Community Cats and Trap/Neuter/Return

SPEAKER’S NAME CREDENTIALS ORGANIZATION AFFILIATION (If Applicable) CONTACT INFORMATION Phone INSERT A PICTURE OF THE SPEAKER HERE

Free-Roaming Cat Dynamics  Ownership status Owned Unowned  Lifestyle Indoor only Free-roaming outdoor Free-roaming unowned  Socialization status Friendly Unsocialized  Continuum Move from one lifestyle to another

Community/Free-Roaming Cats  Exist in all types of environments  May impact: Public health Environment Cat welfare  7% to 26% of U.S. households feed community cats* *American Association of Feline Practitioners

Control Methodology  Community cats are often deemed unadoptable and killed in shelters  Community cats produce the majority of kittens entering shelters  Lethal control, used for decades, is the primary method employed

Trap and Kill  Ineffective  Fails to curtail population growth  Costly  Leads to compassion fatigue: High employee turnover in shelters Taints public image  Publicly unpalatable

Philosophical Shift in Animal Control “The cost for picking up and simply euthanizing and disposing of animals is horrendous, in both the philosophical and the economic sense.” (Mark Kumpf, President, National Animal Control Association, 2010)

Trap/Neuter/Return (TNR)

TNR: A Comprehensive Management Plan  Humanely trapped  Spayed/neutered  Ear-tipped  Vaccinated  Returned to the original habitat  Non-lethal deterrents recommended

What? You Return Them?

Benefits of TNR  Reduces shelter admissions and euthanasia rates  Improves public health  Provides access to grant funding and volunteer participation  Decreases nuisance complaints

TNR Successes Jacksonville, Florida: Feral Freedom  Net savings: $160,000 13,000 lives  Decrease in feline nuisance complaints  31% decrease in feline shelter admissions: FY ,455 FY ,302

Jacksonville: Feral Freedom

Salt Lake City: Feral Fix  SLC Feral Fix Program (launched in 2008) : SLC improved its save rate by 40.4% Result: overall cost savings of more than $65, : Utah save rate only improved 4.7%  In 2010, SLC realized a 21.8% decrease in shelter cat intake from 2009  No increase in feline nuisance complaints

Other Examples  Maricopa County, Arizona: cost per cat $61 to trap, hold and euthanize $23 to TNR  Indianapolis, Indiana: cost per cat $130 to trap, hold and euthanize (national average) $20 to TNR (IndyFeral)

Utah Community Cat Act § The Community Cat Act gives cities the freedom to release cats immediately for TNR

Hazards of Feeding Bans Impossible to enforce Starving cats continue to breed Desperate cats move closer to homes Malnourished cats are more susceptible to illness and parasites Other food sources are available

Problems with Cat Licensing  Difficult to enforce  May increase shelter admissions: If too costly, people relinquish cats  Hard to market for indoor-only cats  TNR implications: Cost-prohibitive Cats are not “owned”

Hazards of Pet Limits Negatively impacts responsible pet owners Difficult and costly to enforce Fails to prevent hoarding situations Limits are arbitrary

Cats Are Not the Primary Threat to Birds  “By far the largest threat to birds is loss and/or degradation of habitat” Human development Agriculture  Chemical toxins  Direct exploitation: Hunting Capturing birds for pets Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Threats to Native Birds

Liability  Unsocialized cats tend to avoid people, thus minimizing likelihood of contact  Community cats are vaccinated against rabies  Liability results from negligence A municipality’s involvement in TNR for the purpose of reducing free-roaming cat populations, protecting public health (through mandatory rabies vaccinations), and resolving nuisance complaints is NOT negligence

Advantages of Adopting a TNR Ordinance  Promotes community involvement  Establishes reasonable standards  Defines duties  Encourages caregiver cooperation  Gains caregiver trust

Effective Public Policy  Must consider the human dimension  No solution works in every area  Need creative, integrated programs  Must be cost-effective  TNR (for maximum effect) Caregiver trust/cooperation Adoption

Existing Resources in (insert name of city/town/or county) Compile a list of all resources available to support TNR of free-roaming cats: Funding Existing programs Volunteers Cooperative agreements Etc.

Ask them for what you want Be clear and concise Do you want: Money? If so, how much? Bans lifted? TNR ordinance adopted?

Thank you!