Stop Bobcat Fur Farming

• Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks
• 1420 East Sixth Avenue
• P.O. Box 200701
• Helena, MT 59620-0701
• Office Hours: Monday-Friday, 8:00 AM-5:00 PM
• Phone: (406) 444-2535
• Fax: (406) 444-4952
• E-mail: fwpgen@mt.gov

One of our supporters found these excerpts from a previous news story about Schultz:

“Breeding bobcats in captivity is still relatively new so it’s been mostly a trial-and error learning process,” says Schultz, who began raising bobcats for their fur 13 years ago but has found that low fur prices and a growing demand for pets make it more profitable to sell kittens. In the last five years he has sold over 120 kittens as pets, working through a Minnesota broker who handles pet sales.

Timing is important to turn a bobcat into a good pet. “You have to take the kittens away from their mothers at 18 days of age and bottle-feed them for the next five to six weeks until they can drink on their own,” says Schultz. “You wouldn’t think a couple days would make much difference, but if you wait until they’re over 20 days, it’s too late. Kittens open their eyes at 14 days. At 18 days, their eyes are still milky colored and they can’t see anything. At 20 days they can see, and it’s too late for them to become pets.
“If they’re raised right they’re no different than a housecat. They’re very easy to litterbox train.”

“Within two days I lost 60 kittens when the mothers aborted…”

Schultz purchased his first six bobcats from a fur farm in Wyoming. After that, he and a friend Jim Anderson trapped more bobcats in the Badlands.

Females produce a litter every year and about half the females whose kittens are removed will breed again and produce a second litter that year.

When the adult cats are too old to reproduce, Schultz sells them for taxidermy or fur. Cats in the wild reproduce for 10 to 12 years, but ones in captivity can reproduce for as long as 20 years, he says. Prices range from $300 to $1,500. Schultz sold one bobcat to the Seattle Seahawks professional football team for $1,400.

So, that’s who we’re dealing with. A guy who feels that farming exotic cats is “just a different type of farming” (actual quote), as if animals were nothing more than corn or wheat. He even refers to his kittens as his “crop”.  And just look at those tiny, wire-floored cages, which Schultz clearly designed with his own convenience, instead of the cat’s welfare, in mind. He even had the gall to take cats from the wild when he wanted fresh “breeders”. Fortunately, he won’t be able to do that anymore, because Montana bans capturing wild bobcats with the intent of keeping them.

It’s also important to note that, in Montana, people who want to breed bobcats for the pet trade need to apply for the same “fur farm” license as people who want to breed the animals for their pelts, so a “fur farm” could be either an actual fur farm or a pet breeder (or, as in this case, both). The current permit request only mentions the commercial fur industry as the “purpose” for the farm, but it’s still possible that a few kittens might make their way into the pet industry.

What to Feed YOUR Cat?

We have a great story from Stefanie in Caracas, Venezuela, about how a cat named Caterpillar changed everything for her. She not only learned what to feed her cats – a bio-appropriate diet – she set out to help all the kitties in her city.

Read her story to see that one person really can make a difference.

“It Started With a Caracas Cat Named Caterpillar”

Please share and tweet this story to inspire others!