Would not purposely hurt one of these feral cats. That being said we did have one that used to sit out in the middle of the yard when we had our other Coonhounds. After several nights of the dogs chasing this thing...and treeing it...sitting under the tree barking at it... at 2 in the morning...I did take a shot at it with a 10-22 Rifle with a scope. Hit the ground about 4" behind it...watched it take off...only came back a few times after that.