wouldn't like their neighbor's unruly cat wandering around, but not all pet owners are created equal... or competent.

-Robert

 

[Mikej]

They let their cat roam all over.

I'd like to pop the cat owners that let their pets roam with the pellet gun. But it's only for the starlings.
If you get to feeding a pair of crows, they'll chase the cats off. Or at the very least let you know they're out there hiding waiting near the bird feeders!

I have trapped irresponsible pet owners cats and taken them to animal control as a stray/feral.

Your cat's behaviors aren't mine to deal with. Keep 'em in the house where they belong.

 

[The Heretic]

They let their cat roam all over.

I'd like to pop the cat owners that let their pets roam with the pellet gun. But it's only for the starlings.
If you get to feeding a pair of crows, they'll chase the cats off. Or at the very least let you know they're out there hiding waiting near the bird feeders!

I have trapped irresponsible pet owners cats and taken them to animal control as a stray/feral.

Your cat's behaviors aren't mine to deal with. Keep 'em in the house where they belong.

My daughter adopted stray cats. At one point she had nine cats, each of which had medical problems and expensive vet bills. She is down to two now (the rest have died over time). She still feeds some cats that come around, maybe strays, maybe just pets owners let go outside. She keeps her cats inside all the time.

I occasionally see a cat wander past my windows - but here on the mountain most pets allowed unsupervised outdoors don't last long, what with the coyotes and cougars, etc.

 

[Mikej]

My daughter adopted stray cats. At one point she had nine cats, each of which had medical problems and expensive vet bills. She is down to two now (the rest have died over time). She still feeds some cats that come around, maybe strays, maybe just pets owners let go outside. She keeps her cats inside all the time.

I occasionally see a cat wander past my windows - but here on the mountain most pets allowed unsupervised outdoors don't last long, what with the coyotes and cougars, etc.

Some years ago we had a neighbor that rented the house next door. They had a cat they claimed would make their lives miserable if they tried to keep it in the house. LUCKILY, the cat was a gem. I don't think it crapped in our yard. Didn't chase birds, and, was just a loving sweetheart. It liked to come in and sleep on my computer chair. We'd keep an eye on it's food and water when they'd leave for a couple of days. Really missed Gnarfield when they moved. The cat's from the apartments across the street are a different story.

 

[Mr_Sheesh]

I have fostered / rescued cats for many years.

If you want your kitty safe, and to be able to experience the outdoors, build a "catio". Screened enclosure where they're safe but can see and smell the outdoors.

Keeps them from getting injured by predators or cars, given rabies, or shot.

Or in the case of some of my pets, adopted by the first person walking by, whose foot they cheek rub then do a body roll onto, that cat was a rescue and while I could walk him on leash, he loved everyone (He was dumped or lost at age 7 weeks or so, in a foot of snow, made it to our landlord's place and walked up to him, climbed his leg, landed in his lap, "Safe!" He was a neat one.

Also indoor only pets live longer, they live short enough lives as it is :/

 

[The Heretic]

I have fostered / rescued cats for many years.

If you want your kitty safe, and to be able to experience the outdoors, build a "catio". Screened enclosure where they're safe but can see and smell the outdoors.

Keeps them from getting injured by predators or cars, given rabies, or shot.

Or in the case of some of my pets, adopted by the first person walking by, whose foot they cheek rub then do a body roll onto, that cat was a rescue and while I could walk him on leash, he loved everyone (He was dumped or lost at age 7 weeks or so, in a foot of snow, made it to our landlord's place and walked up to him, climbed his leg, landed in his lap, "Safe!" He was a neat one.

Also indoor only pets live longer, they live short enough lives as it is :/

Yeah, my brother lost his lab because the dog walked away with the first person who was walking along the road - probably a hitchiker. My other brother had a cat that would be gone for a few days at a time because some old neighbor lady would feed him and take him in, then he would show up again - he had a hell of a time trying to tell her not to feed that cat.

I had a dog mafia here that would come around for treats - even at 2 AM in the morning (the porch light is motion detecting):

 

[Mr_Sheesh]

Dog mafia LOL I like dogs too, one of my fonder memories is watching a 150# dog (GF's service dog) play "chase me, chase you!" with her 6# cat, dog was hamming it up "Oh no, if that cat catches me she'll eat me!" then they'd swap roles, he chased her to the bedroom, she chased him to the living room, they were just having fun! Good dog, my cats chose not to play with him, but would snuggle him.

I've seen where people put collars on cats with notes "This cat isn't a stray, he's just a food hog", my older one has a problem there. Torti, when I got her she came with a nice purple collar, later that day she was acting weird then came over to me. I saw the problem, if she could talk she'd have been complaining... Her tongue got stuck on the collar's webbing, and she couldn't get it unstuck, so we had a "Human, I require your assistance!" moment, I took the collar off, think it's still in my pet junk place. Funny but laughing might have gotten me bitten