World Rabies Day 2011: Debate Over Best Way To Control Virus In Feral Cat Colonies

As public health officials raise awareness about rabies on World Rabies Day this Wednesday, a hot debate has emerged in public health and environmental circles over the best way to control the spread of rabies from feral cat colonies around the U.S.

On one side are advocates of Trap-Neuter-Return programs, which are considered by many a more humane form of feral cat population control and are becoming popular around the U.S. Endorsed by organizations like the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, the programs involve trapping feral cats, neutering -- oftentimes also vaccinating them against rabies -- and returning them to their cat colony. A "colony caretaker" also provides food, shelter and monitors the cats' health under the initiatives.

But some say these programs are contributing to a potential public health menace.

"Feral cat colonies only strengthen the chain of rabies transmission," Steve Holmer, senior policy analyst at American Bird Conservancy, said in a release. "Managed feral cat colonies bring together all the elements necessary to create a perfect storm of risk: concentrated numbers of unvaccinated cats, wildlife vector species attracted to food sources provided for the cats, proximity to humans and contact among all three of these groups."

Holmer told The Huffington Post that TNR programs are teaching feral cats to associate with humans and said studies show TNR programs don't reduce populations, because you cannot catch them all. "It has been shown that just to stabilize the population, you have to have 70 percent cats neutered at all times," he said. "This is difficult because you have an influx of owners who dump them, and when they have kittens, you have to make sure you neuter them all."

And Holmer said it can be difficult to re-catch feral cats once their initial rabies vaccination, which come in one and three year doses, has expired.

Other organizations that are against TNR, including the Wildlife Society, say the majority of TNR cats are not vaccinated. In a press release, Wildlife further argued that though TNR is often said to be the cheapest form of feral cat control, in a case study it cost significantly more than the alternative method: trapping feral cats, finding households for as many cats as possible and euthanizing the rest.

But some organizations are defending TNR, including the Alley Cat Allies. a national cat advocacy organization that recently published a press release condemning the American Bird Conservancy's stance towards feral cats.

"The American Bird Conservancy persists in spreading fiction about feral cats, and its efforts to promote terrible inaccuracies about feral cats and rabies is only the latest example. Such a stunt could lead to panic and the needless deaths of cats, and should be condemned," Becky Robinson, president of Alley Cat Allies, said.

"Rabies vaccination and prevention efforts in America are a true public health victory, and Trap-Neuter-Return only helps to boost these successes, because vaccination is part of the standard protocol of TNR," she told The Huffington Post.

Alison Grasheim of Alley Cat Allies said the main reason her organization supports TNR is because the alternative method, which does not work as it creates a "vacuum effect" where cat populations rebound after they are removed, creating a "cruel, costly cycle."

She said research into the rabies vaccines has found the vaccines actually last up to seven years, and the average life expectancy of feral and house cats is also seven years.

For Holmer, tougher policies, like those used to tackle the rabies virus in dogs, are needed to prevent the risk of rabies. "If you were to dump a licensed dog, you would face criminal charges," he said.

"We're looking for responsible pet ownership, to keep them indoors and keep up with vaccinations. Then we would need to remove cats from the outdoors by trapping them, adopting out as many as possible and any that are left would be euthanized," Holmer said.

Jesse Blanton, an epidemiologist from The Center for Disease Control and Prevention, told HuffPost that in addition to the TNR program, "We would always recommend a rabies vaccination be included. But, at the end of the day, they are still going to be unowned cats with no vaccination history."

He said the last definite case of a human contracting rabies from a cat was in 1975, and most rabies cases found in humans are associated with bats.

The CDC website suggests the best way to protect pets and yourself from rabies is to stay away from wild animals and make sure pet vaccinations are up to date.

Comments

[nature nut]

10:04 PM on 09/29/2011

The one fan that Forest Smith has on huffpost is guess who? Himself, alias Woodsman001.

Here's a little snippet from I-forget-exactly-where on the web (he's ubiquitous):

"Woodsman001 or Forrest Smith, another name he uses in his tirade against cats, is too deranged to take seriously. If you google Woodsman001 you will find that he posts in many cities and states across the country, wherever the feral cat issue is discussed..."

[Forest Smith]

11:02 PM on 09/29/2011

It was easier to log onto this site using facebook than signing up a new account. And this negates all my comments, how? Btw, if I had a Woodsman account here I would have used it. MORON. All that you manged to prove is that you're a deranged net-stalker. Good going! :-)

[nature nut]

11:40 PM on 09/29/2011

Are you saying you don't have one here? Because that would be silly. All anyone would have to do to establish the fact would be to enter "Woodsman001" + "Huff Post" to read your tired old cut and paste anti-cat rubbish.

But I shouldn't taunt you and I'm sorry. If you had diabetes instead of a mental illness it would be unthinkable ridicule you.

[Forest Smith]

05:52 PM on 09/29/2011

Moral of the Story:

I wasted 15 YEARS arguing with cat-lovers. During which THEIR _INVASIVE_SPECIES_ CATS DESTROYED ALL NATIVE WILDLIFE ON MY LAND.

It wasn't til I STOPPED arguing, and on sheriff's advice did what HAD to be done -- SHOOT ALL CATS -- that my land, all the wildlife, and my life itself started to return to normal. I no longer go out twice a day on cat-patrol to shoot more, nor waste time burying them to protect wildlife from cat-diseases. Much to the dismay of TNR LIARS' psychotic "vacuum effect". NO CATS returned. Native predators and wildlife that BELONG HERE returned.

You can argue with the Toxo-parasites in cat-lovers' brains til your world is destroyed by cats, but it'll never get rid of cats that destroyed it.

DO WHAT NEEDS TO BE DONE -- DESTROY THEM.

AFTER your land and life are 100% cat-free have fun educating others. Use the time you got back from their cats taking over your life to share cat eradication methods. If you want, make YOUR life THEIR problem. Just as they made THEIR cats YOUR problem for years. It's only fair! Because that's what it's really all about. It's not about cats at all. THEY ONLY WANT TO CONTROL YOUR LIFE WITH THEIR CATS. You put a stop to that immediately BY DESTROYING THEIR CATS. There's not ONE THING they can do about it if you do it humanely. They'll no longer have any part of your life.

[peacekitten]

02:44 PM on 09/29/2011

i've had cats since i was four years old.  indoor animals only, because i am much more worried about the absolute crzies who roam loose than any damage my cats might do.  i'd never endanger them by exposing them to other people that i don't know, or cars, or disease, or anything else that would threaten them in any way.

i make sure their indoor environment is one that keeps them amused and happy as best i can.

that having been said, i had one cat who learned how to open my kitchen door.  he was huge and stretching up to reach the latch was not a problem for him.   i could not for the life of me figure out how he was letting himself out.  i am paranoid about anyone getting out when i open the door, and knew he had not slipped past me.  perhaps if it had happened only once, i might have thought that.  but after several days, he grew bold enough to do it in front of me, looking right at me with his paw on the latch.  it was changed within hours, which put an end to his coming and going on his own.  as it turned out, the only place he went when he got out was around the front of the house, where he went under the crawlspace of the front porch.   before i adopted him, in his days as a stray, he had been a formidable hunter, although not a single bird was ever amongst his catch, which he would occasionally bring to me.  that ended when i brought him indoors.

more recently, one of my other cats slipped out the front door during a delivery.  i searched on foot for him for hours through the night, and the next morning, hired a service that called 2500 of my neighbors trying to recover him.  within hours of the call going out, i was lucky enough that someone called, having found him a block away. they were even kind enough to refuse the considerable reward i was offering for him.  he was gone for maybe eighteen of the longest hours of my life.

[peacekitten]

02:54 PM on 09/29/2011

NEITHER of these cats should have come to any harm whatsoever for the few hours they were missing.  had that happened, i would have devoted my life to making the perpetrator pay, and be miserable until they had the decency to quit breathing.  occasionally, accidents happen, and my cats are more well cared for than most humans.  these two "adventures" devastated me, even though i was lucky enough to get both my little ones safely home.  i've never in my life had a cat who was allowed to roam free on purpose, and i never will.  but anyone who would dare harm them, does so at their own peril.

in this equation between feral cats and birds, the ONLY guilty party is MAN.  and man should do whatever it takes to make things right for the animals in a sensible and above all HUMANE manner.  TNR is the ONLY program that has been proven to work, and anyone who expects an instant answer is just too stvpid to be walking around unattended.

you really want to protect birds?  then go to EVERY city council meeting that will approve a new housing or industrial development and do everything you can to STOP it.  don't use pesticides on your lawns and flowers and use natural methods instead.  support TNR programs, because they are the ONLY way to even make a dent in the problem, given the fact that we as a species will NEVER enact appropriate animal protection laws on ANY level. 

don't dump txic waste down your drains.  you will do infinitely more to help birds and other animals than you will by shting helpless animals in the head because you are so twisted and sck that you think that's fun and/or justified.  just remember, if you've reproduced, there are some people who might regard your unruly children as vermin too.

[Forest Smith]

03:02 PM on 09/29/2011

If your child is capable of undoing the locks you put in place for its safety, that's YOUR fault. If you're not intelligent enough to outsmart a cat, then you're not intelligent enough to be allowed to have one.

[peacekitten]

03:06 PM on 09/29/2011

there are no words for the contempt i have for you.  you are a waste of oxygen, and you need to go straight to someplace very dark and hot as fast as possible.  i'd be happy to help you just this once.

[peacekitten]

03:10 PM on 09/29/2011

and btw, you are perfect argument for stronger gvn laws.

no one as unhinged, full of h8 and violence as you has any business whatsoever owning a water gvn, much less one that uses real ordnance.

[macmccoy007]

11:06 PM on 09/28/2011

Cont'd - P. 3 Obviously, the 100's of millions of $$ donated still don't prevent the 10's of millions of animals from being euthanized every year. It's a relatively simple solution--the micro-chip is logged into the database--which could be designed to automatically generate reports and warning notices. Every micro-chip fee could include a determined amount of money that goes toward the cost it's monitoring and upkeep and maybe a nominal, annual pet license renewal fee could be imposed. Local Animal control should then enforce the necessary actions to be taken for violations.

And one more thing--I'm sickened by the notion that cat colonies should be executed. Unconscionable!!! It's the this kind of species-ist lack of regard for animals that causes the over-population problem in the 1st place. If TNR, vaccines & micro-chipping are adequately performed; who are we to say that these cats would be better off dead? Or that they're a scourge to society? They have just as much right to be here as we do.

[Chad Wheeler]

12:13 PM on 09/29/2011

Don't the birds and bunnies and squirrels and chipmunks have a right to be there too? And who are you to tell me I have a "lack of regard" for animals just because I want to minimize the adverse impacts from domestic animals on wild animals?

[peacekitten]

01:15 PM on 09/29/2011

you are not mother nature.

birds, bunnies and squirrels and the like are the natural prey of animals like cats.

do you think you should step in and "manage" coyotes, foxes and other such animals who also prey on these animals?

considering your attitude what you need to do is stay out of it, since you can't think of a constructive solution that is above all HUMANE.

[Forest Smith]

12:42 PM on 09/29/2011

A .22 costs 0.3 to 4.0 CENTS per cat. A one time expense. I got mine on sale for 0.3 cents each. That's solving the feral-cat problem for the cost of only 3 per penny.The only further trouble is burying or incineration (required to prevent wildlife from contracting any of the deadly diseases that cats carry today). You can run around making a whole industry about how to get rid of cats and then perpetuate the cats being there to sustain your industry, but the rest of us already know what must be done, and can do it all for less than the price of a couple cups of coffee. Now THAT'S a savings to the taxpayer. I'll gladly spend money on .22's to solve the problem rather than any tax increase that you'll demand to get rid of cats using YOUR amazingly stupid and inefficient ways.

[peacekitten]

01:15 PM on 09/29/2011

perfect your aim on yourself first.

[Seymoreclearly]

02:15 PM on 09/29/2011

@ Forest Smith: Sounds to me like you just want to shoot something. Perhaps therapy is the proper prescription here.

We euthanize millions of animals each year, feral & domesticated. What do you have against cats & are you unaware of the service they provide to your outdoor community, which in many areas would be OVERRUN by rodents if it weren't for the cats?

Stupid & inefficient, you say? Look in the mirror for ignorant & uninformed.

[macmccoy007]

10:56 PM on 09/28/2011

Cont'd P. 2--vets should be required to notify anyone bringing in a pet for treatment that the animal must be micro-chipped (if it hasn't already) and entered into this database. Vaccines could be recorded there as well--so that if an animal is lost, there's a record, and they aren't unnecessarily re-vaccinated. And vets should also be required to note signs of abuse or neglect in the database. Micro-chipping should be available at a nominal cost so as not to discourage people from having this done. PEOPLE MUST BE HELD ACCOUNTABLE. We see the horrific results when they're not. Adopting an animal should be a privilege--not a right. People should be required to read and sign a contract that explains in plain language, the responsibility of adoption, training, neutering, vaccinating and in the case of pure-breds--potential behavioral and health problems and their names should be recorded in the database. That way, perhaps they'll think twice before taking in an animal on a whim and/or dumping it off somewhere. The only acceptable reasons for dropping an animal at a shelter should be unanticipated allergies or aggressive behavior; and those conditions should be verified by a human doctor & Animal Control. Then, once the over-population and needless suffering is under control, we should have only NO-KILL shelters. And then perhaps the majority of resources currently dedicated to assessment, euthanasia & disposal at shelters could go toward medical treatment, training, education and placement & foster services.

[Chad Wheeler]

12:14 PM on 09/29/2011

Just FYI, Microchips have been associated with cancer.

http://www.antichips.com/cancer/

[Seymoreclearly]

02:17 PM on 09/29/2011

Just FYI -So has sitting in a sunny window. Cats are prone to skin cancers because of their favorite pasttime. Or being horribly stressed-out. Or being exposed to the elements thus degrading their immune systems. Or living too long.

[macmccoy007]

10:53 PM on 09/28/2011

TNR might work even better if the feral cats were micro-chipped, tagged and entered into a National Pet Database w/ "feral" status. The rescuers should have a "rescuer ID" to be recorded along with it. Earlier today I posted the following on FB in response to an anonymous article from a shelter worker in NC that was accompanied by a picture of a huge pile of euthanized cats (link @ bottom):

Animal abuse, neglect and abandonment has to stop. Period. FEDERAL LAW MUST BE ENACTED that anyone purchasing, adopting or dropping a pet off at a shelter should be forced to read the letter in the photo album by "Anonymous in N. Carolina"-- w/ the picture of euthanized cats laying in a pile. Puppy/Kitten mills should be outlawed & pets should NOT be sold in stores (other than fish, hamsters, etc). Breeders should be licensed & required to meet stringent criteria. Anyone adopting/purchasing an animal should show several forms of valid ID (like at the DMV); and micro-chipping should be mandatory at the seller's or adopter's expense. Then that microchip ID should be entered into a National Pet Data Base; so when they're neutered & spayed it's recorded there by the vet. If not, people get a letter mandating it be done or a huge fine will be imposed. Children should be sensitized to this in school. Animal cruelty laws should be much harsher.

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=287138487965142&set=a.287126574633000.87477.167589529920039&type=1&theater

[Chad Wheeler]

12:18 PM on 09/29/2011

Do you really think shaming people at shelters will do anything to increase people utilizing them? If someone has a legitimate reason (or even a reason I would consider silly) to not want their animal, I would much prefer that animal be relinquished to a shelter no questions asked than giving the owner a guilt trip. The shelter/rescue staff can then go vent to each other in the back. Trust me- I am with you- the reasons people give up their pets are to me, asinine, but I am more concerned with the pet than the pointless exercise of trying to make someone feel guilty if they already don't have an issue with dumping their pet just because it sheds or some other nonsense.

[Forest Smith]

12:53 PM on 09/29/2011

I wouldn't advise that anyone use a shelter today. I read of a horror story online of a small-business owner that had feral-cats overtake the space under his building. He spent $thousands on renting traps, with the agreed word that the shelter would euthanize them all. Someone in the shelter contacted a local TNR group, who then TNR'ed the cats, and returned them to the business-owner who was trying to get rid of them. With the warnings that they must now take care of these cats or risk fines. If they had just trapped then drowned them on their own they wouldn't be in this disaster they are in today. Out $thousands and they still have the cats driving off customers and creating a health-hazard for everyone and his family. I hope I can find a link to that post (was just looking for it in my bookmarks but couldn't find it) to prove that I'm not making this up.

[peacekitten]

01:19 PM on 09/29/2011

far too few unsuitable people have animals in their clutches today, and there should be laws to deter them from getting said animal in the first place.  they do NOT have an inherent "right" to have a "pet."  that needs to be made crystal clear to them up front.

[walkonby]

08:58 PM on 09/28/2011

continued...

no one is asking that someone has to love cats... but stop blaming an innocent animal for the irresponsibility of humans.

[walkonby]

10:06 PM on 09/28/2011

if you had actually read my posts, you would have seen that i worked for years to raise funds to pay for hundreds of spay and neuter proceedures, and to control feral animal colonies.

i don't know where you came up with the human sterilization tangent. mankind is still the most powerful influence on the earth - for good or ill. animals don't have self-determination, man does.

as for the name (demented, hypocrite), there's nothing 'correct' in your discourtesy. keep it to yourself, please.

[walkonby]

08:56 PM on 09/28/2011

i lived in a western mountain town for many years, at the same time worked with a small local humane association group. we raised funds for hundreds of spay/neuter procedures for dogs and cats, including feral colonies. most colonies were the result of 'dumping.'

during those years, we were witness to unspeakable cruelty to almost all species. i tend to believe most animal problems are really people problems.

i also watched as people moved into a forested area, cut and sold the trees for lumber... and then complained that there weren't any birds left. duh.

if you're looking for a culprit to blame for the decline in bird species i suggest you look at deforestation, pesticides and loss of natural habitat to development - that includes agribusiness.

people thought cats were evil in medieval europe... killed them and let loose the scourge of rats that carried plague-carrying fleas.

[Chad Wheeler]

09:16 PM on 09/28/2011

Cats kill just as many as deforestation and the other things you mention.

http://www.currykerlinger.com/birds.htm

I do love cats, but not wild and not roaming free.

[walkonby]

09:32 PM on 09/28/2011

i looked at the link. i'd be interested to know how this group complied it's statistics. just because they say so? i'm still more inclined to believe the empiracal evidence i've observed personally.

and after living near a national forest for several decades, i find it hard to believe that cats are more resonsible for decline in bird population than deforestation. drive through a devasted landscape for 20 miles after an human-caused forest fire. millions of trees gone, down to the dirt. i'll bet that killed or caused the decline of more birds than those imaginary demon cats.

[walkonby]

09:37 PM on 09/28/2011

and the link you posted here has its own agenda - to promote the use of wind/turbine energy (which i support, by the way).

however, lets not allow them to deflect their own responsibility in bird deaths by blaming it on other causes.

and i spent many years working for spay/neuter programs for cats and dogs, including encouraging people to learn responsible pet ownership.

i'm still tired of people scapegoating cats.

[Forest Smith]

05:25 PM on 09/28/2011

Here's a little information to help you understand the behaviors of "cat-lovers" and their cats. Something I discovered when local "cat-lovers" (an oxymoron if there ever was one) were using cats to overtake my land and woods, eventually even by moving my property markers when using their cats had failed -- because I got the legal go-ahead to shoot them all on my land. (An expensive many $1000s lesson for these property-thieves, surveyors are not cheap.) I often wondered why they kept releasing new cats onto my land even long after they already knew that all their cats were being shot to death, they were told this is what was going to happen, and was happening. They didn't care about cats AT ALL! Clearly something else was motivating these people. How many people do you know that keep releasing cats even after seeing many of them become road-kill? (Like every last TNR-advocate for starters.) They don't care about cats, not in the least.

Now you'll know exactly why cat-lovers do what they do. It really has nothing at all to do with their concern for cats, nor even the lives of anyone nor anything else, quite the opposite.

(continued in reply)

[Forest Smith]

05:58 PM on 09/28/2011

Human Territorial Behavior By Expendable Proxy

I have come to the inexorable conclusion that nearly all "cat-lovers" that let their destructive invasive-species roam free, and especially those defending cats overtaking private and public property and wildlife areas, are only (cowardly) using cats as a proxy for their OWN territorial behavior. Like uneducated inner-city youth that will disrespectfully use loud music to stake-out a territory. Whether this behavior is done consciously or subconsciously the motive is the same. As long as they can let their cats defecate in another's yard or destroy their property, animals, and wildlife; and the land-owner not have any recourse; the cat-owner/caretaker owns that territory. It's time to stop to them using their "cute kitty" excuse for usurping and stealing others' property. If they want territory they can buy it just like anyone else. Instead they're using underhanded and manipulative means. Putting (and sacrificing) live animals in the path of their envy and greed. Again proving why they don't care about cats nor anyone else at all. "Cat-lovers" only really want your yard, garden, or forest while making all others and all other animals suffer for what they can't have nor own. Bottom line--they want to control you and your property. That's _ALL_ that "cat-lovers" are really after. It's why they don't care at all if their cat nor any other animals, nor even other humans, get harmed by their goals and (lack of) values in life.

[peacekitten]

01:33 PM on 09/29/2011

at least cite the source you have plagiarized.

[Seymoreclearly]

02:46 PM on 09/29/2011

You are making sweeping & very general statements that are just not true. I see & experience plenty of dog owners about whom I could say the same.

[macmccoy007]

11:08 PM on 09/28/2011

What a cruel and barbaric solution. Do you eat the cats too?

[Martha Weise Peredo]

02:51 PM on 09/28/2011

world ecosystems change and adjust. They are not sacred. Extinction of species is a sad thing, but often as natural as the earth itself. So, there has to be some balance to this debate. We, as humans, are part of the ecosystem we live in -- largely the most influential part. So, we should try to be good caretakers of nature around us, but we also have to be practical. Every time, we clear land to grow food, we destroy an ecosystem. Every time we grow livestock, we destroy an ecosystem. Every time, we build a city or a town. So...as humans, we can't very well be purists about nature and survive. But, we can be thoughtful and concerned. Of all the ways that we are really being destructive on earth -- well, I think owning cats might be near the bottom of the priority list -- you know quite a ways below global warming, deforestation, that big island of plastic in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, etc. Like I said, I'm okay with feral cats being destroyed where they are a problem, but I think it's over the top that no cat ever can be outside. But, then I am now living in South America where I am used to people's dogs roaming too and have a different perspective. I'm not going to go nuts about the suffering of an animal -- cat or bird -- when I see kids on the street every day.

[peacekitten]

01:24 PM on 09/29/2011

i'd be okay with destroying the humans who abandoned them in the first place.

[silvester1]

01:57 PM on 09/28/2011

I'm perfectly happy to support a feral colony execution program--as long as we can also execute the people who dumped the cats to fend for themselves. Without getting rid of the people, you will just end up with more feral cat colonies. Hmmmm--perhaps the really vile, invasive, irresponsible, disease-carrying, ecologicall destructive species is us, not them?

[peacekitten]

01:25 PM on 09/29/2011

we are the problem.

not the cats.

destroy the people, spay/neuter the cats so they can't increase their numbers, and let the colonies naturally disappear.

[Seymoreclearly]

03:35 PM on 09/29/2011

@peacekitten: fanned & fav'd awhile back..kudos for attempting to make points, albeit unsuccesfully, with some people here.

Irresponsible pet owners will continue to create feral cat & dog populations, along with other animals that get dumped each year. One generation dies off only to be replaced with another.

I prefer cats over squirrels because they don't chew my roof, garage doors, or disturb my plants. They are not intrusive for the most part, unlike their domesticated counterparts whose irresponsible owners let them roam free to disturb their neighbors. I love both species, but BUT I DON'T SHOOT THEM (got it, Forest...?)

Cats are free spirits, just like some dogs. We can't keep them indoors all the time. It crushes their spirits. I'm sure there are some here who don't comprehend this in the slightest. I don't care.

If feral cats adversely impact humans on a massive scale (and it's almost ALWAYS the other way around) then we should handle matters accordingly.

As for the rabies, this is a problem for ALL animals roaming outside, domestic & wild. Having lived in countries where animals are not vaccinated against rabies, I have developed a pathological fear of ANY outdoor animals & would caution anyone against approaching a stray, but that's just me.

[amanofmanyfaucets]

01:39 PM on 09/28/2011

Cats are a perverse extension of the worst invasive species, man. They should all be exterminated. They are massively destructive. While it is indeed sad that these animals would be killed, it is man who should take responsibility for his mistakes and prevent the death of ecosystems over the individual deaths of wrongly introduced cats.

[Ecolke]

04:15 PM on 09/28/2011

The cats won't be killed as long as there are people like me there to protect them. For every one of you who advocate the extermination of this species there are ten of us, who you will have to combate.

[Chad Wheeler]

09:24 PM on 09/28/2011

Good luck, you have some formidable opponents.

Saturday, 27 February 2010

Australian scientists are hoping to add some truth to the old adage by using curiosity to kill some of the country's millions of wild cats.

New traps that attract cats using sound and light, and then squirt them with poison, will soon be tested in South Australia's Kangaroo Island, the Invasive Animals Cooperative Research Centre said on its website.

"This is a tunnel that emits a... sound and bright features that attract cats to it," professor Steven Lapidge said, according to public broadcaster ABC.

"It requires them to walk through a tunnel and if they set off certain sensors in a certain configuration, then it detects the shape of the animal.

"If it is a cat then it will deliver a short spray onto its belly of a toxic substance that puts them to sleep."

The centre believes Australia may have more than 18 million feral cats descended from escaped domestic pets, which kill native wildlife and are hard to control using conventional poisons.

Australia's vast size makes it vulnerable when new species are introduced, with the country suffering large-scale environmental and agricultural damage from wild pigs, rabbits, foxes, cane toads and even camels.

[Forest Smith]

09:27 PM on 09/28/2011

You're slacking on your job. I already destroyed hundreds on my land by shooting them. You'd better get busy. You only have about 149,999,400 more to try and protect before people start shooting them all too because not ONE of you cat-advocates have solved this major ecological disaster that you have created.

[macmccoy007]

12:21 AM on 09/29/2011

Rendered speechless over the idiocy of this post.

[Seymoreclearly]

04:04 PM on 09/29/2011

Don't take despicable, lonely, sadistic people seriously. They delight in the things that get under your skin, but in the end, you can find solace in the thought that Karma....is a betch. And for some of us, doubley so.

[Linus521]

12:22 PM on 09/28/2011

The greatest threat of the domestic cat is, they are an invasive, non-native, introduced predator and a top agent of the recorded extinctions of biological diversity. Scientific studies conducted globally, maintain, domestic cats outdoors, hunting on their free will, kill 4.5 million birds every day, in USA. And, birds are considered a difficult prey specie for the domestic cat. For every bird a cat kills, he takes an additional three to six other species of biological diversity.

When cats were introduced around the world, bird after bird fell extinct. Eight bird species fell extinct in New Zealand, alone, and the roll call reads the same throughout the world. Unlike domesticated species, biological diversity is the most vital animals for the health of the Earth, and any agent that kills biological diversity is essentially, killing the Earth's natural ecosystems, the life giving of the Earth. The domesticated cat and the European rat are the top two most destructive agents of global extinction, recorded in the last 400 years with the cat being number one.

If you care about all of Creation and love your cat, please make him an indoor cat. Indoor cat's life expectancy is 20 plus years while a cat allowed outdoors life expectancy is but five years. This is a win, win. Cats win, the Earth wins, and man wins.

[chevyliddle]

12:36 PM on 09/28/2011

You're absolutely right. The day when cats can be put outside to run on a daily basis is long gone. Unlike most dogs, cats are natural predators and never lose the instinct to hunt. Fanned & Faved.

[pooka47401]

12:39 PM on 09/28/2011

My cats have been indoor-outdoor for their whole lives. My oldest is 16 yrs old and my next 3 are 13 yrs old. I want them to hunt so that the foundations of my house are not undermined by chipmunks and mice don't take over. I also feed birds and the birds know the cats individually and react to each cat differently. I live in an Eco-system and the cats are a part of it, just like the birds and coyotes and foxes and raccoons and deer.

[amanofmanyfaucets]

01:40 PM on 09/28/2011

Baloney

[Chad Wheeler]

03:13 PM on 09/28/2011

You must live a 100% stress free life.

[pooka47401]

12:01 PM on 09/28/2011

At a time when I had no job, in the middle of Winter snow, a black cat showed up looking for food. He moved into the abandoned house next door. I ended up feeding him. In the Spring he brought a female kitten home with him. Luckily there was a woman I could call that came out, we trapped them and she took them and had them fixed and given 3 years worth of shots, including rabies. She told me that there are several cat colonies in my neck of the (literally­) woods. She has put quiet a dent in the population and the Vets who donate their services are incredible­!! It is either kill them or prevent them from having off spring. The Kitten is now almost 5 years old and is still relatively feral. I suspect that Black Cat is around 10 years old and used to be someone's pet. I haven't had any other feral cats show up since then, so this way of working with the feral population must have it's merits!
Another of my cats was directly dumped in my area and I could tell that she had been a strictly indoors cat. She had never been fixed. Luckily we have a Spay and Neuter Clinic that provides these services at a very low cost. Unfortunat­ely there are still those who find it easier to dump a female cat than to fix her.

[Howard Scott Pearlman 59]

11:41 AM on 09/28/2011

They can always put birth control medications in the cat food that they are feeding the Feral cats.

They need to invent a rabbies vaccine that they can put in food too !

[IrieMoon]

11:42 AM on 09/28/2011

I was thinking that too.

I'm wondering if there would be any negative side effects for a cat ingesting it on a daily basis.

[Chad Wheeler]

03:14 PM on 09/28/2011

They are developing oral contraceptives for cats and dogs and I know they are in the testing phases. As I am sure you already know, they already exist for deer.