I believe WI considered an open season on feral cats because the bird population was hurt so badly... I think this was a few years ago.
I'm no longer a Wisconsin resident, but I still keep close tabs on what happens there and in Minnesota, and I visit family there as often as possible.
In Wisconsin, the ferral cat issue is very murky, as is the wild dog issue. I believe it was back in 2005 that the referendum on killing ferral cats was voted on, and approved. However, it was never enacted into law. The law is clear in Minnesota and South Dakota, where it is legal. As for dogs, that is really an unclear issue.
I am a serious cat and dog lover, no two ways about it. In my lifetime, I've adopted/rescued/rehabilitated one heck of a lot of cats and dogs.
Currently, I've got a Siberian forest cat that lived on the streets near my in-laws for nearly two years. It is clawless and it has been neutered. These are really expensive and wonderful
hypoalergenic cats, so it is hard to imagine why anyone would abandon a critter like this.
After a hot summer, a really bad winter, two weeks of enduring 100+ degree summer heat two years ago, and a neighbor saying she was calling animal control -- I brought the poor guy home with me. He had also become a pest in the neighborhood, as he tried to make friends with every human that was outside of their house, and he wanted into everybody's house.
He was skinny to the point where you could see his ribs through his thick matted and dirty fur. But he was always extremely friendly, and just wanted a home. For the first couple of months we had him, he vomited regularly after eating food that the vet recommended. Anyway, he has turned out to be the best cat we've ever had. He greets and befriends everybody who visits, and he even watches after the chickens when they are out for the day. He follows me everywhere when I'm home, including when I go fishing.
Our other cat, a little calico female, was a ferral kitten that we adopted through a local shelter two years ago. She too is extremely gentle and has turned into a great pet who just loves human attention. Now and then, she'll venture onto one of the porchs for a little while, but then wants back in the house.
We also recently gave away a really great little dog that we believe was part pug and part pekanese. Ugly, ugly, ugly little dog -- so ugly he was kind of cute. He looked like Yoda. His previous owner kept him chained outside for seven years -- seven days a week, 24 hours a day, under horrible conditions. Trying to chew his chain, he wore his front teeth down to nothing. His chain wore the fur and skin off his back. He never ran loose -- certainly not before we adopted him a couple of years ago. After he moved in with us he was never more than about 50 feet from the house, or he was with one of us and the cat mentioned above. Somehow, after such a horrible life, he was extremely friendly, extremely gentle, well mannered, and very easy to train. After about two years with us, he is now part of a family with two little girls who just adore him.
With all that said, I still have my issues with ferral cats and wild dogs. The law here in WV is kind of strange, and somewhat complicated, regarding shooting them. If they are bear dogs on a chase, you can't shoot them even if they are trespassing on your property. Pretty much all else is open to interpretation. We also have very few law enforcement people, and almost non-existent animal control in our county. They are a lot more than busy with really serious issues, like dealing with ferral humans.
Don't ask.
Don't tell.
I've got a backhoe and an excavator.
Enough said.
