Savannah Cat Killed Fox in Belle Meade Island Miami FL

This large feral cat, which is thought to be a Savannah cat, has been blamed for killing a fox who has been the celebrity wildlife on Belle Meade Island for a long time.

When locals asked Big Cat Rescue to come and catch the killer cat we sent the following reply:

This is a Savannah cat or a Bengal cat, but my money is on Savannah cat.

Savannah cats are a domestic / wild hybrid between a regular domestic cat and a Serval.  Weight can be up to 45 lbs

Bengal cats are a domestic / wild hybrid between a regular domestic cat and a Leopard cat.  Weight can be up to 25 lbs

Neither hybrid requires a permit in FL.  They were outlawed in Australia though because the government appropriately realized that they are “like strapping a nuclear warhead to a feral cat” when it comes to the damage they will do to the eco system.

People who own them are not required to keep them leashed or confined, so the owner probably isn’t breaking any laws by letting the cat terrorize the neighborhood.

While we have taken in a few hybrids in our history, we couldn’t possibly take in all of them who are being dumped at shelters or turned loose.  Our typical cage style of 4 x 4 wire panels will not contain domestic sized cats.  Hybrids can fetch as much as $18,000 for the kind in your photo when they are kittens, but these F1, F2, and F3 all grow up to spray, bite and wreak havoc.  (Fs are first generation from wild, second, etc. taking 4 generations to become handleable at all.)  Open any issue of Cat Fancy magazine and you will see pages and pages of breeders producing, selling and adding into this huge problem.

Shelters don’t even try to re home them because they almost never work out.  The sad news is that the agency to deal with this gorgeous cat is your local animal control department or shelter and they will most likely kill the cat.  You can copy them with my email here and my contact info and if they catch the cat we will see if we can make space for her at the time, but we are usually full and over flowing.

One of the most notorious breeders of these hybrids lives in Okeechobee, FL but nothing can be done to stop her from flooding the market with these cats who almost inevitably end up discarded.  Florida needs to pass a ban on the private possession of all wild cats and their hybrid offspring.  You can be a voice for these cats at CatLaws.com

For more visit:  Do Hybrids Make Good Pets?

Video about Hybrid Cats and Why They Don’t Make Good Pets