The great McCook cat fight of 1967

Gazette files

Lately there have been reports that feral cats in the vicinity of Brookdale Retirement Community have become more and more numerous, and some of the residents have become concerned that these cats might soon pose a problem. Thus the following story of a cat problem we had here in McCook in the 1960s. From Gazette archives.

Recently a controversy has arisen in Wisconsin that promises to get ugly. There is a group that is attempting to convince the state to declare cats as "an unprotected invasive species". They propose that game licenses be issued so that hunters may shoot stray cats wandering the streets and countryside.

Proponents of such a law are bird lovers, who proclaim that in the State of Wisconsin cats kill some 219 million birds each year. Further, they argue that stray cats, without veterinarian care are unhealthy. The cats fight among themselves, are unkempt, often blind, and generally lead a miserable existence. They say that killing the unwanted cats would be an act of mercy, to say nothing of all the birds saved each year.

Not everyone accepts such arguments. For the many voters who are bird lovers, there are just as many who love cats. One fellow, Ken Nailleux, seems to have become the lightning rod for this case. Mr. Nailleux shot his neighbor's cat because it kept creeping into his yard and killing his birds, which congregate each day to use his bird feeder and bird bath.

Now Mr. Nailleux is being harassed by his neighbors. He has received a gift- wrapped box of cat droppings, among other presents. He has received protest notes from across the state, threatening his safety and advising him to move out of the neighborhood, if not out of the state.

The trouble in Wisconsin reminds me of a situation we had in McCook in the late 1960s, when the McCook City Council voted to have all cats confined to the home, or under a leash when they were outdoors. From the McCook Gazette, "Residents of this city must keep their cats in confinement year around. Leash your cat!"

In a way the McCook cat law was a backlash that started in l966, when the voters approved leashing of dogs by a 2-1 margin. Dog owners, resenting the leashing of their pets sponsored a petition seeking the leashing of cats as well.

In 1967, a petition, bearing the names of 100 signers was presented to the city council, which thereupon voted unanimously that cats living within the city limits must be kept in confinement year-round. What was fair for the canines was also fair for the felines. A cat licensing system was proposed, as well as an ordnance, which would limit the number of cats a person could own.

George Pyle, the City Manager at that time, predicted that there was going to be trouble with the cat owners, who did not have a chance to make their arguments at that council meeting. He was so right!

Two weeks later the pro-cat faction presented its petition to the council, which opposed the cat confinement ordnance. This petition contained 500 names. But the council held fast and upheld the ordnance. Supposedly, they were miffed that only five women out of the 500 petitioners showed up at the council meeting to speak on the issue.

At that time two of my neighbors were very much involved in the cat issue. Aileen Murray, a very nice, maiden lady, served on the city council and was quite adamant about keeping the cats under control. She had a home at the end of our block, with a cozy screened-in back porch overlooking a fenced back yard, where Aileen had beautiful flowers, lawn ornaments, and bird feeders and bird-bathes. Aileen liked to have her morning coffee on the porch and watch the birds. She had a real war with the squirrels, who were always eating the seeds and other tidbits that she set out for her birds.

But Aileen became particularly incensed when a large tomcat killed one of her songbirds right before her eyes. As she explained it, that tomcat had lurked around her backyard almost every day, but she had always managed to shoo him away before he got to the birds -- until that day. I don't think that Aileen was the one who organized the petition urging the cat ordnance, but I'm sure she signed it.

Next door to us at the time, lived Loren McConnell, who served on the police force. Loren didn't have anything to do with the petitions, but it fell upon him and his fellow officers to enforce the cat ordnance that the council had passed.

Almost immediately there were repercussions stemming from the ordnance. Aileen started to receive angry notes, none of which threatened her life or physical well being to my knowledge, but they certainly called her names, and opened her to ridicule. She, too, got cat droppings on her lawn and front steps. One night there were about 20 people walking their cats, all properly leashed, back and forth in front of Aileen's home. She said that she got phone calls in the middle of the nights, demanding that she rescind her vote on the ordnance.

Loren, the policeman who lived next door to us, also had his problems stemming from the cat-confinement ordnance. People would call the police station reporting a cat on the loose, and Loren and the other officers were supposed to suspend other duties and respond to these calls -- I guess to capture the offending felines and lock them up in the pokey, but they had orders not to shoot the offending cats. Loren had made a few of these calls, with discouraging results. One night he came out in the yard and began to tell me about his troubles with cats. His face had one long claw mark, and his hands were a mass of gashes. Seems he had cornered a cat in the bushes and was in the process of taking it prisoner when the cat counterattacked. "Did you ever try to capture a big tomcat that doesn't want to be caught? he asked.

Anyway, the pressure on the city council to change their ordnance did not let up, and the police were less than thrilled with their new responsibilities. It was noted that in the days following the council's directive no cats had been captured, and no fines had been paid -- and that statistic did not noticeably improve as time went on.

Still for the next eight months, officially at least, cats had to prowl around on the sly or go out on a leash -- until the issue could be brought to a vote by the people. Few stray cats were ever brought to justice. Apparently, Loren was not the only officer that had run into trouble as he attempted to capture cats. In the ensuing months The McCook Police Force gradually, and quietly managed to ignore the cat ordnance.

In April, 1968, by a vote of 1,523 to 1,074, the McCook cats were officially liberated, when the controversial cat ordnance was overturned. Interestingly, at that same election voters turned down an attempt to legalize liquor by the drink. According to a Gazette reporter, "Perhaps McCook voters had survived the cat fight and didn't feel their 'spirits' needed bolstering".

Source for story and cartoon: McCook Gazette Centennial Issue, 1882-1982