[Vision2020] Responsible pet ownership

[Chris Storhok]

Good night, another law!
I am sure that the statement about cats killing birds is true (the cats also
kill those pesky deer mice that are all over Moscow and carry Hantavirus, a
nasty disease the killed a well known Moscow native a few years back), and I
am sure the cats run all over the neighbors yard, breed like anything, and
so forth and so on, but do you really need more regulation and laws?  I am
100% sure cats have been part of Moscow's history since the 1870's and I am
sure in that time frame untold numbers of birds have been killed, but do you
really need another law?   Last time I was in town there were a lot of birds
there.   
 
What happens if Susie lets the cat out, does she get fined? jailed?   
 
The answer to life problems is not another law, another regulation...etc.
Heck the City is incapable of enforcing barking dog laws, and I have rarely
heard of anyone getting ticketed for playing a game of Frisbee catch with a
unrestrained dog.   Instead, just ask the owners to keep the cat in, or
better yet realize that the cat has the same God given rights to wander
around outside killing whatever it pleases, crapping where ever it wants,
breeding and so forth.  Why does the world have to be a sterile controlled
environment?  Why is it that if you hate something you ask for its control,
imprisonment, sterilization, or execution?    
 
Can someone somewhere please put a halt to the cry for a new
law/regulation/guideline/etc. for what ever ails them?   Can we just get
along?
 
The Gritman party is too loud, halt it...the ice rink is too loud, shut it
down...the proposed park will create too much traffic, stop it...the highway
will kill the grass, move it...the Naylors will dig the next Berkley Pit,
stop them...college students party too much, arrest them...and now cats
cannot live like God intended them to, instead sentence it to life without
parole inside your home....
 
Sorry Bill but this idea even has me wondering....
 
Hope all is well,
Chris
 
Chris Storhok
 

-----Original Message-----
From: vision2020-bounces at moscow.com [mailto:vision2020-bounces at moscow.com]On
Behalf Of French
Sent: Monday, August 22, 2005 12:17 PM
To: vision2020 at moscow.com
Subject: [Vision2020] Responsible pet ownership


Bill French has asked me to forward this message to Vision 2020
 
The city of Moscow is currently drafting a new animal control ordinance
which, unfortunately, will not require the licensing or containment of cats.
This exclusion is on the direction of the council administrative committee
and John Dickinson, who is council liaison to the ordinance writing
committee. John thinks that cats, including his own, have more right to use
property than the owner who's paying the mortgage and taxes.

While cats have always had free run in Moscow, cats cause many problems when
allowed to run loose. Contrary to popular opinion, domestic cats are not
"wildlife" and are not part of any natural ecosystem. Housecats have been
domesticated over thousands of years and were introduced to North America by
European immigrants. Our native birds and mammals did not evolve with the
small, abundant, sheltered, and well-fed predator called "Fluffy". The
result is that domestic cats are the second-leading cause of declining bird
populations worldwide, killing hundreds of millions annually. 

Free-roaming cats also violate the private property rights of those who
don't wish to have cats hunting, defecating or spraying on their property.
Not only do free-roaming cats spread disease to other cats, they also can
spread disease to humans (potentially by contaminating garden soil).
Well-fed, declawed cats with bells on their collars will still hunt
successfully, just for fun. Unaltered free-roaming cats contribute greatly
to the cat over-population problem, which places unsupportable burdens on
wildlife and animal shelters alike. 

If you'd like more information about a national campaign to end the problem
of free-roaming cats, go to the CATS INDOORS! link on
<http://www.abcbirds.org/> www.abcbirds.org. If you'd like to sign a
petition requesting that the Moscow city council place restrictions on cats,
Email  <mailto:catsindoors at moscow.com> catsindoors at moscow.com. This campaign
is not against cats - just the irresponsible ownership of them.

Bill French

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