Having studied the law of Alabama I can confirm that the animal welfare laws include some exceptions one of which is that a person who shoots a dog or cat with a BB gun not capable of inflicting serious injury when the dog or cat is defecating or urinating on the person’s property does not commit an act of animal cruelty and will not be charged and prosecuted under the animal welfare acts of Alabama.
It is important to note that this exception does not give property owners with guns carte blanche to shoot at cats and dogs defecating or urinating on their property. The intention of this clause in the Alabama Code Title 13A. Criminal Code Number 13A-11-246 is to chase the cat or dog away but not to kill or seriously injure the cat. That said, I find the clause rather bizarre to be honest because shooting a pellet from a BB gun at a cat can seriously injure that cat depending upon where it impacts upon the animal.
The Alabama welfare laws appear to be condoning animal cruelty under these particular circumstances. I find this very strange. There are more humane ways to scare away cats. And the clause undermines the Act. If you shot a cat with a BB gun in Alabama other than under the circumstances set out above it would be an act of animal cruelty and you would be charged and prosecuted if the law was enforced and if there was sufficient evidence.
Clearly, the lawmakers of Alabama have decided that a cat or dog defecating or urinating on property owned by somebody other than the owner of the cat or dog is such an irritation to property owners and is such a bad thing that it justifies being cruel to the animal to try and prevent it.
It is clearly what the citizens of Alabama want because they elected their lawmakers i.e. their politicians. And I know from reading about cats for the past 10 years that one of the most annoying problems encountered by neighbours who do not own a cat is when a cat “trespasses” onto their property and urinates on their nicely maintained garden flower bed. Another irritant is when cats jump on top of cars and scratch them. Clearly Alabama’s politicians have listened to their citizens and decided that cat cruelty can be condoned sometimes.
I thought you said that punishing a cat doesn’t teach it anything, so why are you suggesting that there are better ways to scare cats? This could be why people just use a .22 or high-power air-rifle most of the time instead. Punishing a cat with a BB gun won’t train it, as you so proudly and boldly claim, nor will anything else that you suggest, so they just solve the problem permanently with something more effective. No more valuable time wasted out of anyone’s lives that way.
Scaring a cat is not punishing a cat. They are clearly quite distinctly different forms of behavior. And secondly, if a person wants to scare a cat (and I am not one of those people) then they can find better ways to do it than shooting at the cat! That is common sense and I am surprised that you did not grasp that simple fact before you wrote your comment. Using a .22 rifle would be a crime of course and we know that you have committed very many crimes in killing and shooting at cats. Because you have admitted it. I’m surprised the police have not arrested you a long time ago. It just goes to show how ineffectual the police are in America when it comes to animal welfare issues. You are such a complete arsehole. I think you know it as well to be honest. But you can’t help yourself. Sad really.