A few weeks ago, I wrote about the Vermont legislature’s struggle with finding a path toward universal health care in this year’s session. In other states, the lawmakers must have more time on their hands than they do here in the Green Mountain State. In Wisconsin’s legislative session, an effort to allow citizens to kill feral cats was defeated while in Florida an effort to allow citizens to kill each other was passed into law.
Wisconsin’s Proposition 62 called for the issuance of small-game licenses to people who want to take aim at the state’s estimated population of 1.4 million feral cats, which are alleged to kill 7.8 million songbirds each year, for an average of one songbird per feral cat, every nine and a half weeks. If the Wisconsin wannabe cat killers would have us believe their feline bloodlust is motivated by deep affection for our warbling friends, they need better talking points.
Cat hunting is already legal in South Dakota and Minnesota. Mike Fry, a Minnesota cat defender, says his state’s free-fire zone is not having the desired effect of reducing the feral cat population. He says over a seven-year period, one female cat and her offspring can produce 420,000 cats – a statistic that could probably be claimed by both sides in Wisconsin’s debate. (One pro-cat activist in Wisconsin advocates live-trapping and spaying or neutering feral cats. Last year, she had 16 cats spayed or neutered using this method. Talk about spitting in the ocean.)
A feral cat is typically defined as a cat that lacks an ID collar and displays unfriendly behavior. Is the term “unfriendly cat” redundant? Is the term “friendly cat” an oxymoron? Can a “friendly cat” be considered a cat? (Disclosure: I am not a “cat person.” It’s not cats I mind, it’s the way their owners behave in the cat’s presence.)
The cat-killer drive ground to a halt when Gov. Jim Doyle (D) announced he would veto a cat-hunting bill and blamed the issue for making the state a laughingstock.
The National Rifle Association was laughing late last month when Florida’s Gov. Jeb Bush (R) put his pen to Bill 136. The new law is the first in the nation stating that citizens do not have to first attempt to remove themselves from a potentially life-threatening situation before resorting to the use of deadly violence in self-defense.
The law’s advocates say it will allow Floridians to “stand their ground” and “meet force with force, including deadly force,” be it with fist, cudgel, knife or gun. This law is an extension of the “castle doctrine” which holds that a person’s home is his or her castle and she or he can defend the castle with deadly force.
The law’s critics say the decision to use force (perhaps deadly force) hinges on whether a person “feels threatened.” Unlike the question of whether or not a person could have walked away from the situation, feelings are subjective, and if the force involved is deadly, then police are likely to get more of one side of the story than the other. The law goes into effect October 1.
It was on October 17, 1992 that Yoshihiro Hattori, a 16-year-old Japanese exchange student visiting Baton Rouge, Louisiana, was invited to a Halloween party. Dressed as John Travolta’s character from “Saturday Night Fever,” Mr. Hattori knocked on the door of the wrong house. Homeowner Rodney Peairs shouted, “Freeze!” Mr. Hattori, perhaps not understanding, failed to freeze and Mr. Peairs defended his castle with a single bullet through Mr. Hattori’s chest, killing him. Acquitted in criminal trial, Mr. Peairs paid $50,000 to Mr. Hattori’s parents to settle a civil suit. The Hattoris donated the money to gun-control efforts.
Like Wisconsin cats, Florida’s population is increasing rapidly. It is the fourth-most populous state (trailing California, Texas and New York) with 17,019,068 people in 2003. An estimated 1,000 people move to Florida every day. The state has between six and seven million untrained gun owners. (Statistics on cudgels and knives are unavailable.)
Are Wisconsin’s feral cats more loveable than Floridians? That’s in the eye of the beholder, but after October 1, they’ll be harder to legally kill.
Courting Cataclysm
A few weeks ago, I wrote about the Vermont legislature’s struggle with finding a path toward universal health care in this year’s session. In other states, the lawmakers must have more time on their hands than they do here in the Green Mountain State. In Wisconsin’s legislative session, an effort to allow citizens to kill feral cats was defeated while in Florida an effort to allow citizens to kill each other was passed into law.
Wisconsin’s Proposition 62 called for the issuance of small-game licenses to people who want to take aim at the state’s estimated population of 1.4 million feral cats, which are alleged to kill 7.8 million songbirds each year, for an average of one songbird per feral cat, every nine and a half weeks. If the Wisconsin wannabe cat killers would have us believe their feline bloodlust is motivated by deep affection for our warbling friends, they need better talking points.
Cat hunting is already legal in South Dakota and Minnesota. Mike Fry, a Minnesota cat defender, says his state’s free-fire zone is not having the desired effect of reducing the feral cat population. He says over a seven-year period, one female cat and her offspring can produce 420,000 cats – a statistic that could probably be claimed by both sides in Wisconsin’s debate. (One pro-cat activist in Wisconsin advocates live-trapping and spaying or neutering feral cats. Last year, she had 16 cats spayed or neutered using this method. Talk about spitting in the ocean.)
A feral cat is typically defined as a cat that lacks an ID collar and displays unfriendly behavior. Is the term “unfriendly cat” redundant? Is the term “friendly cat” an oxymoron? Can a “friendly cat” be considered a cat? (Disclosure: I am not a “cat person.” It’s not cats I mind, it’s the way their owners behave in the cat’s presence.)
The cat-killer drive ground to a halt when Gov. Jim Doyle (D) announced he would veto a cat-hunting bill and blamed the issue for making the state a laughingstock.
The National Rifle Association was laughing late last month when Florida’s Gov. Jeb Bush (R) put his pen to Bill 136. The new law is the first in the nation stating that citizens do not have to first attempt to remove themselves from a potentially life-threatening situation before resorting to the use of deadly violence in self-defense.
The law’s advocates say it will allow Floridians to “stand their ground” and “meet force with force, including deadly force,” be it with fist, cudgel, knife or gun. This law is an extension of the “castle doctrine” which holds that a person’s home is his or her castle and she or he can defend the castle with deadly force.
The law’s critics say the decision to use force (perhaps deadly force) hinges on whether a person “feels threatened.” Unlike the question of whether or not a person could have walked away from the situation, feelings are subjective, and if the force involved is deadly, then police are likely to get more of one side of the story than the other. The law goes into effect October 1.
It was on October 17, 1992 that Yoshihiro Hattori, a 16-year-old Japanese exchange student visiting Baton Rouge, Louisiana, was invited to a Halloween party. Dressed as John Travolta’s character from “Saturday Night Fever,” Mr. Hattori knocked on the door of the wrong house. Homeowner Rodney Peairs shouted, “Freeze!” Mr. Hattori, perhaps not understanding, failed to freeze and Mr. Peairs defended his castle with a single bullet through Mr. Hattori’s chest, killing him. Acquitted in criminal trial, Mr. Peairs paid $50,000 to Mr. Hattori’s parents to settle a civil suit. The Hattoris donated the money to gun-control efforts.
Like Wisconsin cats, Florida’s population is increasing rapidly. It is the fourth-most populous state (trailing California, Texas and New York) with 17,019,068 people in 2003. An estimated 1,000 people move to Florida every day. The state has between six and seven million untrained gun owners. (Statistics on cudgels and knives are unavailable.)
Are Wisconsin’s feral cats more loveable than Floridians? That’s in the eye of the beholder, but after October 1, they’ll be harder to legally kill.
© Mark Floegel, 2005