FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Tuesday, April 12, 2005
Contact: Lori Nitzel, (608) 257-6333 (office); (608) 345-0767 (cell)

PUBLIC MISLED BY CAT HUNTING ADVOCATES

Madison – In a vote that will no doubt leave Wisconsin looking ridiculous in the national and even international media, the advisory referendum regarding feral cats on the Conservation Congress agenda passed statewide Monday night by over 1500 votes. If enacted, this referendum would make cats the object of indiscriminate killing and potential target practice for overzealous and uncaring hunters.

The Alliance for Animals, a statewide animal advocacy nonprofit, feels that this vote was made based on nonscientific information and a lack of true representation of Wisconsin's public in the Conservation Congress process. We find this to be a travesty to the public interest and natural resources of the state of Wisconsin.

The Alliance for Animals calls on the DNR to reject this referendum and to further require that the Conservation Congress reassess its policies and procedures in order to include the 88% of Wisconsin's population that does not hunt in this vital public input forum.

“We feel that if 88% of the population of Wisconsin does not hunt, the voice of that 88% should be at least as loud as the voice of the small minority that does hunt,” says Alliance for Animals Executive Director Lori Nitzel. “The DNR and the Conservation Congress are charged with representing the interests and concerns of all of Wisconsin's residents, many of whom have cats. This process, in which only 0.2% of the state's population had a voice on this issue, leaves many unorganized cat lovers without representation.”

The Alliance for Animals believes that feral cats are not “game animals” and should not be the target of hunters. “The best solution to the feral cat problem in Wisconsin,” says Nitzel, “is Trap-Neuter-Return, also known as TNR. Studies and programs around the world have shown that this is the most effective and humane way to reduce feral cat populations.” Additionally, Nitzel states that “the real threat to the songbird and small mammal population is encroaching human development, not feral cats.”

The Alliance for Animals actively supports the implementation of community-based TNR programs throughout the state involving city and county governments, humane societies, rescue groups, rural landowners, and private individuals as the answer to feral cat overpopulation problems. For further information about how to address the feral cat issue, go to the Alliance for Animals website at www.allanimals.org or the Dane County Friends of Ferals website at www.daneferals.org.