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| | | Why establish a feral cat colony? ìJust kill them!î That is too often the response given by local officials in reference to a feral cat ìproblemî. It is NOT the answer and it is a wrong response for anyone to make, much less a government official. When killing is the ìeasy answerî where is the humanity? Feral cats are not the problem, people are. People abandon their cats or they drop them off somewhere to get rid of them, or they leave them outside to pretty much fend for themselves. Rarely are they spayed or neutered, subsequently they reproduce. The kittens are born never knowing human touch and grow up wild. Thus feral cats are created. Even former pet cats, when left on their own and chased from place to place can revert to a more wild state. However, when taken in and properly re-socialized they end up being great pets once again. So, how then, do we handle feral cats humanely and ethically? By establishing and managing feral cat colonies! It is a simple, humane and very ethical solution. Of course it does take commitment and some funding. The commitment is usually very easy to find because many, many people love cats and are willing to participate in humane programs on their behalf. The funding is not hard to find either, but it does take a little work. Once a colony is established its population will slowly decline through natural attrition. Whenever a new cat shows up it must be removed. The established members of the colony probably will not like it to begin with and it is most likely a pet that has been lost, abandoned or dropped off. The feral cat problem will go away. Being in a managed colony the cats are out of the reproduction business, theyíre all vaccinated and healthy and since they are fed they will eventually tend not to roam about. But everyone knows cats are responsible for the decline in songbird populations! That is as true as everyone once believing the world was flat! Yes, occasionally the cats do catch birds. They are predators after all, part of natureís plan. However a well-fed cat colony will hunt fewer birds, if any at all. The decline in bird populations is a human caused problem too. Habitat destruction, pollution, flyway disruption and so on are the real causes not cats, which have been around here for hundreds of years. And cats are far more likely to prey on rodents to satisfy their instinct to hunt, which can be a benefit to most neighborhoods. Another frequently heard complaint against cats is their use of gardens and childrenís sand boxes as their toilets. Both of these are very inviting to an animal that buries its bodily waste. After all a sandbox is just a big litter box! Providing an area near a cat colony that is easily dug will service their ìlitter boxí needs. Of course it does have to be cleaned occasionally or they wonít use it. Cats are cleaner than many people after all. There is no doubt that roaming cats can be a nuisance. But killing them simply is not an appropriate solution. Squirrels, rabbits, woodchucks, deer and many others can be a nuisance too, yet there are no calls to wipe them out. Feral cats are a human caused problem, one that must be humanely solved by compassionate humans. |