Monday, July 4, 2011

STRAY CAT RUNAROUND: Complex city ordinance to regulate stray cats prompts protests

Photo credit Roselien Raimond
Permits, hearings, appeals, courts, fees, rules, regulations to hit Columbia's stray cat caretakers 

COLUMBIA, 7/4/11  (Beat Byte) -- By making care for stray cats bureaucratically-complicated, a new Columbia city ordinance will starve more cats than it helps, and may even lead to an explosion in the stray cat population, say members of a local pet advocacy group.  

In Council Bill B172-11, Council members will vote to regulate some 33,000 stray cats and their caretakers.  The new ordinance seeks to permit, regulate, and charge citizens who care for stray-- or feral -- cats.  It has prompted SNAP (Spay Neuter And Protect) to rally protesters for Tuesday night's Columbia City Council meeting.  

"SNAP (Spay Neuter And Protect) opposes the ordinance because it places too many burdens.  Costs will increase for the city and volunteers.  More cats will die," said SNAP member Peggy Gray.  "We’re asking folks to join us at the City Council meeting on July 5 (wear green) to let City Council know that Columbia citizens want humane laws that support our community’s cats and their caretakers."

With tax-code style complexity, the new law would confer broad new regulatory powers over people who care for stray cats -- mostly a labor of love done in spare time on a tight budget.  It requires that stray cat caretakers acquire a $25 permit based on an application filled with information about the strays; and mandates over a dozen rules that control everything from cat feeding schedules to leukemia testing and many things people don't even do for their own beloved felines.   

SNAP argues that it already performs many of these services "for free" through a simple "Trap-Neuter-Return (TNR)" program proven effective in reducing stray cat numbers across several studies nationwide.   The new law, they claimed in a public Powerpoint presentation last month, is so cumbersome that it will not only discourage people from humanely reducing the stray cat population, but may prove counterproductive, leading to a surge in cats that are not only stray, but starving too

"Columbia needs humane laws that encourage Trap-Neuter-Return, which decreases feral cat numbers," Gray explained.  "The new law will make it even harder to do TNR. It is costly and difficult."  

COUNCIL BILL B172-11

8 comments:

  1. Trapping and/or sterilizing as a solution is a failed concept from Day-One.

    There are now about 150M feral-cats just in the USA, and 86M pet-cats (60M of which are still allowed to kill all wildlife), this means the population is already oversaturated for a long time. There's only 311M people in the USA. 2 cats exist for every 3 people, from infant to senior. Thanks to those who outlawed destroying them in a more efficient, often more-humane, and more cost-effective manner by shooting. While they also promoted their slow, random-chance, inefficient, and failed trapping programs.

    I alone was able to completely rid my land of all feral-cats by shooting. Cats had completely decimated the food-chain, destroying not only all the prey that their cats disemboweled for play-toys, but all the predators that depended on that prey, starving all native predators to death as well. (Now there's REAL animal cruelty for you, caused by cat-lovers.) Shooting cats is perfectly legal where I live, and is even a more humane method when done right than slow and terrorizing trapping and animal-shelter methods. One moment they are happily stalking helpless animals to torture again, the next they are dead and don't even know what happened. Making your land 100% cat-free is something that cat advocates haven't been able to solve nation-wide for 30-40 years. On my land only 1 person in only 2 seasons was able to accomplished what they couldn't in decades. Why is that? It's time for you all to grow a spine and do what needs to be done. If it's not legal where you live then use the "SSS Cat Management Program", for Shoot, Shovel, and Shut-Up. That's legal everywhere in the world.

    Nobody wants more than 86M cats for pets. Keep in mind too their exponential growth-rate. An average litter of 5 cats every 5-6 months (some say 3X's a year), breeding as early as 6-months of age. 2 can become 42 (up to 252) cats in only 1 year. No amount of trapping them (if you could even get them all to enter traps), nor valuable resources (transport and vet costs, etc.), man-hours, nor money will ever catch-up to their growth rate. You have an ecological, human-health, animal-welfare, and financial disaster on your hands, ALL thanks to cat-lovers and TNR proponents. The faster that cats can be destroyed the better. Even when using guns and having all stray and feral cats shot on-sight we might still not be able to catch-up to their exponential growth. Not even until every last land animal (including humans) is gone from this earth, due to cats destroying the whole food-chain, with nothing but cannibalistic cats left walking the land. No exaggeration. Do the math. Exactly that can happen in your lifetimes. Just ask any TNR group how many cats they've trapped. They haven't even begun to scratch the surface of the problem that THEY CAUSED and are only exacerbating with their lies. Using the birth-rate info, guess how many will be born in just this year? Even when underestimating by one-half to be safe -- 1 BILLION 575 MILLION CATS. Got enough traps? YOU CRIMINALLY PATHETIC FOOLS.

    Solution: Make cat-ownership AND care-taking of feral-cats a FELONY with fines and prison for anyone failing to comply until this problem they created is brought under control by any and all means possible. Shoot-on-sight is, without a doubt, the fastest, most economical (0.3 cent to 3 cents per cat depending on ammo prices), and most effective method available. This is also the only method that doesn't endanger nor harass any other animals with non-discriminatory random-chance traps. Though avoid poisons if at all possible, that once entered into the food-chain, will go on to destroy more of the very wildlife that you are hoping to save from destruction by cats. Whatever you do though, please bury or incinerate the carcasses so all the deadly diseases that cats now carry won't go on to further infect the native wildlife, nor any other humans that might come in contact with them.

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  2. Here's a few questions that I (and EVERYONE) need to ask all TNR advocates and feral-cat caretakers ... though they never answer these questions, for ANYONE. (Just more proof of how disrespectful, deceitful, and irresponsible they are.) Don't be shy, TNR people, any of you are free to answer any of these questions for once in your lives ...

    Once you have claimed ownership of these cats through your actions, do you carry enough liability-insurance for all the damages YOUR CATS will do (not if) when you release them? Or for all the health-care costs YOUR CATS will cause to all humans with all the diseases YOUR CATS now carry? Like Toxoplasma gondii, which becomes a lifelong illness once YOUR CATS infect a human with it. Or, should one of YOUR CATS contract rabies during its lifetime because you were unable to trap it again to vaccinate it. How many $MILLIONS in liability-insurance do you carry if one of YOUR RABID CATS should bite a human? How about anyone who has lost business due to YOUR CATS running off customers because of the diseases they spread everywhere? Like what happened in Miami where YOUR CATS spread hookworm on all the beaches where YOUR CATS defecated. Can you repay everyone for their $MILLIONS, if not $BILLIONS, in losses of health, life, business, and property? Do you even know what the charge is if YOUR CATS are found destroying endangered plant or animal species? How much money for damages will you pay to the person whose wildlife you've completely decimated on their woodland property? Do you have enough money to pay for any daily or weekly land-use fees that people will be charging you for you using THEIR LAND for YOUR CATS? Usually all done without anyone's permission I might add. Are you even aware that what you are doing falls CLEARLY under the definition of "Biological Warfare"? No lie. Do you want to be tried in court and charged with this crime against all of humanity and all of nature?

    Are you doing all of this completely irresponsibly without regard to the health and welfare of any other animal nor human life? If so, have you considered you could be thrown in prison for a long long time for all of this extremely criminal and irresponsible behavior of yours?

    You might want to start thinking about these things. Your actions DO have consequences, and those are consequences that you may not enjoy ... for the rest of your miserable, unthinking, uncaring, inconsiderate, and wholly disrespectful cat-loving lives.

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  3. HSUS article, "Feral Cats: A Tale of Five Cities" http://www.animalsheltering.org/resource_library/magazine_articles/mar_apr_2005/feral_cats.pdf

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  4. Outdoor Cats and Wildlife, http://outdoorcatsandwildlife.com/Index.asp,

    "hunting cats with rifles... is simply unrealistic in the majority of settings, and he ultimately admits that "even lethal control won’t solve the problem." If we want to protect wildlife, we have to do more than just complain about the problem of feral cats. We have to objectively analyze all possible approaches to solving the problem, on a setting by setting basis, using consistent criteria."

    Even if you don't like cats, helping control them through TNR is a responsible and reasonable solution that also protects the public and reduces nuisance behaviors.

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  5. Cities who practice proven models of TNR are those that acknowledge their responsibility and are actively DOING something about feral & community cats to facilitate humanely reducing their numbers. Spaying & neutering both owned and feral cats reduces complaints about problem behavior which SAVES the city money. Those cities & groups which practice a proven model of TNR may be eligible to receive grants from different organizations.

    One example, the city of London, Ontario, pays $100 per cat to have it TNR'd & returned to the colony caretaker.

    Public concerns & involvement with TNR are directed to that city's animal welfare coordinator. That person makes arrangements with the animal welfare group who traps the cat(s) & gets them TNR'd, which includes a rabies vaccination. [Oral bait rabies vaccines are provided to raccoons by a different government agency, not the municipal government.] Maintaining a population of vaccinated animals within the city is preferable & less expensive than continually trapping & killing. Feral cats are only vaccinated once. Since spayed & neutered cats largely eliminates fighting, there is a huge reduction in disease transmission between feral cats. Owned spayed & neutered cats are also less likely to be infected by feral cats who are part of a TNR colony.

    Feral cats are afraid of people & pose little risk. Feral cats who are part of a TNR colony pose even less risk. The CDC has stated that both owned & feral cats pose little zoonotic [disease] risk to humans. The greatest risk to people from cats occurs when they are mishandled. Feral cats should not be taken to the pound, so the city should not rent out traps to catch them. TNR reduces the health risks to Animal Control Officers when the city stops accepting feral cats & refers people to someone who does TNR instead.

    In this way, the city works WITH vets, volunteers & the compassionate & caring public to help make the city better for everyone. If the city wants to demonstrate how to responsibly care for animals, TNR is recommended.

    Info about feral/community cats on the city of London website, http://www.london.ca/d.aspx?s=/Animal_Services/Feral_Cats.htm

    Cities which embrace all the programs that demonstrate how to responsibly care for pets & feral cats actually end up saving taxpayers money & improving their city. Cities that educate about handling dogs & cats reduce bites from pets more than place that have bans on specific breeds of dogs. Such communities demonstrate that pets are not disposable, so they implement programs & stop killing animals to attempt to control their population. When such paradigm shifts occur, those cities demonstrate to everyone that animals have value. Many cities currently lack the leadership to do this, but it can be done if they hire people who understand what needs to be done & have good leadership skills & imagination. ("Four Million Shelter Animals Want You!
    http://www.nathanwinograd.com/?p=4335)

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  6. While the city of Calgary in Alberta has mandatory license laws for owned dogs & cats (feral cats are TNR'd & registered through the TNR group, not licensed), 100% of the money from licenses goes towards care of shelter animals & funding spay/neuter programs for low income people. Those who license their pets receive a special discount card that can be used at many businesses (I Heart My Pet, http://content.calgary.ca/CCA/City+Hall/Business+Units/Animal+and+Bylaw+Services/Animal+Services/I+Heart+My+Pet/Program+Summary.htm)

    Animal Services: "The City encourages responsible pet ownership through licensing, public education and enforcement." http://content.calgary.ca/CCA/City+Hall/Business+Units/Animal+and+Bylaw+Services/Animal+Services/Animal+Services.htm

    TNR in Calgary, Alberta is mostly handled by the MEOW Foundation, http://www.meowfoundation.com/bins/content_page.asp?cid=101-464&lang=1

    "Feral cats do not have to be licensed and they are not included in the bylaw. The bylaw pertains to owned cats with a fixed address. All TNR cats that MEOW handles are permanently identified with a tattoo and/or microchip as members of MEOW Foundation. If TNR cats are accidentally surrendered to vet clinics or other shelters, MEOW will be notified and the cats will be returned to their caregiver and location. TNR cats have the right to live out their lives in Calgary neighbourhoods with the support of their caregivers. MEOW applauds The City of Calgary Animal and Bylaw Services for their support of this humane and compassionate animal management strategy."

    The reason TNR'd feral cats are usually ear-tipped as well is to help identify at a distance which cats have already been spayed or neutered.

    As far as I know, feral cat colony caregivers are NOT registered with the city, but with an independent organization who will keep their info private.

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  7. Here is an interesting post from someone who believed in all the lies she was told about TNR programs, found at http://blogs.smithsonianmag.com/science/2011/05/the-secret-lives-of-feral-cats/

    "I have been battling a feral cat population explosion on my farmette for 7 years. TNR does not work, as the trapped and neutered cats do not keep new cats from moving in and adding kittens. I have trapped over 25 kittens, tamed them, and found homes for them, but every spring there are dozens more. I have spent countless dollars neutering females and males, but they just keep coming! I have few wild birds now, fewer snakes, and there are bunny parts all over my property (cats must not particularly like the back feet). I wish there was a birth-control feed available, since many of these feral cats don’t come near the traps even when hungry. I wish every pet owner would neuter their cats so that these colonies weren’t added to.
    These are not happy feral cats, they frequently have infected eyes, worms, and are skinny and mangey. I don’t know what the answer is, but even in the country, a feral cat doesn’t live a secure, comfortable life.


    Comment by Dawn Hawes — June 21, 2011 @ 9:38 am"

    And YOU TOO can have a financially-distressed life ruled by diseased and nature-destroying cats JUST like this if you also believe in all their TNR LIES.

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  8. Here's a fun read to PROVE how effective TNR programs are.

    "In NYC there are currently 465 registered TNR colonies. When TNR began in these colonies, 6047 cats were present – today, there are 4523 cats present, a decline of approximately 25 percent." (Quoted from an Alley Cat Allies member who was SO proud of this.)

    Of those 6,047 cats they've only REDUCED the total by 1,524 cats, about 127 PER YEAR. That's only 0.4% of the 373,000 feral-cats within the city's limits.

    Guess how many have been born IN JUST THE LAST 6 MONTHS (hoping like hell that they're not breeding every 4 months). Let's do the math...

    (1/2 total = females) 186,000 X 5 (avg. number in a litter) = 932,500 NEW CATS. Which lowers the number of them that have been reduced by TNR idiots to only 0.16%. THEY ARE GOING BACKWARD!

    Guess how many will be born in another 6 months? (932,500 / 2) X 5 = 2,331,250.

    Remember. the first 186,500 females are still breeding. For another 932,500. Add in the pre-existing 373,000, bringing the grand total in just ONE YEAR to 3,636,750 CATS. NEARLY FOUR MILLION. Which means that TNR groups have only reduced the cat-population by 0.04% of them. That's not even ONE-HALF of ONE-TENTH of ONE-PERCENT.

    373,000 cats become nearly FOUR MILLION CATS ... IN JUST *ONE* YEAR. Keep in mind too, these are the numbers in JUST ONE CITY.

    Catching on yet to how TNR people are just spinning wheels in the sand and accomplishing NOTHING?

    Well, they are managing to torture cats and torture or starve-to-death all native wildlife, annihilating the whole native food-chain with an INVASIVE-SPECIES, and spreading deadly or lifelong illnesses to all manner of animals and even humans while doing all this. Including even the plague today!

    http://outbreaknews.com/2011/07/29/colorado-stray-cat-tests-positive-plague/
    http://www.pagosasun.com/archives/2011/07July/072811/webplague.html

    So much for that oft spewed urban myth that cats would have saved everyone from the plague in Europe. If the cats infect the rodents with Toxoplasma gondii, then cats even attract the plague right to your door since the toxo-infected rodents are now attracted to cat-urine. Cats would have only made the plague even more intensive and an even larger disaster. As they will this time around.

    I guess cat-lovers ARE actually doing something! But more aware people would see this for what it actually is, Biological-Warfare. Plain and simple. Don't believe me? Look it up. Not only are they using their cats as dangerous biological agents harmful to humans and animals, but the diseases their cats carry are even more harmful to humans and animals.You've just gotten so used to what they're doing that you don't recognize it for what it really is today--BIOLOGICAL WARFARE. A crime against all of nature and all of humanity. Putting a crate of anthrax in the hands of a terrorist would be safer. At least the terrorist may or may not use it. Whereas a cat-advocate will BE SURE to use their cats to destroy and infect everything in their wake. We can only hope that punishment for these crimes they keep committing will be "hanged until dead".

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