In response to: https://www.vox.com/down-to-earth/24041534/hawaii-cats-invasive-species-extinction
Dear Mr. Jones and Vox Editors: I am the founder and president of Alley Cat Rescue, Inc., an international nonprofit organization that practices and promotes humane treatment of cats. I have studied and worked with feral cat colonies for over 30 years in South Africa, the U.K., and now in the U.S. I would like to offer an alternative opinion to several points you make, or present but do not dispute, in your article, “Hawaii’s out-of-control, totally bizarre fight over stray cats.” My hope is that you will be intrigued by the information offered in this letter and continue to investigate outdoor cat management with it in mind. The feeding ban at Queen’s Marketplace is misguided legislation. It is a common misconception that most feral cats roam. In reality, a group of cats will live out their lives within a small area that they view as their home and they defend this territory, keeping other cats away. For this reason, providing food does not attract massive amounts of new cats to a colony; populations actually increase because cats are prolific breeders and, as you highlight several times in the article, people abandon pet cats. Despite Lepczyk’s claim that even well-fed cats hunt, it must be obvious to him and others of the same mindset that well-fed cats at least hunt less. Cats are opportunistic feeders who have learned over centuries to scavenge for their food. Any location that has dumpsters and other sources of food waste can support a colony of cats. The difference between feeding these cats and leaving them to forage through is that the latter will cause them to supplement their diet by hunting more often. TNR stops the breeding cycle of outdoor cats and TNR programs remove kittens from outdoor cat groups. This helps to reduce the size of colonies immediately, but of equal importance, mature and senior cats become the remaining group residents. Cats older than six years hunt less than younger cats and pregnant and nursing cats also require more food than normal, so sterilizing cats definitely decreases hunting behavior. Furthermore, although outdoor cats prey on grounded birds, the protection they provide for the birds’ eggs and chicks from rats must be considered. Rats destroy nests, eating eggs and fledglings. The removal of cats from islands subsequently results in the rapid increase of rat populations. Mesopredator release has provided management lessons for eradication efforts that target both an invasive apex predator and an invasive mesopredator. For example, after cats were eradicated from Macquarie Island, near Antarctica, the rat population exploded, decimating the ground-nesting bird populations. Additionally, you present Raine’s argument that cat predation on native birds is more destructive than that of rats because rats kill eggs and chicks while cats kill adult birds too, and soon after share Jordan Lerma’s belief that “strays likely kill nēnē chicks more than adults.” Yet your own language surrounding the statements does nothing to acknowledge they contradict each other. You write, “Then there’s this whole question of how toxoplasmosis affects human behavior…Leaning on this evidence, some ecologists in Hawaii suggest that people who manage cat colonies — who refuse to stop feeding cats — are infected by toxo, which makes them irrationally invested in caring for these animals.” I understand this is not necessarily your opinion, but to even present it as a serious argument is insulting to cat caretakers and all community cat advocates, myself included. The danger of cats spreading toxoplasmosis gondii is greatly overblown by anti-cat conservation groups. From https://pets.webmd.com/cats/toxoplasmosis-cats: “It is important to understand the mode of transmission from cats to understand how minimal the risk is. Even a cat with an active toxoplasmosis infection is only capable of passing it on for seven to ten days of her entire life, when there’s an acute infection. It takes anywhere from one to three days for oocysts shed in the feces to become infectious…Then, to become infected from cat feces, a person would have to touch the feces and then touch an opening in their body.” Your article gives voice to the opinion of Christopher Lepczyk, and a few others you name, that scientific evidence shows TNR to be an ineffective way to control outdoor cat populations. However, cat advocates’ faith in TNR does not come from wishful thinking. There are plenty of scientific studies and real-world projects that show just the opposite. A wealth of research and links to studies on the efficacy of TNR, particularly in comparison with other methods of outdoor cat population management, is available on our website at www.saveacat.org/cats-and-wildlife.html. The final point in the article with which we take issue is the claim that outdoor cats have unpleasant and short lives. This is only true for (some) cats who do not receive a small amount of human care in the form of feeding and sterilization, such as what is provided by the caretakers your article criticizes. Sterilization in particular is key to optimizing a cat’s quality of life, whether they are a pet or feral. Neutered male cats rarely fight with one another, which spares them injury, and they roam far less, which helps them avoid falling victim to vehicles and predators. Female cats fare far better when they don’t experience the physical burdens of pregnancy and nursing. We at Alley Cat Rescue advocate for cats because we find they are among the most misunderstood and persecuted animals. That does not mean that we don’t love and appreciate the birds and other animals that can become prey to cats. However, we recognize the difference between natural animal deaths and unnatural, preventable ones at the hands of people. Cats live and proliferate outdoors due to decades of human neglect and mismanagement. From this perspective, we’ve failed them. Surely we should embrace a way to correct our mistakes that doesn’t punish the victims. Sincerely, Louise Holton
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It is with great joy and admiration that we come together on her birthday this year to celebrate the remarkable achievements of Louise, a true pioneer in the world of animal welfare. Her unwavering dedication and visionary efforts have not only transformed the landscape of feline advocacy but, in 1990 when only a handful of people were doing Trap-Neuter-Return (TNR), Louise brought it to the forefront of the animal welfare movement in the USA.
Louise's journey has been nothing short of inspirational. Through her passion, resilience, and compassionate spirit, she spearheaded the movement to make Trap-Neuter-Return a mainstream practice, revolutionizing the way we care for and protect our feline friends. Louise was with a friend after having dinner when they saw a bunch of cats and her friend looked at her and asked, what can do we do to help them? Louise said, as she continues to say today, "Trap-Neuter-Return”, which she had done herself countless times before in South Africa. Louise started two nonprofits, Alley Cat Allies and Alley Cat Rescue. Her vision and leadership have saved countless feline lives and laid the foundation for a more humane, sustainable approach to community cat management. In celebrating Louise, we recognize both her accomplishments and the ripple effect of her influence — a nationwide shift towards compassion and responsible stewardship of our feline companions. The impact of her work extends far beyond the realm of animal welfare; it is a testament to the power of one person's dedication to making the world a better place for those who cannot speak for themselves. As we express our gratitude and celebrate Louise’s birthday this year, let us also renew our commitment to the principles she championed. May her legacy continue to inspire us all to advocate for the well-being of animals, to embrace innovation in our approach to their care, and to foster a world where every cat can thrive. In response to: https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/cats-kill-a-staggering-number-of-species-across-the-world/
Dear Mr. Tamisiea and Editors: Alley Cat Rescue (ACR) is an international nonprofit focused on compassionate treatment of all cats. We are concerned that your December 12th article, “Cats Kill a Staggering Number of Species across the World,” is contributing to the demonization and scapegoating of cats that is pervasive in conservationist dialogue. Such theorizing is dangerous because it obfuscates far more significant threats to biodiversity, such as fragmentation of habitats by human development, and certainly puts a target on the backs of cats. Christopher Lepczyk is quoted as saying that the problem with cat predation can be solved by keeping pet cats indoors. ACR agrees that this should be the standard as a safety measure for both the cats and the wildlife they might hunt. However, feral cats are a different matter. As it is not possible to keep them indoors, claiming that cats are a grave threat to biodiversity turns public opinion against them and threatens their lives. (We feel compelled to add that this is a highly debated and debatable claim. Even the implications of the study examined by this article are questionable since, as you admit in the article, cats scavenge in addition to hunt. Therefore, isn’t it important to factor into any analysis of their prey the numbers of each species of animal, not just the number of species, cats killed themselves versus scavenged?) For now, the major point we would like to make is that, though some people may not appreciate them or even think much about them as they do pet cats, feral cats are equally sentient and deserving of life. Driven by this belief, we at ACR have been working for nearly three decades to reduce and manage feral cat populations through the only humane method, trap-neuter-return (TNR). Aggressively practiced TNR is not only effective but the MOST effective means of population control while catching and removing (often by killing the cats) is actually more expensive and only a temporary solution. When cats are trapped and removed from an area, new cats quickly move in to fill the vacated territory and take advantage of the resources that had been sustaining the cats there before them and start the breeding process all over again. This phenomenon is referred to as the "vacuum effect." One example of the vacuum effect is a 2015 study conducted in the forests of Tasmania, Australia. Over 13 months, researchers trapped and killed cats and by the end of the period, they found that the number of feral cats at the two target sites had actually increased by 75% and 211%. When the cat culling stopped, the researchers saw the cat population return to the same level as before the experiment had begun.* Whatever one’s concerns about outdoor cats’ effect on the environment, one cannot deny that 1) feral cats exist and 2) they have nowhere else to live. By using buzz terms like “terrorized” to describe cats’ interaction with native species and calling cats “biological invaders” and , this article is promoting anti-cat attitudes amongst the large audience of Scientific American. The fallout of this is persecution - killing - of feral cats. We hope that you will explore opposing information about cat predation from other scientists, as well as the well-studied efficacy of TNR programs, and spread that information. If you would like to be pointed to sources, please Email debbie@saveacat.org. Sincerely, Louise Holton President / Founder of Alley Cat Rescue, Inc. *Reference: Lazenby, Billie T., et al. “Effects of Low-Level Culling of Feral Cats in Open Populations: A Case Study from the Forests of Southern Tasmania.” Wildlife Research, vol. 41, no.5 2014, pp. 407-20. In response to: https://www.nytimes.com/2023/12/12/climate/cats-nature-biodiversity.html
Alley Cat Rescue (ACR) is an international nonprofit focused on compassionate treatment of all cats. We advocate for keeping pet cats indoors, and entertaining them properly with exercise and “catios.” This is safest for the cats and it does of course prevent them from hunting wildlife. However, feral cats are a different matter. Though some people may not appreciate them or even think much about them as they do pet cats, feral cats are equally sentient and deserving of life. If their presence is destructive or unwanted, they cannot simply be kept indoors. This is why ACR has been working for nearly three decades to reduce feral cat populations through the only practical and humane method of trap-neuter-return (TNR). The article touches on TNR only to discount its efficacy, saying “research has shown that those efforts tend to have limited or no success in reducing populations unless they are performed at continuously high intensities.” Our immediate response to this is - where is the problem? TNR should be done consistently and aggressively, especially considering the enormous number of feral cats in the country in general. When TNR is done correctly, it is not only effective but the MOST effective means of population control while catching and removing (often by killing the cats) is actually more expensive and only a temporary solution. When cats are trapped and removed from an area, new cats quickly move in to fill the vacated territory and take advantage of the resources that had been sustaining the cats there before them and start the breeding process all over again. This phenomenon is referred to as the "vacuum effect." One example of the vacuum effect is a 2015 study conducted in the forests of Tasmania, Australia. Over 13 months, researchers trapped and killed cats and by the end of the period, they found that the number of feral cats at the two target sites had actually increased by 75% and 211%. When the cat culling stopped, the researchers saw the cat population return to the same level as before the experiment had begun.* The reason for the decrease in population after the study is because, when a colony of cats is neutered and returned to an area, the presence of the original cats will continue to keep other new (not-neutered) cats out. Whatever one’s concerns about outdoor cats’ effect on the environment, one cannot deny that 1) feral cats exist and 2) they have nowhere else to live. Even people who do not value the lives of feral cats must understand from research that trying to get rid of them would backfire. Widespread, focused TNR is the only real solution from a rational as much as moral standpoint. *Reference: Lazenby, Billie T., et al. “Effects of Low-Level Culling of Feral Cats in Open Populations: A Case Study from the Forests of Southern Tasmania.” Wildlife Research, vol. 41, no.5 2014, pp. 407-20. In response to: https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2023/dec/12/cats-diet-2000-species-conservation-study-aoe
Dear Ms. Weston and Editors: Alley Cat Rescue (ACR) is an international nonprofit focused on compassionate treatment of all cats. We are concerned that your December 12th article, “Killer kitties: cats are eating 2,000 species, including hundreds that are at risk,” is contributing to the demonization and scapegoating of cats that is pervasive in conservationist dialogue. Such theorizing is dangerous because it obfuscates far more significant threats to biodiversity, such as fragmentation of habitats by human development, and certainly puts a target on the backs of cats. As the article says, one remedy for cat predation would be to keep pet cats indoors. ACR agrees that this should be the standard as a safety measure for both the cats and the wildlife they might hunt. However, feral cats are a different matter. As it is not possible to keep them indoors, claiming that cats are a grave threat to biodiversity turns public opinion against them and threatens their lives. We feel compelled to add that this a highly debated and debatable claim, despite the study examined by this article. If you would like to explore this point further, we would be eager to follow up with more information at your request. For now, the major point we would like to make is that, though some people may not appreciate them or even think much about them as they do pet cats, feral cats are equally sentient and deserving of life. Driven by this belief, we at ACR have been working for nearly three decades to reduce and manage feral cat populations through the only humane method, trap-neuter-return (TNR). Aggressively practiced TNR is not only effective but the MOST effective means of population control while catching and removing (often by killing the cats) is actually more expensive and only a temporary solution. When cats are trapped and removed from an area, new cats quickly move in to fill the vacated territory and take advantage of the resources that had been sustaining the cats there before them and start the breeding process all over again. This phenomenon is referred to as the "vacuum effect." One example of the vacuum effect is a 2015 study conducted in the forests of Tasmania, Australia. Over 13 months, researchers trapped and killed cats and by the end of the period, they found that the number of feral cats at the two target sites had actually increased by 75% and 211%. When the cat culling stopped, the researchers saw the cat population return to the same level as before the experiment had begun.* One might expect that the vacuum effect could at least be overcome on an island by eradicating every cat on it quickly. The reality, though, is that it is close to impossible to determine if all targeted subjects have been killed, let alone identified, and when they are not, the breeding cycle will repopulate the area. A mistaken assumption that eradication is complete when it really isn’t can have disastrous consequences. Cats are especially prolific breeders and can reproduce at as young as four months of age, so a handful of undetected, unsterilized cats can multiply more quickly than many other species. Subsequent eradication campaigns will be necessary, increasing the cost of ridding an area of cats. Whatever one’s concerns about outdoor cats’ effect on the environment, one cannot deny that 1) feral cats exist and 2) they have nowhere else to live. By echoing the interpretations of the featured study’s authors, and without offering counter arguments nor solutions that would protect feral cats from culling, this article is predisposing the large audience of the Guardian to persecution of feral cats. We hope that you will explore opposing information about cat predation from other scientists, as well as the well-studied efficacy of TNR programs, and spread that information. If you would like to be pointed to sources, please Email debbie@saveacat.org. Sincerely, Louise Holton President / Founder of Alley Cat Rescue, Inc. *Reference: Lazenby, Billie T., et al. “Effects of Low-Level Culling of Feral Cats in Open Populations: A Case Study from the Forests of Southern Tasmania.” Wildlife Research, vol. 41, no.5 2014, pp. 407-20. Shelter overcrowding is a problem across the country. This is the product of decades of mismanagement of companion animal breeding, but the pause of spay/neuter surgeries that occurred during the COVID-19 pandemic and current scarcity of veterinarians have brought the situation to new extremes. Los Angeles shelters are among those most dramatically impacted. Some L.A. shelter staff believe that they are seeing the WORST overcrowding their shelters have EVER experienced. Alley Cat Rescue volunteers have noticed the uptick in pleas coming from shelters for help with orphaned kittens. LA city shelters have lost the “no-kill” designation from Best Friends. L.A. Department of Animal Services Director, Agnes Sibal-von Debschitz, explained that much of the reason for the drop in live outcomes was because, starting in 2021, the shelters began receiving more orphaned kittens who required more care than shelters can provide and the shelters feel the most humane course of action is to euthanize those kittens (De Koos). Staycee Dains, the recently appointed General Manager of LA Animal Services (LAAS), said at an LAAS Commission meeting: “Our ratio of Animal Control Technicians to animals in the shelter is one to 85. The industry standard is one to 30.” Dains explained that animal care inadequacy is not only in the number of employees, but also in the work being done, saying, “We have a deeply demoralized staff” and that “some staff seem uneducated and frankly uninterested in animal behavior.” (MyNewsLA.com) Alley Cat Rescue appreciates Dains’ honesty and apparent understanding of the problem. We are also encouraged by her plan to expedite the hiring of “dozens” of vacant positions within the next month (MyNewsLA.com) and call for a moratorium on issuing breeding permits. Realistically, however, we recognize that many more lives will be lost as solutions are still being formulated. ACR members in Los Angeles, you can help save lives right now by participating in two critical roles!
If you’re not in L.A. City, your local shelter animals still need you! The crisis may be particularly bad in L.A., but it is still a problem everywhere in the U.S. References
De Koos, Camila Thur. “LA City Animal Services Loses ‘No-Kill’ Shelter Status.” LAist, 26 Jan. 2022, laist.com/news/la-city-animal-services-loses-no-kill-shelter-status. “LAAS Considers Halting Breeding Permits to Control Animal Population.” MyNewsLA.com, 12 Sept. 2023, mynewsla.com/life/2023/09/12/laas-considers-halting-breeding-permits-to-control-animal-population. Thirty-four states have an official fund from which they give grants for cat and dog sterilization. Most of these funds come from the sale of special license plates to individuals who want to support spay and neuter. While most states do not give grants to individuals, nonprofits and local shelters that facilitate spay/neuter services for low-income households are eligible to apply.
This is encouraging, although we would like to see more of the spay/neuter funds dedicated to TNR programs in addition to low-income pet sterilizations. Maryland, for example, has a terrific grants program specifically for community cat spay/neuter and vaccinations. The states listed here do NOT have a spay/neuter fund of any kind.
If you see your state on the list, consider writing your state legislatures about the need for state-sponsored sterilizations to combat the tragedy and health hazards of pet overpopulation. The national Australian government, along with many state governments, have been pursuing large-scale culling of unowned outdoor cats for decades. The goal of eradicating feral and stray cats from large portions of the landscape, even whole islands, is to protect the native wildlife, which many Australians believe are being threatened to extinction by cat predation. Despite heavy evidence that cat predation has little effect on overall prey animal populations, anti-cat hysteria seems to be the norm throughout the country.
Alley Cat Rescue has been following the persecution of cats in Australia with particular concern. That is why we were surprised and thrilled to read a recent article on the ABC Australia website that announced, “Stray cats would be desexed and released to reduce the number of animals euthanased under a proposal being considered by the New South Wales government.” This is welcome progress from Australia’s fifth largest, and arguably best internationally known, state. According to the article, the Centre for International Economics for the NSW Office of Local Government is recommending funding a sterilization program for an initial period of five years. Free spay/neuter programs have actually already been started in some areas of NSW and, per the article, “an RSPCA trial in Greenacre in Sydney's south-west [has reduced] the number of kittens coming into the shelter from the area by a third in its first year.” According to Professor emeritus of the University of Queensland’s School of Veterinary Science, Dr. Jacquie Rand, this could have a huge positive impact on outdoor cat populations. Dr. Rand, who is heading a research project on community cat programs, told ABC News Australia that said the cost of desexing and microchipping — about $300 plus registration fees — was a barrier to taking ownership of cats.” She therefore believes that concerned, compassionate citizens will be empowered to TNR the community cats they already feed and otherwise manage, as well as enable them to remove more friendly strays and kittens from colonies through adoption and fostering. Although many Australians argue that returning cats outdoors, even after they are sterilized, still puts native species in immediate danger of being hunted, Gemma Ma, manager of the RSPCA's Keeping Cats Safe at Home program, presented the undeniable counter-argument to ABC Radio Sydney that “the current approach of trapping and euthanasing strays had failed to curb the numbers living on the street.” We hope to see more support for outdoor cats coming out of NSW in the near future. We are also hopeful that community cat programs there will influence other places within Australia, and perhaps other nations, to respect cats’ lives as much as they do those of wild animals. Reference: Bolger, Rosemary. “NSW Considers Expanding Free Desexing for Stray Cats to Reduce Euthanasia Rates.” ABC News, 19 Jan. 2023, www.abc.net.au/news/2023-01-19/nsw-considers-expanding-desexing-stray-cats-reduce-euthanasia/101867888. Miami-Dade County Animal Services in Florida has a program that makes it easy for locals to either bring in community cats for free surgery and vaccinations, or report strays so that the county can do the entire TNR process themselves – take a look at their simple yet comprehensive report form.
More municipal animal departments should offer free TNR. It is good for the cats and the community. Miami-Dade has even gone a step further to manage their stray and feral cats through TNR; their Tip the Trapper Initiative offers county residents $15 per outdoor cat brought in for sterilization and vaccinations! The $15 payment is contingent upon the trapper’s adherence to essential guidelines, such as “all cats must be treated humanely, with dignity and respect,” and “Once services have been performed and the cats are medically cleared for release, the trapper must return the cats to the location where the cats were trapped. The modest cash reward may sway someone who has been ignoring a group of nearby outdoor cats because they think trapping them and bringing them to the county clinic is a hassle, or perhaps someone who has noticed the cats but never considered taking action. The Tip the Trapper Initiative kicked off in 2019, and that year more than 12,000 cats were TNR’d through animal services. Their TNR program continues to be highly impactful; they reported 242 cats TNR’d during the week of July 25th alone. Photo by Krzysztof Niewolny on Unsplash The government-funded Polish Academy of Sciences has classified domestic cats (Felis catus) as an “invasive alien species.” This designation is given to species that are not native to a region’s ecosystem, and cause damage to that ecosystem. The institute has said that the label is purely scientific and not a call to action against cats. They say that the number of birds and other small native animals cats kill per year qualifies them to be listed this way in their national database. In response to public concern, the institute put out a statement saying it is “opposed to any cruelty towards animals.” There is no reason to doubt the Academy’s sincerity, but it is fair to question their judgment. Given the deadly persecution that cats face in places such as Australia and, sadly, Alaska and Hawaii in the name of environmental protection, attaching such stigmatic terminology to cats in Europe could give rise to culls there as well. Beyond the Academy’s moral responsibility to avoid putting cat lives in danger, the classification is based on shaky science. There simply is not sufficient information available to determine if cat predation has any detrimental effects on the overall populations of prey animals, including birds; yet environmental and bird groups, like the American Bird Conservancy, continue to push for the eradication of feral cats, claiming cats are in fact contributing to the decline of bird species and other wildlife. The few studies that have been conducted on cat predation are from remote islands with closed ecosystems, where local bird populations have not evolved with predators. Because cat predation on continents is very different from island environments, it is inaccurate and inappropriate to extrapolate data from these particular studies to predict predation on continents. Like any predator, cats tend to feed on the young or old and those who are sick or in a weakened state because they are the easiest to catch. And the UK’s Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB) states, “It is likely that most of the birds killed by cats would have died anyway from other causes before the next breeding season, so cats are unlikely to have a major impact on populations.” Every year, many millions of birds die naturally due to starvation, disease, or other forms of predation. And most of the millions of baby birds hatched each year will die before they reach breeding age,” (RSPB, 2014). One truth that is incontestable, however, is that cats are easy scapegoats for governments and institutions that can’t or won’t address much larger environmental hazards. According to the European Environment Agency (EEA), agriculture is the primary danger to nature in Europe. Per the EEA’s website, “Pollution by pesticides used in agriculture is the main cause of the worrying decline in the number of insect-eating birds and farmland birds.” * The site also names habitat loss and damage, unsustainable forestry, hunting, and overfishing as greater threats to wildlife than “alien invasive species.” The more one looks into it, the less wise it seems to officially label cats as a danger to the natural environment in Europe. Even if there is any truth to the claim, nothing has been accomplished but to spark or fuel animosity toward cats. * https://www.eea.europa.eu/signals/signals-2021/articles/what-is-harming-europe2019s-nature Although we disagree with the claim that cat predation is a proven major factor in the decline of birds and other wildlife, we would rather no animals are killed by cats who don’t need to hunt for their food. Here are some tips we can all follow to protect wildlife from unnecessary predation:
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