I voted "not sure". (with the way the question was worded, I assume it was asking if I personally would do it, and not about a childrens hunting contest)
It depends on how much of a nuisance animal they actually are in the region in order to offer such an incentive and organize an actual culling effort.
I know in certain states here, there are cash rewards for turning in feral hog tails (and you're welcome to keep & use the meat), and they also have competitions around taking them out.
The justification for it being that the feral hogs do millions of dollars in damage to crops and farmland.
The fact that a hunting competition (of any kind) "draws backlash" from animal rights groups is no surprise. (they get bent out of shape over the hog hunts here too)
But I can see where the dynamics are a little different between feral hogs and feral cats.
1) You can eat the hogs (so shooting them isn't a complete waste)
2) The amount of damage they do to farmland is staggering (not sure the same is true for feral cats, I think there's is more of a problem of attacking peoples' pets and spreading diseases)
3) You're unlikely to mistake someone's pet for a feral hog...with feral cats, the visible distinctions between them and someone's pet cat are near negligible.
4) Given the risk of #3, seems risky to allow kids to make that judgment call and if feral cats do need to be culled, that should be left to the game department and/or experienced hunters. I don't think I'd be trusting 12-14 year olds (who are known to be impulsive and not make the best decisions) to be in charge of that process.
5) Difference in venue, feral cats usually live closer to cities, as to where feral hog hunts usually take place on wide open farms or hunting grounds, far away urban areas.
www.theguardian.com
