Bird Advocates Feral Cat Information

PRINCETON: 56 feral cats removed from neighborhood

2009-08-26T03:59:00.000-06:00

According to Animal Control Officer Mark Johnson, Princeton Borough has a cat problem.

Following repeated reports of songbird slayings on both Wilton Street and Cedar Lane, Mr. Johnson brought his cages to the neighborhood about two months ago and took 56 feral cats into custody.

The cats seemed to have been coming in and out of one Wilton Street residence in particular, Mr. Johnson said. Apparently, the woman who lives in the residence had tried to take care of the felines.

According to Mr. Johnson, the woman said she called Animal Control last year asking that someone pick up about six cats her daughter had brought from New York. Mr. Johnson had denied the request, saying he could only pick up strays. Since then, Mr. Johnson said the cats have had kittens and those kittens have had kittens and “it definitely got ugly from there.”

Kitty on a plate (Down under)

2009-08-07T04:17:00.000-06:00

Take environmental author and artist Kaye Kessing, she reckons you should never boil a cat because they are far better roasted. I’d never considered that. But it did make me pause to think. Mind you, she does have a cracking recipe for feral moggy that she cooks with quandong and native lemongrass that she calls a “catterole”.

This is an environmentalist who is really sinking her teeth into the issue of feral animals. She’s been putting pussy – feral pussy – in the pot for around 17 years on her 40 hectare property in the Northern Territory. Inspired by stories of the local Aboriginals feasting on feral cat, she traps them, skins them, pan fries them and then braises them in the crockpot.

While it’s not likely to ever be a mystery ingredient in a Master Chef challenge, it does show a certain commitment to her green passion. A sort of a twist on the: use it or lose it doctrine – more a: use it and lose it mindset.

Holyrood battles cats

2009-08-07T03:55:00.001-06:00

"While it was agreed the cats probably help with containing vermin,"

Scientific studies have shown:
“Cats at artificially high densities, sustained by supplemental feeding, reduce abundance of native rodent and bird populations, change the rodent species composition, and may facilitate the expansion of the house mouse into new areas.” (Hawkins, C.C., W.E. Grant,and M.T.Longnecker.1999.Effect of subsidized house cats on California birds and rodents. Transactions of the Western Section of The Wildlife Society 35:29-33)
Taking pity on the unwanted pets enables them to prey on our native fauna! There is nothing compassionate, non-lethal, nor humane about them killing hundreds of millions of our birds, reptiles, mammals, and amphibians each year! Those cats create an environmental emergency, not an animal welfare one!

How can I help homeless cats in the Tampa Bay South Shore area?

2009-08-06T15:06:00.000-06:00

My post:
You may have heard of Dr. Christine Storts, the vet who appealed to the Florida Wildlife Commission several years ago to end the killing of our native fauna by pets. She is dead set against maintaining such colonies. She is also dead set against letting house cats roam free.
Dr. Storts wants to see all cats indoors or on leashes all the time, and no feral cat colonies, even if that means trapping and removing strays, many of which will inevitably be killed in shelters. The environmental damage the cats cause and the diseases they can spread are too important to ignore, she said.

Arivaca gets help with feral cats

2009-08-03T00:15:00.001-06:00

My post: Rodent control? Did you know house mice are more prevalent in areas WITH cats? Don't believe me?

East Bay Regional Park District, CA: A two-year study
was conducted in two parks with grassland habitat. One park
had no cats, but more than 25 cats were being fed daily in the
other park. There were almost twice as many birds seen in the
park with no cats as in the park with cats. California Thrasher
and California Quail, both ground-nesting birds, were seen
during surveys in the no-cat area,whereas they were never seen
in the cat area. In addition, more than 85% of the native deer
mice and harvest mice trapped were in the no-cat area,whereas
79% of the house mice,an exotic pest species,were trapped in the cat area. The researchers concluded, “Cats at artificially high densities, sustained by supplemental feeding, reduce abundance of native rodent and bird populations, change the rodent species composition, and may facilitate the expansion of the house mouse into new areas.” (Hawkins, C.C., W.E. Grant,and M.T.Longnecker.1999.Effect of subsidized house cats on California birds and rodents. Transactions of the Western
Section of The Wildlife Society 35:29-33)

TNR for Feral Cats is Horribly Cruel and Only Makes People Feel Better

2009-07-31T14:52:00.002-06:00

My second post: Corinna, your cats are nowhere near so successful as the feral cats my neighbor feeds. After I lost a pair of Mockingbirds and a Bluejay that had been nesting here for years I stopped going out in my yard completely.
My garden and flower beds were plowed under, and my grand children's sandbox taken apart. I hire my yardwork done now.
I go to my garage to check and reset my Havaheart trap several times daily, and transport the cats to Animal Control.
Even one bird or native animal killed is too many, when it is killed by an unwanted domestic pet!

My post:
Cats are a pet species, and as such should never be abandoned into the wild, much less be subsidize fed and enabled to predate on our wildlife, and compete with our natural predators. The killing of our fauna by pets is anything but compassionate, humane, and non-lethal!

Wild cat problem

2009-07-31T04:51:00.001-06:00

"We're inundated with cats," said Bishop, who serves as the cruelty investigator for the OSPCA of S, D and G. "On a bad day, we can get 20 cats a day. We're full all the time (at the shelter)."

That is precisely what opponents of TNR have been telling you for years! You cannot trap, neuter, release enough pets to stem the tide! Meanwhile the unwanted pets continue to kill hundreds of millions of our native wildlife each year!

Who would think cats are controversial?

2009-07-31T03:55:00.002-06:00

Another post: My last sentence was, "Does this sound compassionate, non-lethal and humane?" Your counting mechanism lied to me. Mr. Phinny, I am not trying to be disrespectful to you. I am a 63 year old combat veteran of Vietnam, yet it brings tears to my eyes my grandchildren have never heard a covey of Quail calling to each other to regroup, or enjoyed the flight of the Meadowlark, another ground nesting bird.
Okay, so millions of people love cats, but when and why did unwanted pets become entitled to kill our birds and other wildlife?

I posted in response to your post, "Bob is still barking about animal overpopulation":
"That was touching, Mr. Phinny. I would suggest in your next blog about feral cat colonies you may want to add a kind word about the estimated billion of our native birds, mammals, reptiles, and amphibians they kill each year.
The presence of tens of millions, perhaps as many as a hundred million predator pets in our ecology is not an animal welfare problem, but an environmental emergency!"
You did not respond to my suggestion there. Instead you write another blog referring to "fairly vitriolic comments I’ve received in response to a couple of my posts on cats." I would not term my comments above as anything but passionate and factual.
Perhaps you would care to explain why you support the perpetuation of millions of an unwanted feral pet population in our ecology enabling them to kill hundreds of millions, perhaps a billion, of our native fauna? Does this sound compassionate, non-lethal and humane?

Rabid skunks in Norfolk put spotlight on management of feral cats

2009-07-31T03:23:00.001-06:00

My post? The method of pet control called euthanization completely eliminates more risks of rabies transmission from them to people. It is also protects our native population of wild animals that actually belongs in the wild from predation by unwanted pets!

Bob is still barking about animal overpopulation

2009-07-28T05:28:00.002-06:00

My post:
That was touching, Mr. Phinny. I would suggest in your next blog about feral cat colonies you may want to add a kind word about the estimated billion of our native birds, mammals, reptiles, and amphibians they kill each year.
The presence of tens of millions, perhaps as many as a hundred million predator pets in our ecology is not an animal welfare problem, but an environmental emergency!

Cats Running Wild In Biloxi

2009-07-28T02:20:00.004-06:00

More from me:
What is humane, compassionate, or non lethal about feeding and enabling a domestic pet species to kill what many estimate as up to a billion of our native animals each year? Domestic pets have no place in our ecology!

My post:
Since when did it become acceptable to abandon and re-abandon pets outdoors into our ecology? Our priorities here should be our native birds, mammals, reptiles, and amphibians those unwanted cats are hunting and killing!
This is not an animal welfare issue, but an environmental emergency. Perpetuating another colony of pets will help no one!

Keep cats indoors for their own safety and wildlife's

2009-07-25T19:47:00.000-06:00

Mr. Shalaway is a straight shooter for certain. Pets running loose in our ecology is a runaway catastrophe, if you will pardon the pun. When you're discussing the millions of feral and homeless cats don't let anyone tell you the priority is a matter of animal welfare, it is not! Their predation is furthering the extinction of our native fauna which makes them an ecological and environmental threat. Pets, in particular the cat species, should never be allowed or enabled to destroy our wildlife!

Trap-neuter-return effort making headway on feral cat

2009-07-23T06:56:00.001-06:00

My post: These people think they're making headway? Putting them back on the street is no way to do that! All they're doing is enabling their pets to destroy our wildlife.

The mule spins a new yarn

2009-07-20T15:12:00.003-06:00

(This one is off topic)

My comment:
That French talking mule reminds me of the time Boudreaux sold raffle tickets on his mule, but that's a long story. A shorter one is the time we saw a skinny blind mule at the auction. The ex fell in love with it, naturally, she loved most anything of the equine nature. The only bidder on it was #500, the canner. He bid $20. The ex looked at me with that pleading look and I bumped the bid up a whole dollar. The canner bid $22, then must have figured we would rehabilitate that old mule because he let me buy it for $22.50.
The next day we drove up in a Dodge 3/4 ton to pick up the mule. The ex, being smarter than me, argued the whole way that mule would never load up in that truck. I asked her politely to back into the nearest ditch, telling her son John (age 15) and I would drop the tailgate and get some ropes if she'd go lead out her mule. As she led the mule out one of our friends drove up pulling his four horse trailer, and he politely offered to help. She, again knowing more than me, loaded the mule in his trailer and rode past waving gaily and pointing toward the house, as John and I stood there twiddling our fingers and whistling "Dixie."
Our friend delivered the mule to our house, and I insisted he take twenty dollars for his gas. This was before the price of oil went up, but not before the price of blind mules doubled. The ex headed toward the back yard with her mule, but I stopped her, asking her to back the truck up to our driveway, which was on an incline. I took the mules lead rope, dropped the tail gate, slid out a 2x6, put one of the mule's hooves on it, and told him to load up, and he tippy-toed into the truck like a ballet dancer!
The equine expert's jaw had dropped open, but she managed to ask how I'd known the mule would load in a truck. Well, I explained, he'd gotten blind somehow, and since he was the perfect size for a coon-hunting mule it was only logical he'd done it running through the woods behind the hounds. How do most coon hunting mules get to the woods? In the back of a truck, of course! That old mule sure did love riding in trucks.

What should I title this, crying for the birds?

2009-07-19T04:46:00.004-06:00

It's been a while I've been blogging here and we are that much closer to the extinctions of many of our Lone Star States, and worlds, birds and animals. During that period I found the wings and a few body parts of a Mockingbird on my front porch. Yes, a Texas Mockingbird, one of our Texas State Birds.
This Mockingbird was further distinguished, I believe, in being one we had found as a fledgling victim of a cat attack. He was the only survivor of his clutch, and we hand fed him, rehabilitated him, then released him. How do I know this was the same one? Well, I've dealt with Texas birds and animals for over six decades, this ain't my first rodeo.
He showed up the next year and hung out around our bird feeders, he was less fearful of us than the rest of the birds, though he wouldn't come to us, as if we'd have asked him to. We're not talking Walt Disney here, people.
The next year he attracted a mate, after several days and nights of singing and stomping one of the treetops in our back yard flat. Hell I've done that, too, when romancing a woman.
They set up their nest in a loquat tree in our front yard, the front yard we'd given him flying lessons in before his release. We worried and watched and ran the neighbors cats off, fearing a repeat of the attack that had nearly killed him before and had left him ours to raise.
Somehow, they made it through the first year, and the next, and a third, with him strafing everything that came into the yard except us, his protectors, his foster family.
I'm not even sure how many years he held out, but there were a number of them. It may have been old age done him in, or the sheer numbers of cats that trespassed here. I found his remains on my front porch. I wrote a poem a few years ago and titled it "Who cries for the birds?" This old man does.

It’s Not About Your Cat, It’s About MY Birds!

2009-07-19T02:37:00.004-06:00

This is an important blog about conservation I just read at "My Purple Martin Blog." The blog master there is a very well informed and articulate person and I believe you will find a visit worth the trip.
Thanks.

Should you feed feral cats?

2009-07-18T15:33:00.004-06:00

Another reply from me: OH, MY DOG! THE RODENTS ARE COMING! My home had a cow pasture behind it when I moved here, now it's a subdivision. I've never had to import cats to keep rodents down. I buy warfarin blocks every six months or so. Now, here's a scientific study about cats and rodents.
Dr. Cole Hawkins conducted a study of two grassland parks in the East Bay Regional Park District in California--one with no cats and one where over 20 cats were being fed daily. -----------
In addition, over 85 percent of the native deer and harvest mice trapped were in the park without cats, whereas over 75 percent of the house mice (an exotic pest) trapped were in the park with cats.

My response: I have read more criticism of the neighbors in this situation than for the lady who has been cited for the third time. Let's examine the situation responsibly, shall we?
The neighbors resent unwanted pet animals being attracted to their property, for whatever reason. Perhaps they are in fear of coyotes being attracted. I have heard that is a possibility in California. Perhaps they have a roach phobia, many people do. Maybe they love the birds and other fauna cats kill for the sport of it, or perhaps they simply don't like cats!
Whatever their reasoning is, they own or lease the property and their objections should be respected! I have owned my home for over twenty years, for half of that time a neighbor has maintained a feral cat feeding station. I tried to reason with him, he cursed at me.
I plowed my gardens and flower beds under, and took down my bird nests and feeders. I dismantled the grand kids sand box.
My hobby now is trapping cats and taking them to the Animal Control.

Feral cats feed flea outbreak

2009-07-18T14:27:00.000-06:00

Her trailer home and yard, she said, are constantly being reinfested by the many feral cats in the neighborhood, cats that are being provided food and water by an elderly neighbor on an abandoned lot next door where a trailer had burned a couple of years ago.

As a result, Saucedo said, the cats have reproduced from a couple two years ago to an estimated 40 today - and carrying fleas that are plaguing the entire neighborhood.

The cats get under the trailers, where they fight, shed, defecate, spray - and spread fleas, Saucedo said.

How do you ask a neighbor to control their wandering cat?

2009-07-18T01:04:00.004-06:00

How do you ask a neighbor to control their wandering cat? I had this problem nearly forty years ago, and told the neighbor I was concerned about the safety of his pet. I'd seen his huge cat inside the tall cedar fence I'd built around my family yard where my dog was chained. The cat owner was rather arrogant when he answered. perhaps too arrogant for me to take lightly. He laughed and said no one dog alive could ever hurt that big cat of his!
That made me wonder at his lack of curiosity as to why I had built such a tall, expensive fence around my dog, then sometimes chained him with a solid link chain. It was not to protect him, I assure you. "Duke" was out of Alaskan Indian sled dog stock, and he had been bred, born, and raised 160 miles from the nearest paved road or street light. His sire must have been part Saint Bernard, judging by the width, weight, and strength of his and all of his five puppies heads, shoulders, and bodies.
I had sent Duke home, and my parents graciously went out of their way to accommodate the imposition of a six month old, 100 pound puppy when he arrived. Perhaps they understood what a large part that puppy had played in my own healing and coping process in having returned from the Republic of South Vietnam to the United States, then being sent to a remote site in Alaska for a year of what we sometimes called solitary confinement or lock down.
It seems to me I mentioned my conversation with the neighbor to my Dad, who had never had much use for cats (cats kill wild game). I forget if it was before or after the incident that occurred, it may have been both. Dad had seemed to like the dog, or at least respected him, and certainly had spared no expense or effort on building him a large stout kennel, one Duke had immediately escaped from. Dad had repaired it, but Duke was not comfortable in it until I came home and told him to "stay." After that Duke would stay in his six foot kennel, if not chained, until I called him from the front yard, then he'd jump it, then the shorter fence on the side yard. He'd come and sit beside me, ready for whatever adventure I had planned for my time off from work.
Oh, what happened to the monster cat? Well, it seems the only thing I'd ever seen Duke afraid of was a humongous wolverine we'd encountered in Alaska when he was just a pup, and anyone with a lick of sense knows to get out of Dodge when a wolverine comes after you! That damned arrogant cat never had a chance.

Beverly Hills City Council puts off feral cat issue until August

2009-07-17T23:44:00.002-06:00

Excuse me, Peter, but if I had worked hard enough or had been lucky enough to have inherited money to own that property, I would have guards around the perimeter to protect me from people or animals who felt they could intrude on my property.

Okay, so what's your point? You resent it rich people like their privacy? I check my Havaheart traps in my yard several times each day to ensure the trapped pets are not suffering, they hire it done, because they can afford it. No problem.

So don't abandon your pet, there is no place in our ecology for it!

No, we can't, Peter, and we have to make a responsible and adult choice. Has there been a shortage of the domestic cat species in the last four hundred years? They are driving hundreds of species to extinction, I know my choice, what's yours?

Raining cats and ... more cats Feral feline population exploding

2009-07-16T08:13:00.007-06:00

...Whatever the TNR groups are trying to do matters not! What they accomplish is perpetuating the predation of an unwanted pet on our already threatened wildlife! The cat orgs cripple realistic and responsible efforts at eliminating the cats through their write ins, boycotts, etcetera, then say, see that didn't work!

...And still more: Before you say it, I'll tell you your next move, Cat org rhetoric number 47 (or whatever.) "Cats are only an extinction threat on islands." Well, shake it or break it, no man is an island, but our ecology is, and it may be twenty miles or three hundred miles between areas our song birds can feed or nest in. Your feral cats have a full bowl of cat munchies available night and day somewhere on every block in most residential areas.

More: As long as it is not the weak or the sick cats' right? Can you name me one time in the last 400 years the domestic cat species has been faced with extinction?
"Domestic cats are consid-
ered primarily responsible for the extinction of 33 bird
species since the 1600s. In New Zealand alone, cats
were primarily responsible for the extinction of eight
bird species and the eradication of 41 others from
islands. There are at least 90 million pet cats in the
United States, and perhaps an equal number of stray
and feral cats. Scientists estimate that our nation’s
free-roaming cats kill hundreds of millions of birds."

More yet: Attrition? That's another cat org myth! Los Angeles was one of the birthplaces of TNR, and how well has it worked for them? I read yesterday one of the cat orgs themselves had said Los Angeles County had three million cats, compassion, non-lethal, humane that! How many tons of our wildlife do you suppose they kill each day?

And more: Yes, and by enabling the cats to be well-fed, stronger, better predators you become part and parcel to our threatened wildlife's extinction!

More replies to rhetoric!: Yeah, yeah, right. Just what part of that is supposed to be a rational reason for us to ignore the hundreds of millions or billion of our birds, mammals, reptiles, amphibians, and fish the second largest largest threat, cats, kill? Your cat org. rhetoric is showing! That loss is not sustainable! Look it up, it means we will be hip deep in unwanted cats, as the title of this story says, "Feral feline population exploding", and our wildlife they're killing will be gone down their gullets!

My post: Through this entire story not one person mentioned any remorse for the thousands of our wildlife those pets kill each year, they show no concern for nature at all! I hope they're not teaching their children to be so irresponsible too!

Middlebourne tackles cat issue

2009-07-15T14:25:00.001-06:00

My post: I am so glad to see officials who act responsibly and decisively on the environmental problem of unwanted pets! I was recently told by a TNR manager Los Angeles may have as many as two million cats. Mind you, that's where TNR originated about twenty years ago, and they call that a success?

Dawson stated the traps would be checked daily and any cat that does not have a collar would be held for five days so the owner would have a chance to claim it.

Dawson stated, "Anyone who owns a cat needs to make sure that it has a collar.'Since there is no Humane Society in Tyler County, the council agreed that this would be the next best thing to do.

"It is not safe for people to work in flowerbeds where cats have made a deposit. People can catch diseases from it if you don't wear gloves while working," stated Dawson.

Feral cat program advances in city

2009-07-15T04:33:00.003-06:00

A second post:
Los Angeles could easily be called the birthplace of TNR roughly two decades ago. I was told a few weeks ago by a TNR backer there may be as many as two million feral cats in Los Angeles today. I can agree some plans take time to work, but all they've accomplished in twenty years is to perpetuate the cat colonies, and kill off millions of our native fauna.

My post:
"Supporters said the feral cat plan will be a humane way to control the animals' numbers while saving the city money on shelter costs."

The supporters just happen to be cat lovers and could care less the unwanted pets will resume urinating and defecating all over the city as soon as they are released from the vets. They will also resume killing their share of the billion of our fauna estimated to be killed in the United States yearly. Wave goodbye to the tourist dollars birders and true animal lovers would have spent in your area. No one spends money traveling to see feral cats. There are far too many of those crapping in our own back yards.

Rehoboth’s feral cats: helpless animals or menace to society?

2009-07-14T23:35:00.000-06:00

“One we call Meatloaf. He has no hair on his back; it’s just all open sores and red. I mean, it’s just pathetic that animals are allowed to breed like that,” she said.

Bruce Southard, who owns Fun In The Sun, a scooter shop next to Celebration Mall, said the cats have taken up residence under his repair shed.

“My mechanic said if I don’t do something about it, he’s quitting,” Southard said. “He just can’t take the smell anymore.”

Southard said the cats have urinated on a tarp he was using to cover up a scooter in the back. If they climb inside, the cats also defecate on the scooters.

Feral cats in Beverly Hills get a reprieve, but one caretaker could face jail time for feeding them

2009-07-14T23:18:00.000-06:00

Katherine Varjian obviously adores those cats, her neighbors don't. Her rights to attract and feed unwanted pets ends where her neighbor's property rights begin! If I were them I would be busily trapping and transporting cats to the nearest animal control, as I do on my own property each day.

"Kitten Thinks Of Nothing But Murder All Day."

2009-07-13T15:18:00.003-06:00

Update: I found one source for the quote, The Onion. It's only funny because it's so true.

Seen on the internet(s), I've forgotten where, but the quote has stayed with me. A blogger posted about a T-shirt they had seen with a picture of the cutest little kitten in existence. Ever. In a blurb were the words: "Kitten Thinks Of Nothing But Murder All Day."

More of "The Truth When It Comes to Cats"

2009-07-13T14:32:00.003-06:00

My reaction to a comment about catbibs:
I have never had the inclination to buy a catbib, put it on a cat, seek medical help and blood transfusions for numerous lacerations, then release said cat and observe it from my death bed. However, I have heard from numerous sources it is almost as effective as bells on a cats collar, which only work with birds who are musically inclined.

Feral cat policy amended for consistency

2009-07-13T08:58:00.003-06:00

Can anyone say, MEOW! The cat orgs have spoken? Well I say let's all have a word with our local vet, hmm?

Background information provided with the recommendation stated that "Because the results of research regarding the effect of managed cat colonies remain ambiguous, and because the profession is so philosophically divided on this issue, the AWC continues to believe that a policy neither opposing nor supporting managed colonies is the most appropriate one at this time."

An ongoing conversation on a cat gurus blog and here...

2009-07-13T05:14:00.006-06:00

This is an answer of mine to a response to Anonymous at LA Animal Watch The owner of that blog, Ed Muzika, and I have exchanged our views both there and here on our blog.

You feel these millions of unwanted pets somehow have an entitlement to continue to live outdoors in colonies murdering our wildlife and fouling our property because you somehow value their lives more than you do a half billion or billion of our native wildlife? Doesn't that sound irresponsible to you? It certainly does to me and most of our citizens, when it is presented to them in a rational form.

"The wild" belongs to our wildlife, the cities to the kitties? Wouldn't a better term be the outdoors? You see our migratory birds don't read street and city limits signs, and yes, there used to be and still are populations of our wildlife in and around our major cities. You may rarely see them in your city, but also consider I was told recently by a TNR practitioner there are perhaps as many as two (2) million feral cats in LA, perhaps the capital of TNR. Would you care to boast about how hugely successful TNR has been in the last twenty years?

Ah, there it is. You rate eradication success by number of shelter impounds. Would you admit the shelter population may be influenced by the large numbers of cat ranchers in California feeding their stock daily, and touting their successes?
Yes, I am being sarcastic here. The cat ranches don't stop the predation on our fauna, or the use of our lawns as cat boxes.

Thank you for making my point! TNR has no chance of success against that sort of numbers, yet you continue to hamper eradication efforts at every opportunity!

Of course I do, I value the lives of homeless dogs, too. Do I want to see colonies of homeless dogs subsidized fed and killing our wildlife? No, thank you.

Welcoming Birds Back to a Remote Alaskan Island

2009-07-12T21:11:00.002-06:00

My post? I first became interested in Alaska’s Aleutian chain in 1968 when I was issued orders to the Alaskan Air Command’s radar site at Shemya, which is also in the chain.
Luckily, I was diverted to Sparrevohn, AFS, on the mainland which was still remote, but considerably less barren.
I commend your efforts and add my best wishes for your continued successes.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

Last summer, when biologists walked along the rocky cliffs on Rat Island, one of more than 2,000 islands in Alaska’s Aleutian chain, they encountered an eerie silence. This place should have been a cacophonous and lively melee of bird calls.

The reason for the silence? Invasive rats. They colonized the island after a Japanese fishing vessel wrecked against its rocky shore in 1798. Their numbers multiplied, and for more than two centuries the voracious rats have preyed on bird eggs and young chicks. The birds gone, silence spread from shore to shore.

Cat Fight

2009-07-12T19:08:00.000-06:00

My post: The cat enablers easily forget their pets are exactly that, a domestic pet species. There should be laws against their abandonment outdoors, especially where they threaten the survival of our endangered native fauna. Hey wait a minute, there already are laws in place, they just are not being enforced! Keep the faith, Mr. Green!

"The Proposed Ordinance to Criminalize Feral Cat Colony Management"

2009-07-12T18:03:00.004-06:00

My post has been allowed and answered: Please remember feral cats are domestic animals and it seems unconscionable to me you support their abandonment into the dangers they encounter in the cities.
Most of you show no regard for the rights of other citizens to have their property cat free.
I see little mention or concern for the natural fauna they prey on. You have no compassion left over for them? Their killing by your pets is anything but compassionate, humane, and non-lethal!

How Do I Get My Cat To Stop Killing Birds?

2009-07-12T07:37:00.002-06:00

My Comment: Please do the responsible and adult thing and keep your pets indoors! This will stop the bird killing and protect your pet from the hazards in our ecology. Traffic hazards, antifreeze spills (accidental or intentional), and dogs and other critters can all kill your cat. It may even be unlucky enough to roam into someone’s yard to hunt and find itself in a Havaheart trap, destined for Animal Control.

The Truth When It Comes to Cats

2009-07-12T07:10:00.001-06:00

“Hunting behavior in cats is very controversial, especially if the prey is songbirds or endangered rodent species. Some cats hunt, some cats don’t, and it has more to do with what a cat learned from his mother than from the rumbling in his belly. Plenty of well-fed cats are very active hunters.”

My comment: Controversial? It certainly should not be. Cats are a domesticated pet species and as such should never be allowed to roam outdoors. Their presence outdoors creates an environmental and ecological problem which should be dealt with by confinement or eradication.
Attempting to treat it as an animal welfare issue by enabling cat colonies perpetuates the environmental and ecological problem, ie, pet predation on our native fauna, and is morally reprehensible.

BIRDS ETCETERA—Birds, Birding, Birders, and Birdwatching: Ducks Like Rain Showers (Surprise, Surprise)

2009-07-11T14:10:00.001-06:00

BIRDS ETCETERA—Birds, Birding, Birders, and Birdwatching: Ducks Like Rain Showers (Surprise, Surprise)

News from Tony Peacock

2009-07-11T12:03:00.003-06:00

Ever wonder how the war against ferals is going "Down Under?" Visit "News from Tony Peacock" CEO-Invasive Animals Cooperative Research Center

Group sterilizes feral cats, releases them

2009-07-11T04:18:00.001-06:00

Another comment from me: Logically speaking, if we proceed thinking clearly about the priorities in this which is an environmental emergency, rather than a pet welfare one, the eradication or containment of the pet species indoors are the only responsible, moral, and ethical choices.

"Jackie Mabe says that if it weren’t for feral cats, the city would be overrun with rats, mice and snakes."
Tell Jackie for me she doesn't know beans about rats and mice.
The following are summaries of specific studies:
East Bay Regional Park District, CA: A two-year study
was conducted in two parks with grassland habitat. One park
had no cats, but more than 25 cats were being fed daily in the
other park. There were almost twice as many birds seen in the
park with no cats as in the park with cats. California Thrasher
and California Quail, both ground-nesting birds, were seen
during surveys in the no-cat area,whereas they were never seen
in the cat area. In addition, more than 85% of the native deer
mice and harvest mice trapped were in the no-cat area,whereas
79% of the house mice,an exotic pest species,were trapped in the cat area. The researchers concluded, “Cats at artificially high densities, sustained by supplemental feeding, reduce abundance of native rodent and bird populations, change the rodent species composition, and may facilitate the expansion of the house mouse into new areas.” (Hawkins, C.C., W.E. Grant,and M.T.Longnecker.1999.Effect of subsidized house cats on California birds and rodents. Transactions of the Western
Section of The Wildlife Society 35:29-33)

Cat vs Dog?

2009-07-11T02:17:00.003-06:00

I have often warned cat owners before about exposing their feral or roaming pets to the dangers outdoors. I have usually had guard dogs confined on my property and that's what they did, protected my property and the other animals I raised there. My chows would kill any cat caught trespassing. If that sounds cold to you perhaps you will consider the cats were there hunting something to murder themselves.
Years ago, back when a landowner still had property rights, I warned a neighbor about the huge cat he had coming into my back yard with my large Husky out of Alaskan Indian sled dog stock. He laughed and said “No dog alive could hurt that bad cat!” Okay, I’d warned him.
The next time I saw the cat in my yard I let my dog off his chain to protect my property. The cat weighed almost thirty pounds.

One solution to the feral cat problem

2009-07-11T01:04:00.001-06:00

My response:
I was raised with a strong respect for our wildlife and our responsibility to manage and protect it. My dad was raised soon after the depression when your ability with a rifle or shotgun often meant the difference between meat in the pot, or a mess of wild poke salat. His interest in later life translated into protecting his quail and other game from the feral cats and he used the same shotgun.
Outside of a barn cat or two he had no tolerance for them, and I agree with that philosophy. I have had to to confine my activity to using a Havahart trap in the yard. It breaks my heart to say it's been years since I've seen a covey of quail or a Meadowlark, both ground nesting birds. It's about time I took a trip to the country, away from those damn cats, and looked some up.

The felines invade

2009-07-10T19:10:00.000-06:00

The Georgetown Homeowners Association has asked McDonough County Animal Control to set traps for at least four feral cats that apparently wander the subdivision after sundown. At least one resident has described the cats as “very aggressive” and capable of attacking families and their pets.

The letter was shared late this week with the county board’s human resources and planning committee. In detailing the request, Homeowners Association President John Meixner wrote that the cats have been seen on the north and south sides of Carriage Hill, with at least one reported seen in a yard on Richmond Road.

Assistant State’s Attorney Kristen Petrie, who lives in Georgetown, told the committee Thursday that residents were warned about the cats in the subdivision’s monthly newsletter.

Anderson woman fights littering citation for feeding feral cats

2009-07-10T11:48:00.003-06:00

My response:
I have a cat fancier living two doors down from me. He refills the food bowls in his garage often, consequently there are always six or eight cats lounging in his front yard.
His hobby ruined mine. The cats come down here to hunt and kill birds so I had to stop feeding them and take down their nests. The cats leave their scat and spray in my garden and flowerbeds, so I plowed them under. My grand children can't go outside and play because of the filth.
I've taken up a new hobby, cat trapping, and it seems to be working very efficiently with his hobby now. He attracts the cats, I trap them. The hobby keeps me exercised carrying them to the humane society to be put down. I may have to buy another Havahart trap, I caught two in one day last week.

Disputes claims that studies show TNR to be successful

2009-07-09T20:48:00.001-06:00

TNR groups are quick to say that studies show it to be effective, but they never cite the names of the actual studies and the groups that performed them. It is like the medical recommendation to drink eight glasses of water a day. When researched, the eight glasses a day recommendation is found to be an urban legend. No medical group ever made such a statement. It was a myth repeated over and over until it appeared to be fact. The same goes for TNR's efficiency.

But there are several studies performed by credible groups that show TNR is not successful at all. Among them is a study of two large, long-term TNR programs in California and Florida, published in the Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association. It showed TNR to be ineffective in reducing cat populations.
--------------------------------
Project TNR is a program of the New Jersey Animal Rights Alliance. This organization will say or do just about anything to protect animals. Should what it says be trusted without verification? Are these really the people you want dictating what you must tolerate regarding nuisance animals and how your government must deal with them?

Euthanasia of some animals may be unnecessary in a world designed by the animators at Walt Disney, but we live in the real world.
David Blumig
State-Certified Animal
Control Officer
East Brunswick

Ozzy 'Devastated' As Pet Dog Eaten By Coyote

2009-07-09T20:01:00.000-06:00

Kelly, 24, told her online followers that the Black Sabbath rocker was upset by its demise.

"My dad's dog Little Bit was eaten by a coyote last night in LA," his daughter 'tweeted'.

Coyote killed after attack on Port Coquitlam toddler

2009-07-09T19:55:00.000-06:00

Conservation officers have euthanized a coyote after it attacked a toddler in Port Coquitlam.

The two-year-old girl suffered bites to her head and neck during the encounter Monday morning near the playground at Central elementary school, according to reports.

The girl is recovering with minor injuries.

It's not normal for coyotes to pursue adults, particularly in urban settings, according to the Ministry of Environment website. If an animal does attack a child, it's usually because the coyote has been fed and has become comfortable with humans.

Is Feral Cat Predation on our Fauna Sustainable?

2009-07-09T19:12:00.003-06:00

Is feral cat predation on our fauna sustainable? I'll answer that question with another. Is there a valid reason we should risk the extinction of more of our wildlife to find out? Feral cats are the unwanted discards of our society, living their lives on the edge. Most survive day to day, if they manage to dodge cars, dogs, coyotes, raccoons, traps set to catch them, and disease, then find a human to feed them, or another animal to kill.
There is growing evidence their millions are changing our environment, and feeding that change with the meat torn from their bodies by an increasing number of coyotes. What further changes will this hungry population of coyotes bring, with them coming into our neighborhoods to hunt the cats they're competing with for their natural prey animals? Is there a valid reason we should wait to find out?

Feral cat problem prompts trapping plans in Freetown

2009-07-09T18:23:00.003-06:00

My post there: This illustrates what can be done when we react to the cat issue with a united front! Destructive pets of any kind should never be tolerated in our yards and streets, much less colonized!

Feral cat problem prompts trapping plans in Freetown
"The action comes after complaints to Rep. Stephen Canessa, D-New Bedford, from residents who said the cats have been destroying property and urinating and defecating near people's homes."

On Feb 3, 1999, Executive Order 13112 was signed establishing the National Invasive Species Council.

2009-07-09T14:50:00.001-06:00

On Feb 3, 1999, Executive Order 13112 was signed establishing the National Invasive Species Council. The Executive Order requires that a Council of Departments dealing with invasive species be created. Currently there are 13 Departments and Agencies on the Council.

Feral cat outbreak in Freetown

2009-07-09T11:38:00.003-06:00

Residents are warned not to feed the
felines

My comment?
There should be no tolerance for pets loose in the wild! The cat lovers create a perpetual environmental problem when they subsidize feed them and enable their constant predation on our wildlife. They choose to inflict those unwanted pets on the rest of us and our ecology!

What you can do to help feral cats.

2009-07-07T21:41:00.001-06:00

My post:
Pets loose outdoors in our environment is not a problem of helping feral cats, but one of ending their destruction of our native fauna! It is neither compassionate, non-lethal, or humane to enable them to slaughter millions of our fauna each year.

One more go round with Kristy Winfrey

2009-07-07T21:14:00.002-06:00

My post: You will never convince me the life of millions of unwanted domestic pets is worth the cost of one of our natural fauna, much less the billion they murder, no!

TNR and the Scourge of Feral Cats

2009-07-07T20:49:00.002-06:00

My response:
I have a rude neighbor who feeds strays 24/7
I have a Havahart trap that is set 24/7, too. I have so much business I've been thinking of buying at least one more trap. All of the cats I catch make the trip to our local animal control, and as far as I know it is one way.

How to trap a feral cat

2009-07-07T15:20:00.001-06:00

My post:
The "benefits" to a feral cat of being re-abandoned are dubious at best. Their accumulative effect on our native wildlife is devastating! The practice should be outlawed... Hey, wait a minute, it is against the law to abandon pets in most if not all of the United States, and it is against Federal law to endanger migratory wildlife. So the practice of TNR is against the law, the laws aren't being enforced!

Protestors Oppose Control of Raccoons to Save Federally Listed Piping Plovers

2009-07-07T09:23:00.002-06:00

This is at The Wildlife Society Blog, a blog and organization I enthusiastically endorse. My input?
The raccoon problem is yet another wildlife crisis the TNR proponents have contributed to with their feeding stations. I recall an interview Mr. J.R. Yeager, a former TNR manager who has served on the San Francisco Commission of Animal Control and Welfare had with Linda Winter, the former director of the Cats Indoors Campaign.
Mr. Yeager stated in part:
“Late this summer I began observing an adult raccoon and four offspring traveling from one feral cat feeding station to another eating the cat food I put out, sometimes even before the cats had a chance at it. My first thought was: quit eating my cat food. But then one evening at a particular location where I had seen them most often there was just one of the offspring, all alone, and it dawned on me then that the way its mother had taught it to fend for itself was from an artificial food supply that I had created. And if I withdrew that food supply what would happen to that small animal? And then of course I wondered if the cat food I was putting down every night was possibly responsible for an unnatural reproduction rate of at least this raccoon family? I don’t know the answers to these questions, but I do know that my actions are most likely having a disruptive impact on the natural order of the wildlife in this area.”

I am extremely upset right now.

2009-07-06T21:35:00.005-06:00

Today I read an account a self-styled amateur naturalist wrote about finding the blood trail and feathers where a federally protected migratory game bird, a White Winged Dove, had been murdered in his own front yard, while his outdoor cat sat calmly and watched him investigate not thirty feet away from the scene on a cushion on a couch on his front porch!
I couldn't write fiction scenarios any worse than this, folks!

Seen at "Terrierman's Daily Dose" Cats as Predators

2009-07-06T05:06:00.003-06:00

(More at link above)
In their campaigns and protests, Animal Rights folks seem to overlook the domestic cat as a wildlife killing machine that does far more mayhem in the countryside than anyone hunting with dogs.

Keene rabies case prompts warning

2009-07-05T17:32:00.000-06:00

One cat infected with rabies in a Keene neighborhood led to the death of 20 others, rabies shots for three people and sparked warnings from local authorities for pet owners to have their cats vaccinated.

After one neighborhood woman was scratched by a strange-acting cat, the animal was put down and tested positive for rabies.

But another woman who had been feeding the feral cat, along with a half dozen of its brothers and sisters, had to surrender her own cats because they may have been exposed to rabies and she couldn't prove vaccination.

Critical Assessment of Claims Regarding Management of Feral Cats by Trap–Neuter–Return

2009-07-05T17:16:00.001-06:00

TRAVIS LONGCORE*‡§, CATHERINE RICH*, AND LAUREN M. SULLIVAN†
*The Urban Wildlands Group, P.O. Box 24020, Los Angeles, CA 90024-0020, U.S.A. ‡Department of Geography, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA 90089-0255, U.S.A. †Department of Geography, University of California, Los Angeles, CA 90095-1524, U.S.A.
§Address correspondence to Travis Longcore, email longcore@urbanwildlands.org

Abstract: Many jurisdictions have adopted programs to manage feral cats by trap–neuter–return (TNR), in which cats are trapped and sterilized, then returned to the environment to be fed and cared for by volunteer caretakers. Most conservation biologists probably do not realize the extent and growth of this practice and that the goal of some leading TNR advocates is that cats ultimately be recognized and treated as "protected wildlife." We compared the arguments put forth in support of TNR by many feral cat advocates with the scientific literature. Advocates promoting TNR often claim that feral cats harm wildlife only on islands and not on continents; fill a natural or realized niche; do not contribute to the decline of native species; and are insignificant vectors or reservoirs of disease. Advocates also frequently make claims about the effectiveness of TNR, including claims that colonies of feral cats are eventually eliminated by TNR and that managed colonies resist invasion by other cats. The scientific literature contradicts each of these claims. TNR of feral cats is primarily viewed and regulated as an animal welfare issue, but it should be seen as an environmental issue, and decisions to implement it should receive formal environmental assessment. Conservation scientists have a role to play by conducting additional research on the effects of feral cats on wildlife and by communicating sound scientific information about this problem to policy makers.

Fort Hood: Cat shooting unfortunate, but legal

2009-07-03T11:52:00.001-06:00

(Keep your pets indoors, especially when living next to an Army Installation with trained snipers!)
A Fort Hood policy against feral animals justified the shooting of a 1-year-old tabby cat by an installation game warden April 28.

The cat, "Yellow 2," left his owner's Maxdale Road property and roamed several feet onto Fort Hood, where a game warden shot him.

Fort Hood's installation pest management plan allows game wardens to kill suspected feral animals to prevent the spread of diseases such as rabies and to protect endangered species, said Chuck Medley, acting director of emergency services.

Let Them Eat Cat =- Best use of free-roaming cats I've heard of yet:

2009-07-02T23:28:00.001-06:00

My comment: This blog would be totally amusing to me except I can imagine what a nuisance the rapidly increasing population of yodel dogs will become as they expand more and more into the suburbs. They will be taking out back yard pooches, as well as kitty snacks.
I've been blogging against TNR for several years, you may have seen my posts around the internet. The added input is most heartening, I'll lift a toast in salute to your efforts. Thank you.

Beverly Hills Says: Starve the Cats - Or Go to Jail

2009-07-02T07:18:00.001-06:00

(If they have an ordinance against feeding cats, she broke it)
Beverly Hills to Jail 65-Year-Old for Feeding Stray Cats

BEVERLY HILLS, Calif., June 30 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- On Wednesday morning, July 1, 2009 at 8:30 a.m. in Beverly Hills Superior Court, 9355 Burton Way, Division 2, Katherine Varjian, age 65, could be sentenced to jail for feeding stray cats. Varjian has been doing this for 12 years at her own expense. Without her, the cats would starve, or be picked up by the shelter, or be euthanized.

Each morning and each evening, the little group of 20 or so cats come quietly padding into an alley in the lushly landscaped and star-studded City of Beverly Hills The cats are so hungry, but not starving thanks to Varjian who has reduced the stray/feral cat population and found homes for as many as 40 cats and kittens yearly, for the last 12 years.

Neighbors, blaming Varjian for the profound increase in coyotes have signed a petition to force her to stop feeding the cats. They claim that Varjian, feeding only a two block area, is responsible for the increase in predatory coyotes throughout the entire Beverly Hills. The reality is that park like conditions, access to water, mansion-ization in the hills and canyons and drought conditions have sent the numbers of coyotes on residential streets sky rocketing in search of food.

Woman: Eagle flew off with cat

2009-07-02T06:44:00.002-06:00

(Keep your pets indoors, people! The birds are retaliating!)

Ellen M. Majka was inside her home on Prescott Hill when she saw a bald eagle swoop down into her neighbor's yard.

It was the first time she saw a bald eagle in the neighborhood.

But even more surprising was what she saw in its talons when it flew back up - a black cat.

Cuts hamper feral efforts

2009-07-02T06:12:00.001-06:00

My post: Does it feel good for you to know those cats will be re-abandoned? If so, you must be a TNR supporter. Personally, I consider the practice inhumane. You should have seen the last feral cat my dogs caught, just as he was running up my fence. He ripped in half between them and they slung innards all over the yard. I almost lost my lunch cleaning up the mess.
Then there was the one that got under my truck hood to stay warm. I cranked my engine and heard a God awful sound. The poor things leg was horribly mangled and I had to cut the belt to get it out. I took it to the vet in my car, but there was nothing to be done.
If that sounds like a good life for the cats to you, you'll really like thinking about the hundreds of millions of our wildlife they kill.

Kids exposed to rabid kitten in Wellington

2009-07-01T20:06:00.002-06:00

A stray kitten rescued Saturday, June 26th was confirmed to have rabies by the Florida State Laboratory in Lantana today. Three young children in the area of Greenview Shores and Paddock Dr. found the kitten and are being look at for possible exposure to rabies.

One of the children's parents noticed the kitten acting irrationally and called Animal Care and Control who sent it to the lab for possible rabies confirmation. At least three kids have been identified as exposed to rabies and will begin the series of rabies shots immediately.

All residents of Wellington should be alert to animals that may be acting abnormally and immediately contact Animal Care and Control.

Stray cats problem for County

2009-07-01T18:07:00.001-06:00

My post: Florida should realize the enormous portion of your tourist trade that could be seriously impacted by your huge population of feral cats. I am a birder, and simply avoid the state. When you get your priorities right and take care of our ecology first I may be back.

...and even more repartee.

2009-07-01T15:49:00.001-06:00

Redbud, disprove the TNR crowd's fabricated rhetoric and all that's left is emotion.
I loved it when Dr. Christine Storts, the veterinarian in Florida wrote her letter urging the wildlife commission to do its job and stop the cats' slaughter of the state's fauna. Here's a quote from her: "I do know that having TNR handle 5,000 cats over the past five years, when there's ten times that many still roaming around, means it isn't working,"

More repartee with cat enablers...

2009-06-30T22:34:00.001-06:00

Hello, Kristy. Welcome to the discussion. Would you mind telling me how you made the moral and ethical decision the lives of fifty million feral pets are worth more than the estimated billion of our native birds, mammals, reptiles, amphibians, and fish they kill yearly? Why kill a billion animals who evolved here to save fifty million of a pet species?

Repartee with a cat enabler.

2009-06-30T20:17:00.002-06:00

Alley Cat Allies forgets that he or she doesn't know me, or the opposition I (please forgive me for not adding "and others". I was thinking under pressure.) am rallying to do away with TNR. It will take the average American becoming disgusted with the sheer number of cats to provoke them to action, but that point is soon coming. The millions of cats abandoned recently because of the financial circumstances could become the catalyst. Sort of like the humidity reaching saturation point, before raining on your parade.
The tiny percentage of pets you sterilize is ineffectual, as everyone besides you knows, or will know as we educate them, and you enable their killing of our fauna.
Speaking of education, your rhetoric is showing when you resort to quoting the mythical vacuum effect, it is a fallacy. When one feral cat or a million is removed our natural fauna can move back into what is rightfully theirs.

Death watch

2009-06-30T06:40:00.002-06:00

My response? They are not killing the pets as fast as they breed. It will take a concerted effort to make any headway. Tens of millions more are out there still breeding and killing.

Hundreds of local animals die when owners don't spay, neuter
-------------------------------------------
The increasing population in feral cats causes problems in local eco-systems because cats are such good predators. The cats diminish the small bird population as well as feed on bats that have the potential for rabies.

"Three years ago, U.S. Fish and Wildlife had feral cats listed as public enemy number one," said Nix.

I found a cat outside... now what?

2009-06-29T23:33:00.000-06:00

"according to Alley Cat Allies, the most humane method of population control for feral cats is Trap-Neuter-Release."

You agree with that? Re-abandoning a pet species into the wild? We used to call that irresponsible, inhumane, and just plain rude. That all changed when the cat orgs decided it suited their agenda.
There are those of us who don't see it as compassionate, non-lethal, or humane to the millions of our fauna those pets kill each year. What about them?

Ruffian Foundation shelters feral cats

2009-06-29T10:50:00.002-06:00

My post.
"feral cat wooded habitats"? Excuse me? Cats are a pet species and as such when they are outdoors it becomes an environmental issue, not an animal welfare one! Cats are very destructive to our native fauna.

My second post:
If there are feral cat colonies all over the area, they should either be removed or enclosed. The commonly accepted figure among most ecologists and biologists is one billion of our native fauna killed each year by that pet species! The cat fanciers say that is an exaggerated figure, so for the sake of discussion let's cut the number in half. Are you willing to stand by while an abandoned pet species murders a half-billion of our birds, mammals, reptiles, amphibians, and fish each year? I'm not!

"Bird Group Watching TNR Colonies Like a Hawk"

2009-06-29T09:54:00.001-06:00

Go to the link above to add your comment, mine was: "My gut response is that unwanted pet species have no place outdoors in our ecology and our existing laws to protect our vanishing wildlife should be enforced!

Beloved cat wanders off, leaving him guessing

2009-06-28T09:13:00.002-06:00

Can you believe this guy is in charge of their pet section? My response:
If you loved your pet so much why did you expose it to the dangers of being outside? Oh, that cute little rabbit? If one of your cat's teeth or claws scratched it, it died painfully from the infection. Of course it would have starved to death in a day or so anyway, after being taken from its nest.

Australians cook up wild cat stew

2009-06-27T14:58:00.002-06:00

(Does your kitty really have to go outside?)

Australians have come up with a novel solution to the millions of feral cats roaming the outback - eat them.

The felines are the descendants of domestic pets and kill millions of small native animals each year.

A recent Alice Springs contest featured wild cat casserole. The meat is said to taste like a cross between rabbit and, perhaps inevitably, chicken.

Cat was quickly put down

2009-06-27T14:36:00.003-06:00

(It's so simple, keep your pets indoors or contained on your property!)

Pet appeared sick, like it needed to be euthanized, officials claim

Promontory resident Wyndy Carnell said she knew something was wrong when she returned home June 9 and her housecat, Romeo, was missing.

A neighbor took the roughly 14-year-old cat to Summit County Animal Control when it strayed from its home on West View Trail. The cat was euthanized within three hours of its delivery that afternoon to the animal shelter in Wanship.

"Park City is such an animal town," Carnell said in a telephone interview.

But the woman who contacted Animal Control said Romeo looked "very, very sick," Summit County Sheriff's Office Capt. Dean Carr said.

Shelter chief regrets gas chamber ban: Says gassing can be more humane than injections

2009-06-27T08:59:00.002-06:00

(I have tried to handle feral cats humanely, and my arms and hands were shredded in the process. Who wants to bet "humane injections" are not humane for the technicians?)

One local shelter supervisor had mixed emotions after Gov. Joe Manchin signed a bill banning new gas chambers for euthanizing animals, "I wish they wouldn't have been completely outlawed," said Dana Johnson, supervisor at the Monongalia County Canine Adoption Center.

Johnson said she was happy Manchin grandfathered existing chambers -- with certain provisions -- but doesn't feel the practice should be banned.

Under the bill, no new gas chambers can be built. Existing chambers must have been built by a certified company, and only trained technicians can use them.

Elderly Richmond man donates 100 cats to shelter

2009-06-27T08:32:00.002-06:00

(At last, a cat hoarder who realized he needed help!)

A Richmond, B.C., animal shelter is in dire need of support after an elderly man donated an estimated 100 kittens and cats to their care.

The cats were staying in a barn in Richmond owned by an 85 to 90-year-old man who lives alone.

When it became clear that many of the kittens were getting sick and needed help, he realized it was time to give them up.

Governor's Plan to Save Money By Killing Puppies and Kitties Shouldn't Lead to Spike In Euthanizations Here (For Now)

2009-06-25T21:36:00.003-06:00

(The times, they are changing!)

You know you've sailed into truly surreal political waters when the governor of a modern state suggests -- seriously suggests -- we save money by slaughtering more puppies and kittens. Either that or Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, like an adolescent hypnotically toying with a painfully loose tooth, is trying to see how low his popularity numbers can go.

If you hadn't yet heard, the governor's big plan to save the state money is to repeal the 11-year-old "Hayden Bill," which would knock the minimum amount of time an animal shelter must hold onto a dog or cat before euthanizing it from six days down to three. While the Legislative Analyst's Office points out that $23 million is yearly spent for those extra three days feeding and housing animals that go on to be put down anyway -- let us, once again note that a serious politician (albeit one who thrice portrayed a robotic killing machine) is pushing for fiscal solvency via snuffing dogs and cats.

San Francisco Animal Care and Control director Rebecca Katz told SF Weekly that, even if the Haden Bill is terminated, it won't be open season on pets locally: "The quick and dirty answer is, locally, we don't intend to change our practices on how long we hold a stray animal," she says. "I don't know that will always be the case, but that is our intention."

Hill cat dumping ground

2009-06-25T19:09:00.002-06:00

(The pressure is on everywhere.)

Napier's hill continues to be a hot spot zone for "dumping" unwanted cats.

A Hawke's Bay Today photographer spotted five, what he believed were stray cats on the Napier Bluff Hill lookout at the weekend.

SPCA general manager Rob Johnson said the hill along with East Pier and Awatoto were regular "dumping zones" for unwanted cats.
__________________________________
Last year the SPCA received 579 lost, stray, abandoned and feral cats.

DOMESTIC CAT PREDATION ON BIRDS AND OTHER WILDLIFE

2009-06-25T06:29:00.003-06:00

This is a re-post and puts the lie to some feral cat myths about rodent control and bird predation.

The following are summaries of specific studies:
East Bay Regional Park District, CA: A two-year study
was conducted in two parks with grassland habitat. One park
had no cats, but more than 25 cats were being fed daily in the
other park. There were almost twice as many birds seen in the
park with no cats as in the park with cats. California Thrasher
and California Quail, both ground-nesting birds, were seen
during surveys in the no-cat area,whereas they were never seen
in the cat area. In addition, more than 85% of the native deer
mice and harvest mice trapped were in the no-cat area,whereas
79% of the house mice,an exotic pest species,were trapped in the cat area. The researchers concluded, “Cats at artificially high densities, sustained by supplemental feeding, reduce abundance of native rodent and bird populations, change the rodent species composition, and may facilitate the expansion of the house mouse into new areas.” (Hawkins, C.C., W.E. Grant,and M.T.Longnecker.1999.Effect of subsidized house cats on California birds and rodents. Transactions of the Western
Section of The Wildlife Society 35:29-33)

Need a laugh? Read this nonsense!

2009-06-24T10:00:00.003-06:00

OMFG! I cannot believe the stupidity! How did the ancient Aztecs, Toltecs, and Mayans build Empires, astrological observatories, and roads from one end of South America to the other, without cats? By respecting and relying on their natural predators, of course!

“Cats are probably the most important species in existence for mankind. We never could have gone from hunter-gatherers to an agricultural society without them,” Carr said. “Imagine life without cats out there killing all of the mice and rats. It would be awful,” They give us a higher quality of life, and we owe them something for that,” Carr said.

Feral Cats Swarming Yuma

2009-06-24T03:43:00.002-06:00

This is both bad news and good news. The cat non-profits are moving in. The good news? Their methods will soon prove ineffectual and more permanent methods will be used.
My reply?

"Feral Cats Swarming Yuma" is not an animal welfare issue, but an ecological one, and should be treated as such. The safety of our Federally protected wildlife should be given top priority, not the perpetuation of an unwanted pet predator colony.

How many cats?

2009-06-24T02:37:00.002-06:00

How many cats do you think one has to have to be considered a hoarder, or would one's degree of obsession with them be a better criteria?

A tragedy for humans and animals (Hoarders)

2009-06-23T20:58:00.002-06:00

The nurse appears crisply turned out and totally professional while at work in the hospital. When she goes home, she walks into gagging squalor.

She is a hoarder.

For some reason no one is quite sure of, a large percentage of those who hoard animals in Rhode Island are nurses, says E.J. Finocchio. Their professional lives are all about antiseptic efficiency. Their private lives are all about desperate, lonely, filthy isolation.

The nurses are just one of the strange and tragic twists in a tale of animal cruelty carried out by people convinced they are doing the caring thing.

Blackmail isn't answer for cats

2009-06-23T07:05:00.003-06:00

My response: Do we want to be knee deep in cats? Irresponsible pet owners actions have put us between a rock and a hard place environmentally. I was told the other day it is estimated Los Angeles alone has two to three million feral cats. This was a TNR backer I was talking to and she said when she moved there she saw cats everywhere, at work and at home. Who is going to spay and neuter three million cats, much less return them to the city streets?
This is an ecological emergency, not an animal welfare issue! We have to do the responsible and adult thing and get those feral pets out of our ecology by the most efficient means possible!

"When my wife was about to begin her daily walk on the morning of June 3, another lady passed by followed by two young kittens, which she said had been following her for several blocks. They were dirty and disheveled, and had obviously been abandoned. My wife, being the compassionate type, offered to keep the kittens while she called the Humane Society to pick them up."

Has anyone noticed a shortage of cats?

2009-06-23T05:33:00.000-06:00

Why should an unwanted abandoned pet species be given a second chance when they're murdering our natural fauna and driving them closer to extinction? Has anyone noticed a shortage of cats?

To the cat enablers, defend your agenda

2009-06-22T15:30:00.002-06:00

To the cat enablers: Your agenda is making sure unwanted feral pets are fed, not euthanized, and can live loose in our ecology where they've been abandoned. My agenda, along with that of countless others, is to keep my property free of cats and feel it is an invasion of my privacy and property rights. I detest cat feces and urine all over my lawn, garden, and flower beds. I also abhor their murder of our already pressured wildlife, which I have witnessed many times. Give me one good reason, please, why our agenda is less important than yours.

Letter to the Editor

2009-06-22T13:28:00.002-06:00

My post: There seems to be a problem with someone's math. Here it is, they take a cat from a neighborhood to be neutered, then they release it. Net loss? Zero!
Oh, wait a minute... Logically, we have to surmise more cats will be attracted to all of the feeders, plus more unwanted cats will be dumped there as it becomes known they are taking care of them. End result? KaChing! KaChing! More cats!

Feline problem on Tuesday agenda (Yuma)

2009-06-22T09:01:00.002-06:00

My comment? Can we consider our priorities here? Pet species roaming loose outdoors are not a matter of animal welfare, but of our ecology. Feral and roaming cats are the worst threat to our birds and other fauna, right behind habitat loss and pollution. Some estimate they now outnumber our natural predators combined. TNR perpetuates cat colonies, while inviting more irresponsible pet owners to abandon their own pets. Let's do the responsible and adult thing and end the problem we created.

The city of Yuma will host a meeting Tuesday to address the issue of wild feline populations.

"The first objective is to try and reduce feral cat problems in the city," said city spokesman Dave Nash. "The second objective is to educate residents about trap-neuter-and-release efforts."

Nash said city officials hope to arrive at some conclusions regarding the root cause of the cat problems, and they need the help of the community.

Is your cat licensed to kill and have a right to roam free?

2009-06-22T00:28:00.003-06:00

Is your cat licensed to kill and have a right to roam free? You may want to go visit these varmint hunter's site. chaiokitty.com I don't believe your cat is safe within 500 yards of them!
Are their methods of killing inhumane? Not when one considers they go for instantaneous one shot kills and your fuzzy kitty may toy with the animals they're protecting for hours before shredding them.

Doh! Cats are not a health issue?

2009-06-21T13:51:00.003-06:00

My reply: Doh! Cats are not a health issue? Read this from the Asthma and Allergy foundation of America.

Allergies to pets with fur or feathers are common, especially among people who have other allergies or asthma. From 15 percent to 30 percent of people with allergies have allergic reactions to cats and dogs.

People with dog allergies may be allergic to all dogs or to only some breeds. Cat allergies are about twice as common as dog allergies.

http://www.aafa.org/display.cfm?id=9&sub=18&cont=236

More: "If the cats are simply removed, others will come in from outlying areas and take over the now vacant territory."

Pardon me for correcting you. You seem to be granting ownership of our ecology to a pet species. If you take away one cat or fifty million it will relieve their hunting pressure on our natural fauna and allow them to reclaim it. Should pit bulls and poodles be managed in colonies outdoors running free? I don't think so, and neither should cats.

City puts limits on ownership of cats

2009-06-21T13:10:00.002-06:00

(Cats, feral or roaming, are a domestic pet, and as such should neither be abandoned nor tolerated outdoors. To do so is rude to fellow property owners and devastating to our ecology, as well as being inhumane to the cat.)

Cats are a hot-button issue in San Antonio. When I wrote "Removing neighbor's cats is wrong" (May 24), letters poured in. Like many readers, Tina wrote, "If people love their cats, they need to keep them inside."

Other readers wondered what the city's response would be to a complaint about 50 cats in a neighbor's yard. "They (the city) have to help, right?" says Christina. "That's hoarding."

Cat lover learns tough lesson trying to save colony

2009-06-21T04:49:00.003-06:00

(Not everyone will tolerate feral cats on their property, here's one battle won!)

A few months ago, a neighbor complained to Jacksonville Beach Animal Control about the stray cats and borrowed a trap to capture them. Over the last few months, as many as 30 cats have been collected from the colony and taken to Jacksonville Animal Care and Control in Jacksonville, where they most likely were euthanized, Merrick and city officials said.

"I kept noticing missing cats," Merrick said. "Evidently they were being trapped for awhile."

When Merrick realized what had happened to the felines, he rushed to the facility. He said he was heartbroken when he couldn't find any of them, particularly when he was told that they most likely had been "put down."

More responses to cat enablers...

2009-06-20T15:31:00.002-06:00

Another response to a blog:

I once bought out three aviaries within a few weeks of each other and have owned literally thousands of exotic birds. It was a matter of a rescue mission, and I found good homes for them all. Your having owned exotics is beside the point, You choose cats over the survival of our wildlife every time you allow one outside. Cats are domestic pets!

I'm certain she has seen dozens, perhaps hundreds, of birds murdered by cats. A scratch is almost always fatal. We did wildlife rehabilitation for over twenty years, which is one reason I hate the needless killing you enable. One of the Mockingbirds nesting in our yard was so tame he must have been one we raised. The cats murdered his family and left some of his entrails and wings on my porch.

This is my 600th Blog here

2009-06-20T14:20:00.002-06:00

This is my 600th Blog here, the first was on 12/7/06. That calls for a toast to our wild critters, long may they live! Salut!

These people are overlooking some facts!

2009-06-20T13:15:00.003-06:00

"The idea is that trapping and killing does little good because the feral cats will reproduce quickly enough to replace the euthanized animals."

They are guaranteeing their own failure! The idea of any war is to kill more of them than they do of us, and anyone who doesn't believe our battle to save our wildlife isn't a war is not facing reality!

From Michael Hutchins- The Wildlife Society Blog

2009-06-20T11:44:00.002-06:00

(Must read!)

New U.S. Government Report Asserts Climate Change is Real and Affecting Us Now
_____________________________
"In addition, the need for active management of wildlife, including the control of introduced species and endangered species and habitat restoration, could become even more essential if we are to mitigate some of the effects of a changing climate."

PICK OF THE LITTER

2009-06-20T08:35:00.001-06:00

"After the cats undergo surgery, they can be released. Theyll be healthier, and they wont be producing any more unwanted litters."

They will be murdering our natural fauna, though. TNR practicers are making a choice between the lives of up to a billion native animals each year, some of them endangered, in order to to re-abandon unwanted pets!

Rat-catching wild cats seek new homes

2009-06-20T07:31:00.001-06:00

"Our cat has killed over 300 mice in five years and only 3, yes 3 birds."

My reply:
Just what is it makes you believe your cat's freedom is more valuable than the lives of those three birds? How many of them may have had a clutch of five or more fledglings in a nest?

A post to an enabler who thinks I missed their point...

2009-06-20T03:52:00.001-06:00

Oh, we got it alright! Superficially, it sounds like a wonderful philosophy, and if you were to take each of those pets indoors, I would send you a check to help defray your expenses. As it is though, you are choosing to subsidize their unnatural predation on OUR wildlife! You are enabling the murder of fauna that do not belong to you, they belong to each and every citizen and our descendants.

You call yourself an animal lover? In choosing to enable those killer pets you show yourself to be a cat lover, not an animal lover!

What's the Deal With "Cat Ladies"?

2009-06-19T19:34:00.001-06:00

(A story on Slate)

A Virginia judge declared on Monday that 82-year-old Ruth Knueven is unfit to own pets, after animal-control officers seized her 488 cats. Local law enforcement and animal-control officials say they found 120 cats in her house in 2001 and that they've discovered several other cat hoarders in the area over the past year. What's the deal with "cat ladies"?