Here is the update. I must thank all of you who participated in my earlier thread on this subject, and most of all, all of you that signed the petition against it. It paid off! The law to kill cats at will in Wisconsin has been DEFEATED.
Dear Best Friends Network Member,
A month after Gov. Jim Doyle said a plan to allow hunters to shoot stray cats was making Wisconsin a laughingstock, the public advisory group that raised the issue decided Friday to let it die.
``There is no need to push it any further,'' Wisconsin Conservation Congress chairman Steve Oestreicher said of a proposed change to allow licensed hunters to shoot feral cats that kill songbirds and other wildlife.
The proposal ignited a firestorm among animal rights groups that called it inhumane and dangerous - and raised the specter that hunters would shoot cats that had only wandered from their homes.
Members of the Conservation Congress advise the state Natural Resources Board and the Department of Natural Resources, according to its Web site.
Delegates at the group's convention in Manitowoc voted Friday to recommend the change to the Natural Resources Board, but the group's executive committee decided against it. For the proposal to become law, it would need legislative approval and Doyle's signature.
``The governor has indicated he would never sign a bill,'' Oestreicher said. ``It's time to let it go.''
The La Crosse firefighter who proposed the idea, Mark Smith, complained the advisory group caved in to animal rights activists. But he said he won't pursue the issue.
Jessica Frohman, a spokeswoman for a Maryland-based group called Alley Cat Allies, hailed the decision. ``I think cat owners and pet owners are going to be just as happy,'' she said.
For more information visit Alley Cats Allies website at http://www.alleycat.org/wi.html
Thank you for being a part of the Network and for all that you do!
Sincerely,
Deborah Delgado-Hand
No More Homeless Pets
Best Friends Animal Society
5001 Angel Canyon
Kanab, Utah 84741
(435) 644-3965 ext. 4401
