Cats versus birds: Whose side are you on?

Interesting case here. 2 years in jail seems excessive, but I can't condone what he did either:

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/11/14/us/14cats.html

GALVESTON, Tex., Nov. 13 — Jurors heard opening arguments on Tuesday in the trial of a bird-watching enthusiast who fatally shot a cat that he said was stalking endangered shorebirds.

The defendant, James M. Stevenson, is the founder of the Galveston Ornithological Society and leads bird-watching tours on this Gulf Coast island 60 miles southeast of Houston. If convicted on animal cruelty charges in the shooting last November, he faces up to two years in jail and a $10,000 fine.

Mr. Stevenson, 54, does not deny using a .22-caliber rifle fitted with a scope to kill the cat, which lived under the San Luis Pass toll bridge, linking Galveston to the mainland. He also admits killing many other cats on his own property, where he operates a bed and breakfast for some of the estimated 500,000 birders who come to the island every year.

In her opening statement, Paige L. Santell, a Galveston County assistant district attorney, told the jury of eight women and four men that Mr. Stevenson “shot that animal in cold blood” and that the cat died a slow and painful death “gurgling on its own blood.”
...
The case has prompted emotional commentary on the Internet. Cat enthusiast blogs have called Mr. Stevenson a “murderous fascist” and a “diabolical monster.” Birding blogs have defended his right to dispense with a “terrible menace” and have set up funds to help pay for his defense.

In an interview in a courthouse elevator during a break in the trial, Mr. Stevenson said heatedly that cat fanciers who have condemned him and sent him hateful correspondence “think birds are nothing but sticks.” “This is about wild species disappearing from your planet,” he said, adding, “I did what I had to do.”

Testimony followed from police officers and the veterinarian who performed the autopsy on Mama Cat, a white and gray tabby mix. The jurors were shown several photographs of the bloodied cat, reminiscent of an episode of “CSI: Miami.”

 

This poll needs more options.

 

Like what? More painful ways to kill the cats?

 

Where's the "I think cats should be kept inside instead of being allowed to roam free" option?

 

I can't stand cats. Not a big fan of birds, either.

I would vote on watching cats kill birds and dogs kill cats. I dunno, something about the Circle of Life, I guess.

Me? If I lived out in the country, and had a problem with moles or prairie dogs, I wouldn't miss a wink of sleep in hunting the little bastards down with a .22.

That said, if the problem was people dumping their unwanted cats all over my property, then, well, no comment.

 

Cat person here, but feral cats can wreak havoc on bird populations, which is why trap, neuter and release programs are finally starting to catch on. A truly feral cat can't be turned into a house cat, but there's no reason that cat has to keep reproducing and creating more feral cats.

 

So we can shoot their little balls off? ;D

 

I hope they give that fucker the chair. A cat's gotta eat.