what to do with ferral CATS?

A woman in town says she has several cats that are living under her trailor. If I live trap them can I relocate them?

Our humane society takes them from me for free because they know they are not my cats. Its up to them what happens to them after that.

Bring them to the local humane society/animal shelter.

Some states consider feral cats to be domestic animals. You can actually be charged with animal cruelty for drowning or otherwise "mistreating" them.

Right, take them to the Humane Society and let them spend their money on them. Better yet, if you have a ASPCA in your area give the cats to them.

Is legal here in Michigan I can just take them to the human society . I get these call but pass on them ,

I did an interview with Dr Stephen Vantassel that touches many major legal points of feral cat trapping if your interested.

http://feralcattrapper.com/podcasts-involving-feral-cat-management-solutions/

thanks Robb

We usually ask the customers what they want done. Of course, most of those answers have words in them that I can't use on this site.

Dave, it could be illegal, plus possibly spreading feline aids or rabies.

I call local animal control and see if they want them, if not, I dispose of them.

Animal control here won't take them , claim no funding and only dogs they will take

One of the local "humane" societies wanted to charge me $45 per because I was charging to remove them. Customer could not/would not afford to add this amount to her bill(15 ferals taken).
Final solution.....SSS!

looks like they schould have some laws made for you adc people. so you dont get the raw end.wouldnt it be the county to take care of the strays. what do they say about skunks? or any other nuisance animal/

Most states give you a permit to be a WCO, Wildlife Control Operator. The permit gives you the opportunity to trap nuisance wildlife out of season.

The problem with cats is they are often classified as domestic animals, not wildlife.



They say skunks are wildlife, not domestic animals.

This is a major problem here , the county won't take them and I'm told it's not legal for me to transport them , We had some feral cats with rabbies last summer , SSS would be fine with me .these feral cats are eating rodents that I get payed to trap I'm sure of that .

I've removed five from my property in a week. That's a benefit of owning plenty of live traps. Luckily they don't charge for drop offs. Animal control said they euthanize all ferals before taking them out of the trap. Said they can't risk the liability of adopting out a wild cat.

Pesky, if you tell people that feral cats are doing for free what you get paid for, they'll get rid of you and make the cats government employees.

Had a customer earlier this week wanted a trap that only the owner could release the cats. I told him it would be expensive. He made a container with a padlock that held the trap.

It was a detterant for a 65 year old nieghbor that was going on private property and releasing them. He said the nieghbor would come right up in the garage and release them. Then put up signs in their yard pointing to the other neighbor labeling them "evil" for catching them.

He said their neighborhood is now without song birds and smells like cat urine.

Sounds like someone needs to send a night in jail. I'm tired if playing with fools and I will prosecute the next one that messes with me.

So David, at the risk of spending the night in jail, are you the one who has no songbirds and smells like cat urine?

Nope, but I've tolerated my very last trap thief.

Personally I don't like to have anything to do with feral cats and just like SGS said they are domesticated animals and not wildlife.

Back in my early animal removal days I would of caught anything for a buck and feral cats were in big supply. I can tell you I have been bit, scratched,and seen nothing but hard times trying to help folks with their problem feral cats. All I can say Is I learned over time no $$$ is worth the time and aggravation they can cause in your lives.

This is one area where a NWCO needs to know ALL the laws pertaining to cats both feral and domestic. Here in Georgia there is no such thing as a feral, at least not recognized as such by any entity of governance or law. They are domestics exactly the same as a housecat.
Our DNR has refused to even speak to the issue though off the record many I have spoken to have the same opinion as I. Treat them like all the other non native invasives but officially they don't exist.
So the upshot is no license or permit required for anyone in this state to trap feral cats. A property owner has the absolute right to remove, by any means if you read literally, any animal or pest from his or her property if it is causing damage. Though if it is wildlife there are license and permit requirements to exercise that right.
Next is the question of the disposition of these animals. If it is wildlife then the license or permit will come with instructions as to disposal. If domestic, and all ferals are domestics, they fall under the perview of the local control authority and every county has, by law, a county animal control that is responsible for free ranging domestic species. So once in possession the cat MUST be surrendered to county animal control in the county where captured.
Fortunately since they are proscribed by law to receive these animals they can not charge for receiving them. If any tell you otherwise they are wrong and need a refresher. Also, in my experience all of the animal controls I have worked with fully understand the feral cat problem and will not adopt out a known feral cat. Just be sure for your sake that you clearly state to anyone involved when you surrender a feral thatit is understood IT IS A FERAL CAT. CYA
In addition to the state laws be sure to check into local and county ordinances plus the animal cruelty statutes in your state. Here in Georgia we have a pretty stiff state animal cruelty statute with felony penalties yet it also contains a single sentence exemption that it SHALL NOT APPLY TO AN ANIMAL OR PEST TO BE REMOVED FROM A STRUCTURE OR PROPERTY. Be sure to know this before you get wrapped up in a situation like I did where a county judge stated in open court "state law does not apply in Spalding county".
Really do your homework, cover all your bases and charge accordingly if you want to take the risk of fooling with feral cats. I still fool with ferals but charge way way more than I do for any other species.

Warrior I just had a converstation about that with our county animal services. They told me you can do this, this and that. I said yes, but will you be charged on animal cruelty by a local law enforcement agency. They had a hmmmmm never thought about that moment.

All great points. In Illinois, any cats trapped MUST be taken to a public animal control shelter. It is NOT legal to "take them to a farm" or other properties, and also not legal to euthanize yourself. It is EXTREMELY important to become aware of laws and ordinances in your area BEFORE attempting any feral cat trapping program.

I will not do ANY feral cat jobs, as the hassle factor is too high from "cat people" who will destroy or steal traps, release the cats, slash your tires, etc. I know they are breaking laws with their behavior, but I prefer to work for people who appreciate my work and are helpful.... no time to screw around with a bunch of freakshow cat people. Let them live with the diseased, flea-ridden hiss-bags.

BTW.... can you tell by my subtle writings how I feel about ferals???

Another note: Taken from the great Uncle Kirk (LaPierre)..... He did some major feral cat trapping programs. He said it was imperative to FIRST secure a shelter that would accept the cats.... MANY will not. If you have nowhere to take them, you are wasting your time. He also noted the importance of food AND A WATER TRAY OR BOTTLE in the traps due to the high likelihood of an animal cruelty charge from..... you guessed it.... the cat people. On some jobs he had the customer sign a contract stating the CUSTOMER was responsible for taking the trapped cats to the shelter, again due to eliminate a possible PR nightmare or lawsuit for "taking" a cat that a neighbor then "claimed" was theirs.

I know another guy in Arizona who LOVES feral cat jobs, and enjoys the challenge of removing entire colonies in stealth mode. He even places "decoy" traps in plain sight, doors wired open, so the cat people concentrate all their energiy on monitoring those traps.... while he catches the cats in hidden locations that he has pre-baited (food bowls, etc) for a couple weeks before doing a high-intensity trapping program.

Coming from Wisconsin where we tried to put feral cats in the "shoot on sight" cat-a-gory, I find all these posts interesting. Nuts, but interesting. What we try to do here is make any feral cat lover look like someone who hates all other wildlife. They get no sympathy from rehabbers, humane society workers, or law enforcement. They only sympathy they get it from us because they have to pay us to remove the flea-bags. House cats are a whole different matter.

I've only trapped ferals on my own property, that's how I first became interested in nuisance wildlife work. On everyone elses property I love them. The majority of my skunk calls are from people putting food out for the "kitties". Luckily around here more people feel the same as I do about them rather than the irrational love for them. I have warned the few people who have inquired about trapping cats that people will interfere with it and they will be the ones billed for it, whether it's a destroyed trap, wasted time, or both.

I try to stay away from feral cats unless there is an animal shelter that will take them. I avoid tnr shelters because if that was the answer we should have done that to Ted Bundy and he we wouldn't have had to waste all of his education. I never do it by the cat that way you don't have to account for every cat. Most of the time I am unable to catch them but they disappear possibly out of fear of my deisel growling. The customer usually doesn't ask questions they are just happy they are gone.
When I no longer work and can act senile giving me the freedom to do what needs to be done I am going to specialize in child molesters and feral cats.

Happy Birthday Mr Paul Brooker aka trapperpaw!!

Hey Paul, just as long as you don't become a child molester and own feral cats when you get senile.

I'm starting to see a pattern here; all the crazy posts have one thing in common, the name Paul.

Thanks Robb for the birthday wish and thanks for the sharing you do. Paul I thought about that but I get comfort in seeing other crazy posts from some of the craziest names. I was disappointed that you never commented on my comments reference you doin turkeys post.
NOW BACK TO SERIAL KILLIN FERAL CATS!!!

Paul, I was trying to erase that turkey job from my mind. No matter how I looked at it, I was not going to be a hero on that job.

In NY they are not "wildlife" either so our license doesnt cover it, which as I take it, you don't need a NWCO license to trap them either. I trap, transfer to a carrier and my hands are free from there. The customer then transports the cat to the shelter and thats on them. I still make sure its a real ferral problem before I set the cage and not someone upset at a neighbor etc..

Paul contact Paul , he has personal in with Turtle man
if you need him on the turkey job, just saying

I don't have a contact with turtleman here in Kentucky but I do have a friend called Turdleman in Indianapolis. I'm not sure how he got the nickname. He has had it since he was a kid and he won't talk about it. He was either catching them or releasing them I don't know... because he gets mad everytime I try to get him to tell me about it. He also has a phobia of flushing toilets. I've contacted Dr. Fill and he thinks he's full of it and wants to help... but Turdleman is suspicious of outsiders. Enough about turdleman on this cat thread. I'm going to start a turdleman thread because my turdleman lives in Indy but I got a feeling a lot of people have a turdleman in their life and would like to talk about it.

Here's a crazy idea...ASK YOUR LOCAL AUTHORITIES!!
It never ceases to amaze me how many people expect the users of this forum - which has contributers nationwide and beyond - to advise them on local laws! Pick up the phone! Do you know what county you work in? Start with the animal control in your county, then the state.
The laws can be very vague on this subject. That's why you need to be on a first-name basis with your Animal Control Officer.

When I no longer work and can act senile giving me the freedom to do what needs to be done I am going to specialize in child molesters and feral cats. [/quote]
Paul, I hope I never get on your (poop)list!
And Happy (belated) Birthday! I haven't been on the puter for several days.

Dave, asking our local authorities IS the same as asking on Trapperman. They make stuff up as they go along. I am on a first name basis with my animal control officer because he's me. If any of you has a feral cat related question; it's shoot first and ask questions later. If you get in trouble, just tell them Paul W. said it was okay. ( Using my name usually only gets you two or three extra years in the slammer )

Well, yeah, but the point is, you get it from the horse's mouth, so to speak; if there's any trouble, you can say "Mr. ACO told me such-and-such".