I always thought it was legal to shoot Feral cats in mn. I do not do so because I never see them, and being a cat owner I don’t know if I could. But I see a animal rights activist got this all changed and it is illegal to shoot them now ? Is this correct. I read the laws in 2 different ways. 1 states there is no such thing as Ferrell cats now and the other I see says they are harmful. Can some one please point me to the correct law.
I spelt feral wrong I know.
Well this is news to me if something has recently changed. I will have to look it up unless you have a link.
Previously, in MN it was perfectly legal to shoot a feral cat. I haven’t done so in years now but I used to take one when I was pheasant hunting when I had the chance. I saw 3 when I was deer hunting but I wasn’t about to waste a rifle shell on a cat.
I’m perfectly fine with people having them as a pet, and mostly in the house. I am not fine with them roaming the countryside. They are introduced invasive predators that will decimate upland bird populations and they do not belong out there. I saw a yote take one out last season when I was deer hunting.
It’s still open season at my house.
It’s still open season at my house.
Same with at my mom’s place. It has to be. They use the horse shoe pit as a littler box.
But I was just looking for stone cold legality on this topic. I am only finding mixed laws.
We have a few roaming around where I live and my pet peeve is that they use my garden as their toilet. I know they’re around when I find crap in veggies. I set a bucket set-up with a #2 conibear and a can of cheap tuna out late in the evening and check it very early in the am and bring it in the garage during daytime hours if nothing has been caught. If I get a cat it goes in a garbage bag and in the trash.
About 6 years ago one neighbor discovered he had two bitch cats with kittens in his rather extensive wood pile. The neighbor on his other side found one too. 3adult feral cats, 13 kittens. Some do-gooder outfit came and live trapped the kittens and took them to a shelter because being young they could be tamed enough to live with people. The adult cats were caught, spade and then brought back and released where they were trapped of all things. Neither neighbor wanted the cats brought back. We’d see them lurking around the bird feeders. One was seen where it caught and killed a young pileated woodpecker and shortly after met its own waterloo. The neighbors and I agreed to a no-mention if something happened to the other cats and it wasn’t long and they too were outta here.
I see a lot of coyotes around our neighborhood real early in the morning and since they showed up cats are far and few between.
I love cats as long as they’re in someone’s home. They have no place outside unless they are on a farm.
If I dont read the law it hasnt changed for me. Ive done it in town and in the country. Dont need cats eating baby ducks and pheasants and sure as hell dont nedd to kneel in cat crap in the garden when I dont have a cat.
We don’t have any around us.
…no idea why either 
If im remembering right I think the reason is they kill a huge amount of birds its in the billions yearly.
If im remembering right I think the reason is they kill a huge amount of birds its in the billions yearly.
That is correct. A extensive study conducted by the Smithsonian and the National Geographic concluded they are the single largest threat to wild bird and small mammal populations that exist.
Free-ranging domestic cats have been introduced globally and have contributed to multiple wildlife extinctions on islands. The magnitude of mortality they cause in mainland areas remains speculative, with large-scale estimates based on non-systematic analyses and little consideration of scientific data. Here we conduct a systematic review and quantitatively estimate mortality caused by cats in the United States. We estimate that free-ranging domestic cats kill 1.3–4.0 billion birds and 6.3–22.3 billion mammals annually. Un-owned cats, as opposed to owned pets, cause the majority of this mortality. Our findings suggest that free-ranging cats cause substantially greater wildlife mortality than previously thought and are likely the single greatest source of anthropogenic mortality for US birds and mammals.
I don’t have cats that bother us at our house. But if I did then they would be eliminated
If I dont read the law it hasnt changed for me. Ive done it in town and in the country. Dont need cats eating baby ducks and pheasants and sure as hell dont nedd to kneel in cat crap in the garden when I dont have a cat.
I agree.
I’m just looking for a link that shows if it’s still legal or if it was changed. If any one could possibly link the link ? I’m not all that good at this kind of stuff.
I spelt feral wrong I know.
Sorry can’t help myself I have the maturity of a 12 year old and this is the only reason I clicked on the thread
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Lol I like that . That’s about how good my spelling is when I don’t double check
<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>Bearcat89 wrote:</div>
I spelt feral wrong I know.Sorry can’t help myself I have the maturity of a 12 year old and this is the only reason I clicked on the thread
Haha I was thinking of the gas company, Ferrell Gas, but yours is better. 
I was in the process of calling Ferrellgas when I looked up and saw this post!! Coincidence?? 
Just means you need to practice up on your stealth…
Just means you need to practice up on your stealth…
This isn’t about hiding or killing the cats nor is it about how to do it quietly. I was trying to see if some one here has the actual law that says we can or cannot.
You guys have always been helpful on finding out the legality things. I figured it would have been answered immediately. Must be as confusing as I thought.
Back in the day when Floyd Ragan was the game warden in the Slayton area he was on record as saying he shot every cat he could if more than a quarter mile from the nearest farm.
<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>mark-bruzek wrote:</div>
Just means you need to practice up on your stealth…This isn’t about hiding or killing the cats nor is it about how to do it quietly. I was trying to see if some one here has the actual law that says we can or cannot.
You guys have always been helpful on finding out the legality things. I figured it would have been answered immediately. Must be as confusing as I thought.
According to the Google machine, There are no laws against killing feral cats in Minnesota. It is illegal to kill pet cats. So make sure to ask the cat for ID before pulling the trigger. 
-J.
I think it is statue 343.21 that protects all cats.
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I think it is statue 343.21 that protects all cats.
I seen that and I was trying to re find where it said legal to kill feral cats. But also what I read was now there is no cat in mn that is considered feral, they are now all considered domestic.
This all stemmed from a neighbor cat was shot and I told him he should have kept it inside, because feral cats can be shot. He disagreed and told me that changed in like 2016. So I guess he was right ? I feel bad his cat is dead but I told him it’s kind of on him as a pet owner. I can’t just let my dog roam nor should he let his cat.
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Thank you Ms Sharon. I new some one would have my back lol.
I would never
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But if you look at Subdivision 1 of that statute it says “unjustifiably injure or kill”. Killing pheasant chicks and others birds sounds justified to me.
DT
There’s a big difference between someone’s house cat or pet and a feral one that isn’t anyone’s property. If it’s afraid of people, it’s not a pet. It’s a invasive, introduced, non protected predator that is a killing machine. It’s not difficult to tell the difference between someone’s pet and a stray.
There’s a big difference between someone’s house cat or pet and a feral one that isn’t anyone’s property. If it’s afraid of people, it’s not a pet. It’s a invasive, introduced, non protected predator that is a killing machine. It’s not difficult to tell the difference between someone’s pet and a stray.
To what I read they are now domesticated loose cats or some junk like that. Not “feral”
That’s the confusing part.
I take out every feral cat I can. Up to 4 this fall in my live trap (which turns to death trap). More damn feral cats than coons!!
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