Possible wildlife issue that may turn into a marriage issue

[Irrelevant]

So I have a problem with feral cats. I hate them. They're extremely hard on our native songbird and small ground birds populations. I have come to find out our local animal shelter has a program where the accept feral cats trapped by citizens, spays and neuters them, then releases back at the same location. I'm extremely against this program and would love to see it terminated. The only good feral cat is a dead one and the only thing better than that is two dead ones. Now the tricky part...

My wife manages the shelter. She loves cats, all cats, she's worked really hard to revamp their program into what can be called a "No Kill" shelter. She's very proud of this.

Now my current predicament is to either ignore the cats and their toll on native wildlife, or figure out a way to stop this without her ever knowing I'm behind it. I sit on the board of our local Sportsman Assoc. and they might be interested, but we currently have all our resources tied up in land use and recruitment issues. Does anyone who knows WA enviro policy know if our SEPA policy should have been followed prior to this "program" being implemented? I asked our state Wildlife dept and they'd never seen any SEPA documentation, but they also didn't imply one was be needed.

Any suggestions?

 

[NoWiser]

Personally, I'd choose a different battle to fight. It's not worth it if she finds out you are behind it.

 

[Nameless Range]

In terms of implementing a clandestine cat extirpation campaign your wife would be unaware of, did you ever watch the TV show Dexter?

Kidding aside, I agree on cats - feral or pet. For the most part, when allowed to roam freely they are killers. That said, your marriage is important. Let someone else take up that mantle?

 

[Nutrioso]

Best marital advice I have ever heard came directly from Big Fin: The secret to a happy and long lasting marriage is to work for peace, not justice. You may be absolutely right on the cat issue, but peace is the better route. Let it go.

 

[Europe]

My wife manages the shelter. She loves cats, all cats, she's worked really hard to revamp their program into what can be called a "No Kill" shelter. She's very proud of this.

"A happy wife is a happy life"

If she has worked hard and is proud of her accomplishments, you need to support her and her accomplishments. But that doesn't mean that you dont have a right to chase your dream, but do it openly, honestly. she obviously has not hidden her desire to help cats from you and after you tell her how proud you are of her accomplishments, be honest and tell her you have the same desire to save other wildlife that cats kill and that you do want her to know that you are looking for a way to help save those animals and you hope that she will support you, just as you have supported her. You have a right to chase your dream just a much as she had a right to chase hers, but do it openly and honestly.

My husband and I agreed on everything, --except--how to raise the children, what college they should go to, who they should or should not date, our hunting techniques, he HATED that I wanted to drag race but humored me and he got sea sick easily so my sailing before he passed was always with a gal pal-----but I loved that man and one of the reasons was his honesty! I actually said at least once "you dont have to be THAT honest " (-;

you will get a lot of perspectives from our male members, but wanted you to have at least one perspective from the other side (-:

BTW---another and shorter answer-------I agree with, NoWISER-----which obviously is not a true log on name for him, because his comment was very wise

 

[bobbydean]

I agree with the wife. The cats have a right to live. I have 3 cats (feral) that I feed. Keep the mice down. I used to have a covey of Gambil quail. Have not seen the for a while. Miss the quail but love the cats. Lived on the property for 20 years and went thru at least 30 cats . Coyotes/foxes are hard on cats. let nature take its course

 

[Doublecluck]

I hate feral cats. Shoot em.. If your wife leaves you find a hot girlfriend. For Christ sake man some day you might be old living with like a 100 cats in your basement. Thank me later.

 

[dirtclod Az.]

We have Feral cats that take our Quail,Doves,
and Rabbits.We trap them and re-locate them
far away.If they manage to return then we mark
them with flourescent paint and re-locate again
3 strikes and your out!

 

[406LIFE]

I agree with OP on the cats. They don't have a place in the ecosystem.
It also sounds like you got lots of good advice above; make a value judgement on what is more important, your cat stance or your marriage. Your answer will determine your actions. I wonder if some education for your wife on their impact and what they are doing will help her to understand your position, maybe allow you to "cull the herd."

Hard as it is, I would let this one go for the sake of the marriage.

 

[BrentD]

I have a slightly different take on cats - but only slightly.

The truly feral cats are not too horrible. They starve with decreasing prey populations and they get picked off like all other predators, by bigger predators (thank your local coyotes in particular) and disease, etc..

The cats that are a big problem are those that range all day and come home to a pan of Friskies in the late afternoon or evening. They do not suffer when prey populations get low, nor are they as likely to get picked off by predators themselves or catch a fatal disease since they have a nice warm, safe house and life-time medical benefits. These are really problem cats.

And then there are cat colonies - that's another thing.

 

[Deleted member 16014]

As Ron Swanson says, a dog less than 50 lbs is a cat, and cat's are pointless. This is informative in a lot of situations re: both cats and dogs.

 

[Deleted member 28227]

 

[Mountainguide]

Strike a deal with the wife, clean out the ones around the house and and she can save the town cats

 

[Deleted member 28227]

Seems like you could take the middle ground and work with her to help find the cats homes so they aren't out killing critters....

 

[Irrelevant]

I have a slightly different take on cats - but only slightly.

The truly feral cats are not too horrible. They starve with decreasing prey populations and they get picked off like all other predators, by bigger predators (thank your local coyotes in particular) and disease, etc..

The cats that are a big problem are those that range all day and come home to a pan of Friskies in the late afternoon or evening. They do not suffer when prey populations get low, nor are they as likely to get picked off by predators themselves or catch a fatal disease since they have a nice warm, safe house and life-time medical benefits. These are really problem cats.

And then there are cat colonies - that's another thing.

The Colonies is where 99.9% of them come from. Unless you have really high predator populations, 2 feral cats become a colony in about 2 years.

 

[Irrelevant]

As Ron Swanson says, a dog less than 50 lbs is a cat, and cat's are pointless. This is informative in a lot of situations re: both cats and dogs.

My bird dog is only 42... and she ain't no cat.

 

[Irrelevant]

Seems like you could take the middle ground and work with her to help find the cats homes so they aren't out killing critters....

They have a "barn buddy" program but it could only handle a small fraction of the feral cat demand.

 

[Irrelevant]

In general you've all pretty much said what I've been thinking for the last 3 years. This ain't the hill to die on. I just feel like I'm seeing more and more of them little b@stards.

Thankfully at our house we only have 1 cat and still a few quail and songbirds.

 

[375H&H]

What would you do if those feral cats were feral horses?

 

[Gellar]

It could be a scouting mission. Just go with your wife when they release them and come back later to “check” on the kitties Or better yet, volunteer to go find them, but you can never quite catch them damn cats with your net!
J/k I don’t envy your position at all.