[Vision2020] Responsible pet ownership

Mon Aug 22 14:32:57 PDT 2005

Chris asks: " Why is it that if you hate something you ask for its control,
imprisonment, sterilization, or execution?"  My reason for believing that 
cats should be kept indoors is because I LIKE cats.  It's true that untold 
numbers of birds are killed by cats.  It's also true that untold numbers of 
cats allowed to run loose on city streets meet rather unkind fates 
themselves.  I don't know about a law, but I would indeed suggest that if 
you love your cat, give it a nice comfortable window view of the 
neighborhood.  Heck, a cat can be quite content staring out a window at a 
brick wall for hours.  Besides, all of us city dwellers know how uneasy it 
makes one feel when walking past a group of cats that are gathered on a 
street corner drinking Keystone Lite, throwing up Meow Mix all over the 
street, being purrfectly obnoxious.  It's not pretty.                        

                       Carl Westberg Jr.

>From: Chris Storhok <cstorhok at co.fairbanks.ak.us>
>To: "'French'" <dfrench at moscow.com>, vision2020 at moscow.com
>Subject: RE: [Vision2020] Responsible pet ownership
>Date: Mon, 22 Aug 2005 12:47:19 -0800
>
>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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