Protest against shooting stray cats

The organization for animal protection wants to put an end to the shooting of stray cats.Hunters may shoot animals in some areas, like Noord-Brabant, Friesland, Flevoland, Utrecht, Zuid-Holland, southern Limburg and Texel. Sometimes, however, hunters mistake ordinary house cats walking in a meadow or along a forest edge for stray cats.

Animal protection calls on the public to sign a petition to put an end to the shooting of cats. The organization acknowledges the stray cat problem, but advocates for animal friendlier solutions.

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Having cats micro chipped should be mandatory, says a spokesperson. He points out that oftentimes cats are first caught before they are killed. That creates an opportunity to find out if the feline is a stray or not. Furthermore, cat owners should have their pets fixed.

The Netherlands is home to about 3 million cats, some of which are wild, because they are either dumped of descendants from stray cats. The exact number is unknown, but is estimated in the tens of thousands.

According to Animal protection each year 8,000 to 13,000 cats are killed. The organization does not have statistics on how many house cats are killed accidentally.