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30-07-2003, 05:02 PM

In article ,
(-L.) wrote:

(paghat) wrote in message
...
[someone said]

Such laws are not enforced in most jurisdictions. I never had more
rogue cat problems than I did in San Jose.

Oh, they're enforced now all righty. But it really depends on how loony
the neighbors are & whether they're sufficiently cat-hating to insist to
police or animal control that no cats be permitted to lounge on the
sidewalk off their property.

Leash laws kill cats in two ways.

Nope. Owners who do not contain their cats are the ones responsible
for killing them. Responsibility starts at home. I love my cats
dearly, but rogue cats are a nuisance, and it is the people who allow
their cats to interfere with other's enjoyment of their OWN property
are that to blame, if their cats are caught and destroyed as a result
of their negligence.

As point of fact it is the collar that kills cats, & no degree of
responsibility makes it safe to collar a cat. It's why good cat collars
are break-away like pop-beads, & that's why laws should not permit a lost
cat to be summarily destroyed. The lack of collar may NOT be the owners
fault. And if you think the fence has ever been made that cats cannot
climb over, you've really been doing a very good job of not observing
cats.

Second because cats on leashes frequently hang
themselves on trees and fences.

Any cat owner who tethers their cat is a complete idiot.

But that is what the law requires. But anyway, it is the collar itself
that can get caught on branches & hang a cat. Since no fence holds a cat,
containment laws means it can never be let outside at all unless tethered.
Both a non-break-away collar OR a tether can kill a cat, but without one
or the other, a cat can "escape" to no further than the next yard, & be at
complete risk of being destroyed, and/or the owner fined because the cat
behaves as a normal cat.

For this reason a good cat collar has "pop
bead" break-away feature so that when it struggles in the hanging
position, the collar comes off before it strangles to death.

"Break-away" collars can cause death or injury as well. One of the
worst degloving injuries I have ever seen was caused by a "break-away"
collar.

An argument that furthers the idea that the greater "responsibility" is to
not collar cats at all.

Then it is
trapped for wandering free, taken to animal control, and destroyed.

The real reason so many legislators want these laws is NOT because of a
sudden burgeoning of hatred for cats. It's a windfall of hidden taxes.
Every time Bush cuts taxes for the richest 2% in the country, everyone
else gets higher local fees, fines, liscenses to pick up the slack --
fees, fines, & liscenses that regulate every aspect of daily life. The
Illinois legislation will permit multiple fees be charged every one who
has a cat even if their cat never roams free. High fees that will be
raised higher year by year.

While I agree with your politics, one can rebel by simply not
registering their cats. If your cats are controlled and you take
responsibility for them, not registering them is never a problem.

The public health & well being is NOT the real
consideration of (as present example) Illinois legisation.

Cats are not currently a threat to public health. Some are, however,
vectors for toxoplasmosis which is serious only for the
immunocompromised and pregnant. (Although the primary route of
infection in humans is undercooked meat).

Zoonotic diseases from cats number around 100. While immunocompromised
individuals (individuals with HIV or anyone receiving chemotherapy or
allergy-prone or asthmatic) are at far greater risk of outright death by
kitty, but death is the slightest component of a frightening public health
picture. I dunno that I should correct your misinformation as I like cats
& don't want to further arm the legions who apparently think the only good
cat is a caged cat. MANY bacteriums (but few viruses) spread readily to
humans from cats, especially cats manifesting overt symptoms of illness
such as diarrhea. The so-called "Cat scratch fever" is EXTREMELY common &
probably no child reaches teenage years without at least one of the
infections associated with cat scratches, though it is never specifically
diagnosed but generically treated. One study found that in shelters, 40%
of cats carry the Rochalimaea bacteria that is the key cause catscratch
fever. Aggressive antibiotic treatment is always effective in healthy
young adults at least, but the very young & the elderly may need extended
hospitalization. The incidence of cat scratch fever nationwide is
extremely high. Other diseases spread to humans by cats include
Brucellosis, Capnocytophaga canimorsus septicemia, Cowpox, taple worm
(most do not transfer between species, but Dipylidium caninum can transfer
between dogs, cats, & people), Leptospirosis which if untreated can lead
to meningitis, liver dysfunction, death; gonorrhea-like Neisseria;
Yersinia pestis from cat fleas. Typhus-like Rickettsia felis passes to
humans from cat fleas. Salmonella.

Campylobacter jejuni and Campylobacter enteritis can be considered
together. C. jejuni is similar to Salmonella but twice as bad & easily
mistaken for appendicitis. It is a growing health problem throughout the
world & cases in some regions exceed those for Salmonella. It is usuallyu
gotten from bad food, but also spreads between infected parties, from
human to human, or pet to human. It spreads very easily from catbox to
human; cats fed raw meats will be most likely to spread it. The disease
manifests as C. enteritis when it infects the small intestin & is one of
the chief diseases generically known as "traveller's diarrhea" inducing
the phrase "don't drink the water." But you'd also have to not eat the
eggs, cheese, milk, or poultry -- nor ever handle a kitty that ate any of
those things.

Feline pneumonitis has been proven contagious to humans in rare cases. In
tropical regions an insidious disease called "creeping eruption" is spread
by cats, & many other diseases not often seen in England or America,
though cases occur from cat-contact while vacationing in more southerly
nations. Pasteurella multocida is potentially a bad one & fairly common;
think the kitty's mouth is cleaner than your own so it's okay to kiss each
others' mouths? Over 70% of normal healthy cats have pasteurella in their
mouths. It easily spreads from cat saliva to human bloodstream which can
be achieved from your having chapped lips or from getting bitten by a cat.
It is likely spread direct to lungs from sneezing cats as well. Fever
following a cat bite requires immediate & aggressive medical attention.

And so on. That's not even a tenth of the possibilities. Some are rare,
some are extremely common, some are severe & life-threatening, many pass
quickly enough even without a trip to the doctor. Virtually everyone who
has ever had pets has had at least one or two zoonotic diseases in their
lifetime whether they know it or not. In the main it's no more frightening
than having had the mumps when a kid & no reason to kill or restrict all
cats. But for the many people in this world who are already cat-haters,
it's just one more reason it's a "good" thing that cat-leash laws are
spreading like wildfire so that a cat's normal three or four property
territory will soon be illegal in most places.

plus
the cost of legally required microchipping, because the Illinois
legislation also proposes to require microchipping of all cats. Note that
microchipping protects animals only if an owner signs up & pays for a 24
hour service for tracking lost animals;

Microchipping is inexpensive and *essential* for anyone who loves
their cat, and wants to get it back, if it were ever to be lost.

Cats rarely become "lost" & microchipping is not essential. A normal cat
ranges over three to five properties & always knows its way home. The ONLY
reason the Illinois legislation will require microchipping is so the owner
of the cat rounded up for going next door can be fined. Cat leash laws do
not make it a requirement that the cat be cared for properly until
returned to its owner. Raising revenue is the real purpose, & the safety
of the public or of the animals is extremely secondary. Which is why
funding for shelters gets cut even as the law demands more animals be
rounded up.

The issue of killing birds has some credibility. The issue of roaming cats
being injured by dogs, cars, or each other, has some credibility. But the
idea that microchipping is necessary because cats easily become lost is
absurd, & it is not the reason microchipping is being legislated. It is
being legislated SOLELY so that the owner of the captured & possibly
destroyed cat can be fined for revenue purposes.

I'm sorry, but cats *are* a problem for many people. Just as I
wouldn't allow my dogs, cats, snakes, turtle, husband, child, or
myself, to urinate or defecate on, or otherwise destroy, your
property, I expect the same level of respect from my fellow citizens.
Some sense of decorum must be maintained.

ANd there's the real problem. Very little wildlife is permitted to survive
around humans because humans hate wildlife. All wildlife is re-defined as
"vermin" and rooted out of the environment, everything paved over. People
have already killed most of the wildlife, now an increasing percentage of
people & places are seeing what can be done to get rid of domestic animals
too. The day will come when "there are songbirds pooping in my garden!"
will allow the bird protection act to be overturned & all birds will go
the way of passenger pigeons, except for any that can be microchipped &
caged & benefit the government through increasing numbers of increasingly
expensive taxes, liscenses, & fees.

-paghat the ratgirl

--
"Of what are you afraid, my child?" inquired the kindly teacher.
"Oh, sir! The flowers, they are wild," replied the timid creature.
-from Peter Newell's "Wild Flowers"
See the Garden of Paghat the Ratgirl: http://www.paghat.com/