<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN">
<HTML><HEAD><TITLE>Message</TITLE>
<META http-equiv=Content-Type content="text/html; charset=iso-8859-1">
<META content="MSHTML 6.00.2800.1498" name=GENERATOR>
<STYLE></STYLE>
</HEAD>
<BODY bgColor=#ffffff>
<DIV><STRONG><EM><FONT face="Lucida Sans" color=#000080>couldn't believe this
when i saw it.</FONT></EM></STRONG></DIV>
<DIV><STRONG><EM><FONT face="Lucida Sans"
color=#000080>judy</FONT></EM></STRONG></DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial">----- Original Message -----
<DIV
style="BACKGROUND: #e4e4e4; font-color: black"><STRONG></STRONG> </DIV></DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV></DIV>
<DIV class=OutlookMessageHeader lang=en-us dir=ltr align=left><FONT face=Tahoma
size=2>-----Original Message-----<BR><B>Subject:</B> <BR><BR></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>
<DIV class=articleHeadline>Wisconsin Considers Legalizing Cat Hunting</DIV>
<DIV class=widgetright style="TEXT-ALIGN: right">
<TABLE class=highlight-news cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 border=0>
<TBODY>
<TR>
<TD width=10><IMG height=10
src="http://cdn.news.aol.com/aolnews/news_frame_object_top_left" width=10
border=0></TD>
<TD background=http://cdn.news.aol.com/aolnews/news_frame_object_top></TD>
<TD width=10><IMG height=10
src="http://cdn.news.aol.com/aolnews/news_frame_object_top_right" width=10
border=0></TD></TR>
<TR>
<TD width=10
background=http://cdn.news.aol.com/aolnews/news_frame_object_left></TD>
<TD>
<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width=202 border=0><!--NOTE: PHOTO WIDTH FIXED AT 200. 150 HEIGHT STANDARD BUT CHANGE OK-->
<TBODY>
<TR>
<TD vAlign=top align=left>
<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 align=center border=0>
<TBODY>
<TR>
<TD>
<DIV><IMG height=150 hspace=0
src="http://cdn.news.aol.com/aolnews_photos/01/00/20050412084909990028"
width=200 align=left border=0></DIV></TD></TR>
<TR>
<TD>
<DIV class=tinyText id=grayText
style="MARGIN-BOTTOM: 5px; TEXT-ALIGN: right">AP</DIV></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE></TD></TR>
<TR>
<TD vAlign=top align=left width=202>A woman in Madison, Wis., shows
her opposition to reclassifying feral cats as small game
animals.<BR></TD></TR>
<TR>
<TD>
<HR align=center width="90%">
</TD>
<TR><!--NOTE: POLL WIDTH FIXED AT 175. HEIGHT CHANGE OK-->
<TR>
<TD vAlign=top><IFRAME border=0 align=center
src="http://webcenter.polls.aol.com/modular.jsp?template=823&view=53353&pollId=53405&channel=aol_us_newsarticles3"
frameBorder=0 width=202 scrolling=no height=140></IFRAME></TD></TR>
<TR>
<TD>
<HR align=center width="90%">
</TD></TR>
<TR>
<TD><B>Talk About It:</B> <!--<a href="" target="_blank">Post</A> | --><A
href='javascript: alert("This area is only available within the AOL client.");'>Chat</A>
</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE></TD>
<TD width=10
background=http://cdn.news.aol.com/aolnews/news_frame_object_right></TD></TR>
<TR>
<TD width=10><IMG height=10
src="http://cdn.news.aol.com/aolnews/news_frame_object_bottom_left"
width=10 border=0></TD>
<TD
background=http://cdn.news.aol.com/aolnews/news_frame_object_bottom><FONT
size=2></FONT></TD>
<TD width=10><IMG height=10
src="http://cdn.news.aol.com/aolnews/news_frame_object_bottom_right"
width=10 border=0></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE></DIV><!-- /PARAGRAPH OBJECT -->
<P class=articleText>MADISON, Wis. (April 12) - Feline lovers holding pictures
of cats, clutching stuffed animals and wearing whiskers faced-off against
hundreds of hunters at meetings around Wisconsin to voice their opinion on
whether to legalize cat hunting.</P>
<P class=articleText>Residents in 72 counties were asked whether free-roaming
cats - including any domestic cat that isn't under the owner's direct control or
any cat without a collar - should be listed as an unprotected species. If listed
as so, the cats could be hunted.</P>
<P class=articleText>The proposal was one of several dozen included in a spring
vote on hunting and fishing issues held by the Wisconsin Conservation Congress.
The results, only advisory, get forwarded to the state Natural Resources
Board.</P>
<P class=articleText>Statewide results were expected Tuesday.</P>
<P class=articleText>La Crosse firefighter Mark Smith, 48, helped spearhead the
cat-hunting proposal. He wants Wisconsin to declare free-roaming wild cats an
unprotected species, just like skunks or gophers. Anyone with a small-game
license could shoot the cats at will.</P>
<P class=articleText>At least two other upper Midwestern states, South Dakota
and Minnesota, allow wild cats to be shot - and have for decades. Minnesota
defines a wild, or feral, cat as one with no collar that does not show friendly
behavior, said Kevin Kyle with that state's Department of Natural Resources.</P>
<P class=articleText>Every year in Wisconsin alone, an estimated 2 million wild
cats kill 47 million to 139 million songbirds, according to state officials.
Despite the astounding numbers, Smith's plan has been met with fierce opposition
from cat lovers.</P>
<P class=articleText>Critics of Smith's idea organized Wisconsin Cat-Action Team
and developed a Web site - dontshootthecat.com. Some argue it is better to trap
wild cats, spay or neuter them, before releasing them.</P>
<P class=articleText>In Madison, about 1,200 people attended the Monday evening
meeting at the Alliant Center - more than the 250 or so in a typical year, but
less than the 3,000 or so who took part in a debate in 2000 over whether to
allow hunters to shoot mourning doves.</P>
<P class=articleText>One of the attendees was Katy Francis, who wore cat ears,
whiskers, a cat nose and a sign that read, ''Too Cute to Kill.'' For Francis,
''The cat hunting thing brought me out because it was very extreme.''</P>
<P></P>
<P>AP-NY-04-12-05 0812 EDT</P></FONT></DIV></BODY></HTML>