# Collars on ferals?



## Vivid Dawn (May 31, 2010)

I need to get a collar for my ex-husband's cat, Xanthe, who I'm taking care of, because she has to stay outdoors (as per my lease agreement).

The main reason I'm doing this, is that recently a law was passed that feral cats can be killed (shot with guns) legally! Farmers are worried they'd go after livestock (seriously?? a cat against a cow? I think the cow is plenty safe!)

So, identifying Xanthe as a pet is done with a collar. So now I'm kind of wondering if I should get collars for my ferals, too? The vet doesn't tip their ears, and the local government does not "recognize" TNR programs anyway... if these cats are trapped/caught by somebody else and given to the pound, they get put to sleep no matter if they're in a feral program.
I love my ferals as if they were my own pets. I hope that putting a collar on them MIGHT save them from getting put to death in any sort of way simply because they're automatically deemed as "nuisance animals".

Of course I would get the break-away kind, in case it gets caught on a tree branch or fence post (they climb the neighbor's chainlink fence all the time), and wouldn't get strangled.


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## swimkris (Jul 17, 2010)

It seems like collars couldn't hurt the situation (and that law is RIDICULOUS!!), but that might get pricey unless you find a way to make them yourself. The regular break-aways that you find in Petsmart probably wouldn't stay on the cats for very long, and then you would be losing the collars constantly as well. That's another reason I would suggest homemade collars. Perhaps you could even do a velcro material instead of the traditional buckle?


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## Vivid Dawn (May 31, 2010)

I would be afraid that any ones I make myself wouldn't be safe enough and might not release if needed.

The immediate neighbors don't mind the cats (one of the other neighbor even feeds them sometimes). But they do go into the cow pasture across the street, and I don't know the guy who owns it - so not sure if he doesn't mind them or not, and I just want to have an "insurance policy" that he won't just try to get rid of them.


and yes, it is a silly law. And yes, one person did actually try to argue that cats were a threat to cows! One kick from a cow hoof, and the cat is a goner anyway!


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## tigressbythetail (Dec 1, 2010)

I recall hearing about that law coming up for a vote in Utah through the HSUS but I can't believe they actually passed it! OMG, that's outrageous! So basically it's open season on cats in Utah! Do people never get tired of killing animals? If they have to shoot something, why not cans or bottles? Why does it have to be a living creature? What is WRONG with humans? 

I'd take the chance and put collars on them if I were you. I know break-away collars can get expensive, and being that they aren't used to them they will get out of them all the time. I raised my bunch (not ferals) wearing those type collars, and most have kept them on. I've had to replace a few here and there. You can find them a lot cheaper on the web if you do a search for them. I know Petsmart and Petco are like $6-7 dollars and that can get expensive if you're replacing them all the time. 

I can't believe they passed that law!


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## Greenport ferals (Oct 30, 2010)

Here is the thread on that proposal:
http://www.catforum.com/forum/47-lounge/139766-whew-close-one.html

It was defeated. Was there some pre-exisiting law that allowed shooting feral cats?


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## Momto3boys (Nov 10, 2009)

I would go over to the farmers house, introduce yourself and tell him about your cats and ask him if it's OK, explain your situation and he very possibly could be a cat lover himself and you have nothing to worry about


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## Vivid Dawn (May 31, 2010)

The other day I went to read that news article again, and found an update! It was "gutted", not rejected. It was still passed, but with a lot of editing. This is the part I worry about "allowing the humane shooting of an animal in an unincorporated area of a county if the shooter "has a reasonable belief" the animal is feral."

I do know the guy that maintains the pasture, but I doubt he actually owns it. I guess I could talk to him (he is nice, and even said "sorry I can't help" when I called him before about finding a cat I thought might belong to somebody in the neighborhood (turned out to be Xanthe)).
I think I'll wait until church next week, because I don't know his weekly work schedule.

Petsmart has sales for $4 ever so often. I only need to buy 4 collars, so that won't be too bad if I only have to do it every couple months or so. It's the putting them on the cats that's the trouble! (well, I can catch Xanthe, of course, and usually Disco and Zinny, but Zazzle is still totally scared of me)

P.S. I live in Layton, the city right next to Clearfield, where that Oda dude represents - of course, he wants this for the whole state anyway, not just this one county


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## RachandNito (Nov 21, 2008)

The petco in my town always has clearance bins and you can find collars for a dollar or two sometimes. Right now, they have their St. Patrick's Day themed breakaways on clearance for only a dollar!


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## Vivid Dawn (May 31, 2010)

I was on my way to the pharmacy, and decided to stop at Ben's house, since he just lives across the street and a couple houses down. His wife said the cats shouldn't be a problem, and agreed with me that a cat harassing a cow probably wouldn't live to tell the tale after a good kick!
They own a big fluffy orange cat (sitting out on the porch steps when I got there, then while talking to the wife it darted inside), so even if he doesn't LIKE cats, obviously he at least tolerates them  

Anyhoo... I'm gonna talk to him in church still, just to double check. That, and now I'm curious who actually owns the field. I'm pretty sure it was Glenn, but he died a couple years ago... dunno if his widow got it, or some other family member.
The family (last name Love) is HUGE... there's like 5 "patriarchs", each with 5 kids, and those kids have 5 kids, so on and so forth! So there's like at least 6 Love families/households within a mile of me! LOL
My ex-husband is Ben's cousin... second cousin.. something like that. And the great uncle (I think) was the bishop of our church a few years ago. I know most of them, and I really am not TOO worried about the cat issue... but I do like to make sure everything is certain and settled.


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