07-30-2017, 10:59 AM
When ferrets started causing ecological disasters the ferret industry worked with states and many of them crafted laws that only allow sterilized ferrets to be imported or sold/traded/bartered, effectively making all "pet ferrets" incapable of breeding. To my knowledge most pet ferrets in this country come from one or two suppliers that breed and sterilize every animal that leaves their facility.
There is a solution for Hawaii even if there isn't the desire to see it happen: Require that all imported felines are incapable of breeding, require that all existing pet felines are fixed, and require that all cats are maintained on the owner's property (something that is generally legislated for dogs, but for some reason does not apply to cats). Whatever is left over, start culling them. Offering bounties have made species extinct, what has worked in the past may work again.
I'm not throwing my support behind the above ideas, frankly I don't think those ideas alone will work because we would need a comprehensive solution that includes rats, mongoose, and probably other species too or else the ecology will be worse off. I'm just trying to say that this isn't a problem without a solution. This is a problem that lacks the will to find a solution.
There is a solution for Hawaii even if there isn't the desire to see it happen: Require that all imported felines are incapable of breeding, require that all existing pet felines are fixed, and require that all cats are maintained on the owner's property (something that is generally legislated for dogs, but for some reason does not apply to cats). Whatever is left over, start culling them. Offering bounties have made species extinct, what has worked in the past may work again.
I'm not throwing my support behind the above ideas, frankly I don't think those ideas alone will work because we would need a comprehensive solution that includes rats, mongoose, and probably other species too or else the ecology will be worse off. I'm just trying to say that this isn't a problem without a solution. This is a problem that lacks the will to find a solution.