DIRECTIONS Compile all critical information (See the Best Friends worksheet/checklist)Best Friends worksheet/checklist Make copies of the Best Friends FAQ document for officialsBest Friends FAQ document Delete this slide from your presentation Personalize this PowerPoint presentation as appropriate Practice the presentation, keeping in mind any time constraints

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

Traditional Management Methods  Community cats are often unsocial, so they are deemed unadoptable and killed in shelters  Community cats produce the majority of kittens entering shelters  The sheltering system is ill- equipped to handle these unsocialized animals

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 Non-Lethal Management Plan  Humanely trapped  Evaluated by a veterinarian  Spayed/neutered  Ear-tipped  Vaccinated  Returned to the habitat where originally trapped

Cat Deterrents Provide non-lethal, proactive strategies Deter cats away from areas where cats are not wanted (e.g., backyard, garden) Video about cat deterrents:

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  Stabilizes and even reduces the number of cats

TNR Successes Jacksonville, Florida: Feral Freedom Jacksonville reported:  Net savings: 2007–2010 $160,000 13,000 lives  Decrease in feline nuisance complaints  31% decrease in feline shelter admissions FY06–07: 13,455 FY09–10: 10,302

Jacksonville: Feral Freedom

Salt Lake City: Feral Fix  Feral Fix program (launched in 2008) reported: 2008–2010: SLC improved its save rate by 40.4% Result: Overall cost savings of more than $65, –2010: 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 (as Reported by Some Organizations)  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 §  Gives Utah cities the freedom to release cats immediately for TNR  Community cats are eligible for release prior to the 5-day hold period

Hazards of Feeding Bans  They are 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  Criminalizing kindness is bad public policy

Problems with Cat Licensing  Difficult to enforce  May increase shelter admissions because 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  Limits are arbitrary  Negatively impacts responsible pet owners  Difficult and costly to enforce  Fails to prevent hoarding situations  May deter people from fostering animals

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 typically 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 (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 and 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!