Criticising Patrick Gower for advocating shooting feral cats in New Zealand

Paddy Gower - I'm told on a news website - has 'issues' with feral cats. He thinks that they are dangerous pests and that they should be shot dead ('hunted'). They should be hunted to extirpation. I can't read the article on their website because I live in a region of the world where it is not published. I have no idea why they restrict publication of this site to certain countries. That seems bizarre to me.

Patrick Gower. Image: Twitter. His face is as unattractive as his attitude towards feral cats.

Paddy Gower's attitude towards feral cats is also bizarre. Actually, it's more ignorant than bizarre. But then again, it should be added that a lot of New Zealanders (Kiwis) dislike feral cats to the point where they think they should be shot. 

Simply do away with them. It doesn't matter whether it's cruel or whether they are euthanised humanely. They actually prefer the former method because it's quicker and cheaper. The objective after all is, as mentioned, extirpation of the entire species from their country.

This is along the lines of Australians. It's a cultural problem. They ignore the central aspect of their inhumane attitude which is that they, New Zealanders, put the feral cats there in the first place. They are the creators of the so-called "feral cat problem".

When a person creates a problem, they have a duty to clear up the problem. And when the problem concerns sentient creatures, they have a parallel duty to clear up the problem humanely. That is the moral obligation. They entirely miss this critical point. That's why I have called them ignorant and which is why Paddy Gower is ignorant. Yes, strong words but my words are very much in line with his words. I chose my words carefully. He didn't.

You do not advocate the hunting of feral cats. If you do that you are advocating animal cruelty. And perhaps more importantly, you are encouraging people to take pot shots at a cat at a distance. Some of them will be indoor/outdoor domestic cats and therefore owned by a New Zealander. That would be a crime. The crime of criminal damage as well as a crime under the country's animal welfare laws.

You cannot advocate shooting feral cats. Period. It is an entirely unacceptable behaviour.

Paddy Gower is advocating potential criminality in his shoddy statement.

Patrick Gower (born 1976/1977) is a New Zealand political journalist and National Correspondent for Newshub (formerly called 3 News). Prior to his current role he was Newshub's political editor. - Wikipedia.