Kill Feral Cats

Here is a great article from the Washington Times authored by rocker Ted Nugent, "the Nuge", on the subject of feral (wild or untamed) cats.  Ted is an American rock-n-roll, sporting and conservation, and political activist.  He has authored books entitled, "Ted, White & Blue" and "God, Guns & Rock "N' Roll."  Amen to that brother !! 

Where I live in Sentul City (and in the city of Jakarta) there are way too may feral cats in the neighborhood and on the streets causing a nuisance and often keeping me up at night with all their noise and activity.  I couldn't agree more with what Ted has to say below.  He is absolutely 100% correct on his advice on how this situation should be handled.  

I love wildlife and do not advocate going around blasting or eliminating creatures for mere gratuitous purposes by the way.  I support SPCA and other wildlife organizations.  I hunt, fish, and am a staunch conservationist and steward of the land.  There are times, however, when a species get's out of control, and lacking natural predation, man needs to step in and intervene on behalf of another species.  Feral cats are not only a nuisance, affect the balance of other wildlife, but also pose health risks to man by their spread of disease and contagion and should therefore be eradicated and controlled.  

Ted Nugent's article now follows:


New research from the University of Nebraska in Lincoln has arrived at the exact same conclusion that conservationists have known for decades: The way to control the feral cat population is to kill the cats.
Not surprisingly, the American Bird Conservancy and the Audubon Society agree with the university's research.

Let us hope the University of Nebraska didn't spend more than 10 bucks on this research. All its researchers would have had to do would have been to call any true conservation organization or me, and we could have choked the research department with all the data, facts and supporting information it would have needed to arrive at the inescapable, pragmatic, common-sense, scientifically based conclusion to kill feral cats.

There are no true conservationists who do not agree with whacking or blasting destructive, dangerous feral felines. There are fuzzy-headed fantasizers who claim to be conservationists but in reality are nothing more than denial-ridden cat lovers. They live comfortably in denial, where fantasy supplants common sense and facts.

The reality of the situation is that the feral cat population has exploded across the United States (except on my property) and in other countries as well, in large part because of irresponsible cat owners who dump their unwanted pets out in the country when Precious wears out his welcome in short order by killing every songbird and assorted wildlife by the millions. Estimates of the number of feral cats in the United States are well over 100 million. Strange, but not one of these destructive fur balls lives on my ranch.

The destruction feral cats have wrought on songbirds, other mammals and critters is catastrophic, no pun intended. Feral cats prey not only on songbirds but also on game birds, rabbits, squirrels, gophers, mice, shrews, voles and other critters that are food sources for wild predators such as foxes, birds of prey, coyotes and bobcats.

And what is the response from denial-land denizens? Trap, spay and neuter the feral cats (at who knows what expense) and then release them into the wild, where they can continue to wreak havoc on wildlife. These people truly must be suffering from a terminal case of cat-scratch fever.

America should adopt the approach of the people of Ascension Island. For six years, they battled the feral cat population, which, along with rats, had caused two species of birds to become extinct and another to be listed as globally threatened. Their battle paid off. On Nov. 26, 2006, they declared their island free of feral cats. Amazingly, they did this without my direct support and superior stealth.

What we have here is some empty-headed people who don't want to do what is necessary, but rather turn a blind eye to the problem or reach for the wrong solution because it makes them "feel good." Doing good makes me feel good, which is why I and hundreds of thousands of conservationists kill feral cats on sight or advocate killing them.

The answer is so simple it is stupid: Kill the feral cats on sight. Because of their breeding, we need to wipe out as many of these vermin as possible. No closed season on feral cats is the solution. Always has been, always will be on the Nugent farm, where I have instructed my family, friends, hunting buddies and casual passers-by to blast every feral cat they see.

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UPDATE: January 2014

Knowing what I know now (which I will share with you in a moment) I am surprised that I have not been "called [or hauled] out on the carpet" over this article !

I was discussing the issue of feral cats with my Indonesian wife last night here in Indonesia (we are both Christians by the way), and my wife informs me of the association or connection with cats and the Muslim or Islamic Prophet Mohammed (Indonesia being a Muslim majority country).  NOW I FINALLY GET IT !  Here is an excerpt from an article on the subject which better explains:

In the Islamic world, the cat was respected and protected because cats were loved by the Prophet Mohammed. From a very simple piece of advice to his actions, there are numerous reports concerning the Prophet Mohammed and cats, resulting in their subsequent acceptance among Muslims.

Prophet Mohammed advised the people to treat their cats (pets) as a member of their family, and by this he meant to take a good care of them. Not only by words, but also with his actions he was a very good role model. These exemplary behaviors became so popular that they turned to stories in time. One of the most famous story about them is Muezza, the Prophet Muhammad's favorite cat, recounts the call to prayer was given, and as the story goes Prophet Mohammed went to put on one of his robes, he found his cat sleeping on one of the sleeves. Rather than disturbing the cat, he cut off the sleeve and let him sleep. When he returned, Muezza awoke and bowed down to Prophet Muhammad and in return he stroked him three times.^[11] It is also believed that when Prophet Muhammad gave sermons within his household he would often hold Muezza in his lap.

Both his followers and the "Prophet enjoyed the presence of cats"^[12]. For example in the early 7th century lived Abu Hurayrah, famous as a companion of the Prophet and a major narrator of his sayings. He was given his nickname Abu Hruyrah (literally father of cats) by the Prophet because he used to care for a small male cat. ("Cat" word comes from the Arabic word qit but a tiny male cat is called hurayrah). There is also a legend about this in which a cat saved the Prophet's life from a deadly snake. The story is narrated by Annemarie Schimmel as follows:

 "There are variants of the story of how Abu Huraryra's cat, which he always carried in his bag, saved the Prophet from an obnoxious snake, whereupon the Prophet petted her so that the mark of his fingers is still visible in the four dark lines on most cats' foreheads, and, because the Prophet's hand had stroked her back, cats never fall on their backs" (A. Schimmel, Deciphering the Signs of God, Albany, NY, 1994).

"The cat is such a clean animal that according to authentic narrations one may make ablution for Prayer with the same water that a cat drank from. Yet, it is known that some people nowadays have opposed the traditions of the Prophet by taking up the evil practices of torturing and poisoning cats. In Islam, the punishment for such actions is severe. Islam holds a special place for cats as lovable and cherished creatures, and mistreating a cat is seen as a serious sin. Al-Bukhari reported a hadith regarding a woman who locked up a cat, refusing to feed it and not releasing it so that it could feed itself. The Prophet Muhammad said that her punishment on the Day of Judgment will be torture and Hell^[13]."

There are many records of the Prophet's love for cats and his relationship with them. "The prophet's fondness for cats is often referred to, and whether or not the hadith that ‘Love of cats is part of the faith' is genuine, it reflects the general feeling for the little feline ^[4]." There are also many testimonials regarding many other animals in Islam such as horses, camels, bees, ants and even flies.