Feral cat problem lingers
Everyone agrees there is a problem, but funds to solve it remain elusive
By JESSICA KELLER
ARGUS OBSERVER
JessicaK@argusobserver.com
Thursday, September 17, 2009 10:07 AM PDT
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| The proposed trap, neuter and release program for Ontario would, in time, reduce the number of feral cats running around in the city through attrition and is considered more humane than just eliminating them. |
ONTARIO — Rural Ontario resident Elizabeth Lyon and her husband own a commercial building in Ontario they would eventually like to sell.
Feral cats, however, have posed a problem.
A self-described “crazy cat lady,” Lyon is disturbed by the large number of feral cats in the area. Feral cats became a problem at her downtown property when they found a path under the building and then entered it, which made for a big cleaning ordeal. The couple pushed the cats out and closed off the opening, but Lyon and her husband would still like them trapped and fixed because it’s hard to sell a building with a feral cat problem.
Lyon said she became involved in Ontario’s cat trap, neuter and release program as a volunteer after her veterinarian asked her if she would be interested. Because she and her husband have rescued many cats through the years, she said yes.
“It’s such an out-of-control problem,” she said. “I guess as a society we’re not very good at taking responsibility for our animals, and I think this is something I can do to help.”
More help is needed, however, specifically in raising $5,000 to match the same amount allocated by the city to establish such a feral cat program.
“We can use some more volunteers for fundraising efforts,” Lyon said.
When the time comes, volunteers will be needed to trap and transport the cats as well.
As of last week, $1,500 has been raised, but the feral cat program has run into some road blocks with events getting canceled, and Lyon said the group is looking at new venues and ways to raise money.
Until the money is raised, the trap, neuter, release program can’t begin.
Meanwhile, however, the feral cat volunteers have received lots of calls about cat problems. Lyon said she has received three phone calls so far, and one from a woman who said she has been feeding five different cat colonies.
Feeding, actually is an important part of the trap, neuter, release (TNR) program because it helps monitor the cats in the colony and determine their numbers, where they come from and establishes a time that is best for trapping. Teaching people about the TNR program is turning out to be key.
“I think people want the problem to be solved, and there’s no real way to do that,” Lyon said.
The feral cat numbers have been a real problem this year, to the point it’s overwhelming, Lyon said. She said the volunteers have all fostered kittens in the past and tried to find them homes.
“My husband and I have found homes for nine kittens this year,” she said. “This year has been particularly bad.”
Under the TNR model, the cats are trapped, neutered or spayed, their ears are clipped and then they are released in the areas where they came from.
Diseased cats are euthanized, however. The idea is the TNR program will eventually reduce cat numbers through attrition, Ontario Animal Hospital veterinarian Dr. Lindsay Norman said.
The second step in TNR is to establish caretakers, not owners, who continue to provide food and water for the cats so they just don’t starve and create further property damage looking for food, Norman said.
“The goal is not to maintain large numbers within a colony or large numbers of colonies,” Norman said. “It is to eliminate, by humane means, wild or feral cats. So the goal is to eliminate the problem, but in a thoughtful and humane way.”
In addition, the problems associated with feral cats — fighting, spraying and noise — is largely eliminated through TNR. Male cats spray to mark their territory, and they fight when they are trying to attract a mate. Female cats will howl when looking for mates. Spaying and neutering reduces the hormones, which contributes to those problems.
Norman said, when cats are just eliminated, a void is created, creating a vacuum effect, subsequently filled by new cats or litters of cats. Without trap, neuter and return, a community gets overbreeding of cats, which Ontario does now, and which Norman said is unacceptable, and takes a lot of animal control.
“From a public relations standpoint, trapping and killing is not a very tasteful way to try to control those populations,” Norman said.
Lyon said the group will continue its fundraising efforts. In addition to collection cups at various stores, several feral cat program members are making pet toys to sell at Saturday markets this Saturday and Sept. 26 at the House that Art Built and Octoberfaire Oct. 3. They will also be set up in an informational booth Oct. 10, Oct. 17 and Oct 24 in Wal-Mart. Tax deductible donations made directly to the feral cat program can also be sent to the City of Ontario.
For more information on the feral cat program or to find out how to volunteer, go to ontarioferalcats.org.
Jessica Keller is the News Editor of the Argus Observer. She can be contacted at JessicaK@argusobserver.com. Check out more local news at www.argusobserver.com
Barb Hutchinson wrote on Oct 2, 2009 4:22 PM:
The reason you don't want to kill them all is because it doesn't solve the problem. It has been proven that if you go in and kill all the cats, more cats come in and fill the void and within a year or so, you will have just as many cats as before. When you take them and get them fixed, and then return them where they were found, the cats tend to be territorial and keep other stray cats from coming into that area. Then the original group of cats will gradually get smaller by attrition. And killing all the cats allows a rodent problem to get started.
Back in the late 70's, the Payette police killed all the downtown stray cats and when the Bancroft Hotel burned down you could stand there and watch the rats - BIG rats - come running out of the burning building. And within a year or two, there were just as many stray cats as before. So it doesn't solve the problem to kill all the cats.
By the way, if people in the community want to get their cats fixed and cannot afford to take them to the veterinarian, 2nd Chance Animal Shelter in Fruitland has been running a cat spay/neuter program for the last 5 years. They get female cats fixed for $49 and male cats for $39. All you have to do is call them at 452-PETS and make an appointment. "