One of the small logic holes in Nathan Winograd's otherwise fine book, Redemption (review and summary here) is his notion that trapping and releasing feral cats is just fine, as they do no more damage than fox, raccoon and possum.
OK. I'll bite. You see, I hunt fox, raccoon and possum. Can I hunt feral cat too?
The great Ted Williams, outdoor writer and conservationist extraordinaire, puts an even finer point on it, calling TNR what it really is: Trap, Neuter and Re-abandon:
Trying to reason with the feral cat mafia is like, well, herding cats. In response to a plea for keeping cats indoors a feral-cat loving wacko (if you’ll excuse the redundancy) screamed this at a biologist acquaintance of mine who was giving a presentation on endangered birds killed by free-ranging cats: “If you’re so worried about the birds, you should keep the THEM indoors.” Such is the mindset of the cat mafia.
Finally, a peer-reviewed study published in Conservation Biology has given the lie to the urban legend that TNR works. Here’s the abstract:
- Abstract: Many jurisdictions have adopted programs to manage feral cats by trap–neuter–return (TNR), in which cats are trapped and sterilized, then returned to the environment to be fed and cared for by volunteer caretakers. Most conservation biologists probably do not realize the extent and growth of this practice and that the goal of some leading TNR advocates is that cats ultimately be recognized and treated as “protected wildlife.” We compared the arguments put forth in support of TNR by many feral cat advocates with the scientific literature. Advocates promoting TNR often claim that feral cats harm wildlife only on islands and not on continents; fill a natural or realized niche; do not contribute to the decline of native species; and are insignificant vectors or reservoirs of disease. Advocates also frequently make claims about the effectiveness of TNR, including claims that colonies of feral cats are eventually eliminated by TNR and that managed colonies resist invasion by other cats. The scientific literature contradicts each of these claims. TNR of feral cats is primarily viewed and regulated as an animal welfare issue, but it should be seen as an environmental issue, and decisions to implement it should receive formal environmental assessment. Conservation scientists have a role to play by conducting additional research on the effects of feral cats on wildlife and by communicating sound scientific information about this problem to policy makers.
- Related Posts:
** Cats as Predators
** Beyond the Blue Solution of Dog Shelter Death
12 comments:
This is interesting. We got permission to go ratting in Cape Town harbour a year or so ago. One of the prerequisites to this was that we use dogs that dont bite the large feral cat population who have moved in and are growing day by day.
Jonathan CT
Thank you for your Blog, and your help in saving our wildlife from those people enabling a feral pet species to predate on them.
That they could value the lives of unwanted pets over those of our fauna shows they are cat lovers, not animal lovers.
In some states (mine for example), you can hunt feral cats. However, the numbers of feral cats in rural areas (at least where I live) is rather reduced for a very simple reason: We have coyotes. Raccoons have been known to kill the odd cat, but it's a bit of urban legend that red foxes are major predators of cats.
In Australia, the feral cat is a big ecological problem. There was a eccentric millionaire who set up cat and fox free private, for profit conservation areas, and he advocated wearing cat fur and hunting them for sport.
http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1170/is_2001_Jan-Feb/ai_68210275/
I remember seeing a photograph of Wamsley wearing a catskin hat, kind of like an Aussie Davy Crockett. http://outside.away.com/outside/magazine/0899/images/hatguy.gif
I've never owned cats because 1. What they do to birds and 2. I always had a cat-hating dog (I actually don't one right now, though). One old bobcat hunter, who used his dogs to tree them, told me that you could always tell a good dog of any sort by how much it hated cats.
I don't understand groups that support TNR - but who won't adopt speutered feral cats out to farmers looking for non-reproducing barn cats.
Unfortunatley most of our local - rural - shelters fall into that category.
IMO a well-balanced population of barn cats pose far less threat to local birdlife than a single free-ranger. Barns are great habitat for rodents and large insects - and most farmers provide some supplemental food to keep a clutter of barn cats around to help control them.
So - why is it 'noble' to release ferals into cities or woodlands, but 'cruel' to let them live in a barn?
The argument is not between TNR and keeping all cats indoors. Just as there are places where cats should never be allowed to roam (especially where irreversible damage hasn't been done already by our the cats owned by our ancestors), there are many urban and suburban environments where cats are not doing any real harm, and bird populations continue to thrive. On plenty of farms, none of the creatures that cats kill were welcome in the first place -- that's why the farmers keep cats!
We domesticated cats so that they would kill for us. The fact that outdoor domestic cats were always meant as one of our weapons against encroaching wilderness is why a general policy of TNR makes no sense at all. It's like walking through the jungle with a can of Raid -- except that cats are much more destructive.
Oh don't get me started on this subject. This is one of my biggest pet peeves. Feral cats and people that let their pet cats roam willy-nilly over the countryside.
I had a feral take up residence on our property. It used a groundhog sette near our barn as its home. It stalked every small living creature on our property. I actually enjoy seeing the songbirds, the chipmunks, the squirrels, the rabbits etc. I also believe in the laws of nature. I don't mourn when a hawk or some other natural predator takes one of these. I get very angry when some cat does. I tried humanely trapping it and relocating it, only for it to show back up weeks later. Bad shot that I am, I tried shooting at it every time I saw it after trying to do the "humane" thing. It finally "disappeared" one day but spent several years living with us.
I don't believe in spaying/neutering ferals and releasing them back. These people just don't get what damage they do to natural populations of birds and the like.
I am not a cat hater, I have owned cats. All of them lived their lives indoors and were very happy to do so. The myth a cat needs to get out and roam is just that.
Feral cats pose a real danger to people also. How do you know if the tabby cat you see is someone's pet or a rabid feral cat approaching you? You don't. We had several people out my way bitten by rabid feral cats.
Why aren't the A/R people going after cat owners and only seem to go after dog owners? Why aren't cats licensed? The cat overpopulation is exploding and all these A/R nuts can concentrate on are dogs. Don't breed, don't buy, adopt from a shelter. Well there are a hell of a lot more unwanted cats/kittens than there are dogs. I am not seeing tons of ads on craigslist looking to give puppies away, what I do see are tons of ads for kittens/cats. If I don't spay or neuter my dogs, I get charged extra for a license even though I am responsible with my terriers.
It makes me sick whenever I read in my local paper some fundraiser to help spay/neuter feral cats. They are nasty, disease-ridden, and nothing like Tabby your pet cat.
M. Evans
There is the American Bird Conservancy common sense 'Cats Indoors Program'. I really like their answers and their research that they reference to back up their position. www.abcbirds.org
Take a look at it.
I still say that people in homes made from wood harvested from clear-but habitat shouldn't throw stones at feral cats. Human development has done more damage to birds than all the cats ever born.
And yes, my cats are indoors. And yes, I support TNR for ferals to reduce populations.
Something about cats that just brings the hate out. What is that? My most hate-filled letters as a pet-care columnist are from people who are complaining that a cat has dared to not respect property rights.
Yes, I think pet cats should be kept contained. But I also think people should unclench their fannies a bit. Geez, I put up with a lot of things more annoying from my neighbors than a cat crapping in my flowerbed.
If we follow the argument that we treat cats like wild animals. Nearly every state in the US has laws AGAINST feeding wild animals. Florida is one. $500.00 minimum for caught feeding www.myfwc.com
Good grief there is a lot of vitriol directed at the cat. Basically I see it as a moral issue. Humans domesticated cats and made them incapable of living as a truly wild animal. Unlike Mr. Winograd I do not wish to compare ferals to wild animals. They are domesticated animals that have been failed (often more than once) by the humans that made them. The only ethical thing humans can do is allow them to live in peace and make sure we don't create more. The idea behind TNR is a sound economic/ecological principle. There is a limited food source for feral cats-generally near dumsters or where there is a kind human feeding them. If they are trapped, neutered, vaccinated, and returned to their colony, you are creating a stable and healthy population that is not going to continue growing. A simple ear tip on the left ear lets any know that that cat has been fixed. If another cat shows up, that cat can be trapped and either TNR'd or if he or she is simply a stray abandoned and otherwise friendly, adopted into a real home. Whether you love cats or hate cats, the idea behind TNR is to limit cat population and suffering. The problem with the trap and kill method of feral cat management is multitude. 1) you create a vacuum where there is suddenly an underutilized food source-how long do you think before new cats either move in or the remaining cats over breed to take advantage of that food source? Unfortunately too many people view cats as being disposable and dumping a cat by the road where it can "fend for itself" is too common. 2) the costs to the taxpayer is much higher. You will never get the same cooperation and volunteerism with catch and kill methods as you do TNR. The kindly neighbor who sets food out for the strays is not going to call the pound to kill "her" cats, but she might contact a rescue to spay and neuter them for her. 3) ethics-I cannot stress that enough. killing a cat for simply being outside and not being the owned and claimed property of a person is not ok. These are sentient creatures, they are the same species as the cats the millions of Americans cherish as family members. Your own dislike of cats does not give you a moral right to kill them. (Not necessarily speaking to anyone in particular). 4) Liability. One poster claims that people in their area are being bitten by rabid cats, which I truly doubt as the rabies statistics are simply not their to back up their claims. But let's say you are a government agent, you have the choice of embracing TNR-which includes rabies vaccination and a deworming, doing so allows you to claim to me making efforts to support public safety and health. And with volunteers acting as the long term support network, you get to have years of support and effort, versus a weekend killing cats in a park.
I guess most of the posters missed the premise of Nathan Winograd's book. There is no pet overpopulation problem, there is a human managment problem. Ethically we can make the decsion to help dogs or cats, or we can choose to spread hate and malice towards those dogs and cats that don't "belong."
If more cat lovers with yards made screened porches or used those neat 'cat-proof' outdoor fences, they could have the best of both worlds... a safe outside area for their cats to play in without needing to let them roam freely everywhere else.
Though I'm not sure how coyote-proof that cat fencing is.
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