There were women dressed as cats and hunters in flannel and orange ready to stand up for their right to vote.

The scene looked like a political convention with harsh words about the opposing side, but the candidate of interest here was furry and cute to some and mangy to others.

"Well these people don't get together very often, this should be interesting," Andy Beversdorf said of his thoughts as he walked into the Wisconsin Conservation Congress meeting on feral cats at Madison's Alliant Energy Center in 2005.

What was at stake was the fate of cats roaming free across Wisconsin, and whether there should be a hunting season to get rid of them.

"It's like swatting a fly," a hunter said of fixing the problem.

"Feral cats aren't native to Wisconsin, but neither are white people," the other side blasted back."

Beversdorf picked the feral cat fight that took place here three years ago for his first documentary project in part because of the extreme positions people were taking.

"Another thing that interested me was why hunters were trying to expand the number of species they were trying to take," he said.

What Beversdorf came away with is "Here, Kitty, Kitty," an hour-long documentary that holds a mirror up to both sides of the issue.

"It's got drama, conflict and strange characters," he said.

The film debuted last winter to a sold-out premiere at the Majestic Theater in Madison and will soon be getting play in San Francisco and Newport, R.I., at film festivals. The DVD version of the film was released last night.

What Beversdorf also came away with is a highly-entertaining look at people on both sides of the issue. "Here Kitty, Kitty" is funny at times, but also shows the passion people have about feral and free-range cat problems.

The film starts out with the public's chance for input on Question 62 - the right to hunt cats - and a vote by the Wisconsin Conservation Congress, an advisory body on natural resources.

What took place was a media circus that grabbed national headlines, and put Wisconsin in a bad light as the state trying to kill cats.

"We expected the fur to fly, if you pardon the pun," said Brian Standing, who shot the footage for the film, and also runs Prolefeed Studios in Madison that financed the project.

"There were a lot of people nervous about these people getting together - hunters on one side and activists on the other."

Before they started filming at the meeting, Beversdorf and Standing were stopped because of all their equipment. "They thought we had a gun," Standing said.

The film goes well beyond a vote on the issue, with Beversdorf and Standing heading to Merrill to interview Gordon King, the so-called "Merrill cat killer" who drowns cats on his property. Beversdorf shows the legal action that was taken against King, and the subsequent acquittal of the cruelty to animals charge brought against him.

King calls himself a disciple of Aldo Leopold in the film, and says the reason Leopold walked with a heavy stick was to "bop feral cats."

The film also showcases the group Dane County Friends of Ferals for the non-hunting point of view. And it also takes on the people in the middle like Julie Motisi, a Rio farmer who has taken in many feral cats and raised them, but who also sees the problem with some feral cats like the one that killed kittens she owned.

"The movie is really more about the (gap) between people with different points of view," Standing said.

Beversdorf grew up in the Adams-Friendship area and now lives in Madison. He said there is that country versus city perspective he sees, but he does not take any sides in the issue.

"I tried to keep a real open mind, and I'm always trying to keep a real open mind when I do journalism work," he said.

Beversdorf said he saw how people taking extreme positions on the issue led them to manipulating the truth.

"A lot of people who were pro cat didn't seem to want to admit they had a special place in their hearts for cats," he said. "On the other side of the issue, people were suddenly interested in how many birds were killed (by cats)."

The bird-loving side of the issue in the film claims there are 1.4 million free-range cats - meaning cats outside without collars - in Wisconsin. And they kill more than seven million birds each year.

Beversdorf said both sides see his movie as supporting their views on the issue.

"The movie I tried to make was about people and not cats," he said.

"Most feral cats in Wisconsin are tied to humans in some way."

While he has no film background, Beversdorf met Standing while working at the radio station WORT in Madison. He helped Standing on his film "War is Sell," and in return, Standing convinced Beversdorf to take the lead on the next project.

"It was his idea. I told him I will help you out with the next film, you pick the topic," said Standing, who did the videography and editing.

Standing said it's been a slow build for the film, but "Here Kitty, Kitty" could become popular on the East and West coasts in the festival circuit.

Beversdorf said there is a curiosity from the rest of the nation as to what those "rednecks in Wisconsin" are up to.

While the film starts out showing democracy, it ends with the Congress not following the people's wish for a hunt.

"If we were talking about wild dogs in Wisconsin, I don't think we would have seen near the sympathy as we have for cats," Standing said.

About the film

-- What: "Here Kitty, Kitty."

-- Director: Andy Beversdorf.

-- Where: To order a copy, go to www.prolefeedstudios.com and hit catalog.

On TV

PBS will air an episode of "Director's Cut" at 6 p.m. Sunday that will have an interview with Andy Beversdorf about the feral cat issue.