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2011
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Animals
Can't Talk DEPENDS on YOU!
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Donations are Tax Deductable
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Why
don't feeding bans work to eliminate feral cats?
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The logic behind bans against feeding feral cats is that if there is no food available, the cats will go away. This is not true. Feral cats are territorial animals who can survive for weeks without food and will not easily or quickly leave their territory to search for new food sources. Instead, they tend to move closer into human habitations as they grow hungrier and more desperate. Their malnourished condition will make them more susceptible to parasitic infestations, such as fleas, which they will spread into work places, garages, homes, etc., within their territory. The cats will also continue to reproduce despite the effort to "starve them out," resulting in the visible deaths of many kittens. As a result, feeding bans, if enforced, tend to make the situation much worse instead of improving it. A second reason why feeding bans are rarely effective is that they are nearly impossible to enforce. Repeated experience has shown that people who care about the cats' welfare will go to great lengths, risking their homes, jobs and even their liberty, to feed starving animals. |
Someone determined to feed the cats will usually succeed without being detected, no matter the threatened penalties. In addition, there may be more than one feeder and other sources of food, including dumpsters, garbage cans, and other animals. |
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Do
people take care of feral cats? What do they do?
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Many people see a roaming cat and start feeding the cat even though many communities have feeding bans meant to discourage feeding. Ideally, the person quickly does more to help the cat: If the cat is tame, the person should take steps to find the cat's owner. If unsuccessful, the person should take steps to find a permanent home for the cat. If the cat is feral, unapproachable and wary after several days of feeding, the person should find out if there are any groups in their community that are currently doing TNR and consult one of the many resources to learn about Trap-Neuter-Return (TNR).
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Once a cat or colony of cats has been TNRed, a dedicated caretaker provides food, water and shelter, monitors the cats for sickness and removes new feral cats for TNR or new tame cats for possible adoption. TNR is a strategy that many dedicated caretakers pay for out of their own pockets to help improve the lives of feral cats and reduce their numbers. Without TNR and a dedicated caretaker, the population of the colony would continue to increase. What is Trap-Neuter-Return (TNR)? Trap-Neuter-Return (TNR) is a strategy for improving the lives of feral cats and reducing their numbers. At a minimum, feral cats who are TNRed are spayed or neutered so they can no longer reproduce, vaccinated against rabies, and surgically ear-tipped on one ear (ear-tipping is the universally-recognized sign of a cat who has been TNRed). Dedicated caretakers feed and provide shelter for TNRed cats, monitor the TNRed cats for sickness and remove new cats for TNR if feral or possible adoption if tame. |
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Keep
the Cat Inside
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Cat owners can help prevent cat injury, saving their pets from pain and poor health and saving themselves from paying expensive vet bills. The following tips can help decrease a cat's chances of coming down with an injury. |
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Although there are always exceptions to the rule, domesticated indoor cats live an average of three to four times longer than outdoor cats or indoor/outdoor cats. Cats that roam outside have a greater risk of injury due to the potential exposure to traffic, dogs, other cats, wild animals, animal abusers, poisonous and sharp objects in trash cans, and other hazards. Once the cat is unsupervised outdoors, there is little an owner can do to prevent injury. |
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Olde Tyme Cats