a note for the cat crusaders
I need to provide an addendum to my last post about cats and animal control for all those concerned about the cats' demise. The town of Normal recently instituted a cat leash law because there have been a number of complaints about feral cat colonies. Nobody's going to kill the cats. They will catch them, sterilize them, and return them to different parts of town. No, this is not going to stop people from feeding them, but it will prevent more feral cats from being born.
My case is a sad commentary on what it takes to get people to take action. Only once I felt threatened by the loss of my dog--and only once I established what in my mind is a causal relationship between the feral cats and the potential loss of my dog--do I take on the problem that's really been a problem since I got here in August. Until Tuesday, they were annoying, but I wasn't too concerned about them.
I'll keep you posted.
posted by aerobil @ 10:37 AM
2 comments
2 Comments:
Thanks for explaining! The Fairhaven neighborhood of Bellingham, Washington, experienced a similar problem. Cats were humanely trapped, got thorough vet checks, and were spayed/neutered. Younger cats who could be domesticated were found appropriate homes, while others were released. The problem isn't solved, but it's been reduced considerably.
I would remind folks that life for a feral cat is extremely hard. They experience predation from dogs, coyotes, and of course people (whether through accidental death from cars or purposeful abuse). This is not the life for a domestic animal. They deserve better from us. Maybe we could all send a small donation to the organization in Normal doing this work, in Belly's name? :)
A feral cat's life expectancy is two years. Point of comparison for those of you who aren't experienced with housecats: ours all live into double digits, the oldest till age 20. Two years is exceedingly short, and the programs to spay them, house them, feed them, whatever, are all good. I've read remarkable stories about urban neighborhood collectives that address feral cat colonies very constructively and successfully. Friends of ours who live in rural Deansboro NY have gotten tax exemption as a cat shelter; they take in and tame feral cats and house them for the remainder of their lives. At any given time they have as many as 40 cats in safe, comfortable, heated rooms in the house and barns. A leash law in response to a feral cat problem is really one of the funniest things I've heard lately. Somebody must have felt really righteous when *that* toe-tappin law was passed.
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