Stray cats addressed at local meeting The City of Las Animas, Animal Assistance Foundation, Pueblo Animal Services, and the Ark Valley Spay/Neuter Alliance hosted a public meeting on August 26 in City Council chambers. The meeting dealt with community cats (also referred to as free roaming cats, stray cats, and feral cats). Julie Justman and Kimberly Boudreau from the Pueblo Animal Services presented information about the Trap Neuter Return (TNR) program which addresses the problem with stray cats. As the name suggests, cats are trapped, neutered or spayed by a licensed veterinarian, and returned to the same location where they were trapped. The left ear of the cats is notched horizontally for easy identification. Long term care by a person identified as a colony manager is provided which includes feeding, watering, and providing protection from the elements. Much of the work involved in trapping and providing shelter is done by volunteers. There are costs involved in the program, some of which will be absorbed by colony managers, but grants may be available as well. The presenters indicated there are about 50 million stray cats in the United States which give birth to about 147 million kittens per year. Pet cats number about 73 million and those give birth to about 33 million kittens yearly. Based on those figures, stray cats produce about 82% of kittens born. The advantages of the TNR program are: nothing else works; its more aligned with popular attitudes; volunteers are used; there is a costs savings for local governments; there is caretaker cooperation; and long term monitoring takes place. The presentation continued by informing attendees about the procedures to follow to implement the TNR program. Colony managers and other volunteers should locate colonies of cats, establish a feeding schedule, obtain traps and eventually bait them for trapping. Respect for the rights of property owners in the area was stressed. Once the cats are trapped, the traps are covered to reduce stress and the cats are transported to the nearest veterinarian for surgery. Individuals are cautioned to take care in trapping and at no time should release the cat even if it is injured. Once the cat(s) are returned to their original location it is up to the colony manager and others to monitor them carefully, feeding them and responding to any emergencies which may arise. If possible, provision of economical winter shelter was suggested. Volunteers were cautioned not to overfeed, to clean up after the colony and were also told to be aware of how the program might affect adjacent property owners. Several deterrents were named to help property owners keep cats off of their property. The meeting closed with a question and answer session and a request from the City Council to have individuals sign up as volunteers. A committee is in the process of being formed consisting of those volunteers and City Council members to plan and implement the program. The City of Las Animas, Animal Assistance Foundation, Pueblo Animal Services, and the Ark Valley Spay/Neuter Alliance hosted a public meeting on August 26 in City Council chambers. The meeting dealt with community cats (also referred to as free roaming cats, stray cats, and feral cats). bcdemocratonline/article/20140906/News/140909946#ixzz3CdZ4fAEr
Posted on: Sun, 07 Sep 2014 13:44:22 +0000
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