Tuesday, August 30, 2005

[Feral Cat Blog! Purpose - right sidebar below Resources]

A prevention AND solution action for cities, counties, communities is to immediately implement or support comprehensive cat management programs that promote CONCURRENTLY:
* spay neuter, identification, and containment for 'owned' cats and
* Trap-Neuter-RETURN (TNR) for unowned cats.
See Cat Management in Communities for further information.

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* Hurricane Katrina Animals Pets *

* Abandoned Cats - Israel Disengagement *
August 2 to 25, 2005

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Greens cat desex call
Tasmania Advocate, Australia
... licensed breeders would be able to keep non-desexed cats. Greens environment spokesman Nick McKim said domestic cat control would tackle the feral cat problem ...

Cats test negative for plague
The Bakersfield Californian
Kern County Public Health officials announced Monday that 50 cats quarantined at a trailer home in the hills above Hart Flat are not sick with bubonic plague.
What will happen to the felines now is still uncertain.

Bubonic Plague not cause of death in Hart Flat cats
BAKERSFIELD - Local public health officials breathed a sigh of relief Monday when the test results from the carcass of one of the cats found in Kern’s mountains came back negative for Bubonic Plague.
That means the cause of deaths of 40 or so cats found near Hart Flat are yet to be determined, but officials can rule out Bubonic Plague.
Cat rescue organizations from southern California are expected to get involved in caring for the many surviving cats, and they may later be available for adoption.
Most of them are Manx, which are cats without tails.
An Oildale veterinary office will test some of the cats for other illnesses like feline leukemia.
Animal Control will be filing a complaint with the District Attorney’s Office to press charges.

Mongrel invasion: Residents report cat-killing canines in Paradise ...
Savannah Morning News, GA - August 29, 2005
... veterinarian. Then the second of her three cats, Robbie, disappeared three days later. Then a feral cat she fed daily went missing. Now ...

Veterinary unit helps low-income families
Bangor Daily News, ME - Aug 29, 2005
... The problem with feral cats in Washington County is the same that the mobile unit encounters everywhere: People get rid of unwanted pets, even dumping them at ...

Your views:
LaCrosse Tribune, WI - Aug 28, 2005
[Scroll down to]
Feral cats
By Lindsay Pollard-Post Norfolk, Va.
Thank you for your article "Feral cats are back: Group to give population control seminar," (Aug. 25). Let's hope that, in addition to legal and financial issues, La Crosse County also will consider the hardships feral cats face in deciding whether to allow trap-neuter-return programs.Unless they are located in a temperate climate in an area isolated from roads, people and other animals and are provided with food, water and veterinary care, feral cats struggle to survive. Feral cats don't die of old age. Many suffer terribly from contagious diseases like rhinotrachitis, feline AIDS and rabies. Others sustain puncture wounds, broken bones, brain damage, or lose eyes or limbs after being attacked by other animals, abused by cruel people, or hit by cars.Given these gruesome fates, and until the cat overpopulation is stemmed through spaying and neutering, euthanasia is a humane option for feral cats. PETA offers brochures on helping feral cats and how to introduce a local spay/neuter ordinance. Readers can get our free literature from Helping Animals.com.Lindsay Pollard-Post is a staff writer for People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals.

Watchdog Laws for Pet Rescuers?
Los Angeles Times, CA - Aug 29, 2005
... politicians, nor the current structure of animal control to sensibly enforce any regulations," said Bonita Berger of Northridge, who rescues feral cats. ...

AniMeals helps pets of needy owners
Winston-Salem Journal, NC - Aug 28, 2005
... Rebecca Kennedy of Forgotten Felines of Forsyth said that the program helps her group, which traps feral cats, sterilizes them and then releases them. ...

The dog who loved cats
Newsday, NY - Aug 28, 2005...
And every day, from 2 am until sunup, he makes the rounds of 19 feral cat colonies Ginny helped him find, feeding an estimated 320 cats. ...

Starvation, disease: Behold the woe of the feral cat
Charlotte Observer, NC - Aug 28, 2005
... stabilizing the population. If feral cats are merely killed, then new cats capable of breeding soon move in to repopulate the area. ...

Spay/neuter clinic Sept. 11 in Coquille
Coos Bay World, OR - Aug 27, 2005
Only homeless or feral cats qualify for the clinic, and the cats must have caregivers who feed them regularly and will care for them after they have been ...

Woman is cited for dumping cats
Canton Repository (subscription), OH - Aug 27, 2005
... Berry said people don’t realize that dumping cats can be dangerous. Uncared for, the cats will become wild, or feral, and vicious. ...

Disease kills cats at TAILS Director says virus likely spread by ...
Dekalb Daily Chronicle, IL - Aug 26, 2005
... Emmanuel said kittens born to stray or feral cats who have never received a vaccination also are likely to get the disease because they don't have a good ...

OUR OPINION
Jacksonville Daily News, NC - Aug 26, 2005
... Kindness Clinic, has performed low-cost spay-neuters on more than 2,000 cats and dogs. Those spay-neuters - for low-income residents' pets, feral colonies and ...
[Excerpt]
Bell and her fellow "calendar girls" volunteered for the project not because they wanted personal publicity, but because they're animal lovers and wanted to do something to help creatures less fortunate than the ones they themselves love - and dote upon.

Animal welfare group seeks to expand
Bolton Common, MA - Aug 26, 2005
... Other signature programs are trap-neuter-release for feral cats and foster care and "adopt-a-thons" for homeless cats. In the last ...

Authority snips declawing policy
The York Dispatch, PA - August 24, 2005
Facing picketers and protesters, the York City housing authority yesterday repealed a regulation requiring residents of its housing complexes to have their cats declawed or present a veterinarian's note giving medical reasons why the process would be harmful to the animal.
From now on, any cat with front claws will have to be carried in a cat carrier while in hallways, elevators or any other common area of the authority's buildings.

Friday, August 26, 2005

American Humane Association (AHA)
Annual Conference: September 29 - October 1, 2005
Hilton Austin
Austin, Texas

Saturday, October 1: 1pm to 3pm
Workshop 31:
Collarless Doesn’t Mean Worthless: Why It’s in Your Best Interest to Start a Shelter-Based TNR Program for Feral Cats
Presenter: Becky Robinson, National Director, Alley Cat Allies, Bethesda, MD;
Karen Bird, Supervisor, West Valley City Animal Services, West Valley City, UT; and Holly Sizemore, Feral Fix Program Director~ No More Homeless Pets, Kanab, UT

Discuss the ways a Trap-Neuter-Return (TNR) program is more effective in addressing the feral cat problem than sporadic trap-and-kill policies, and how it demonstrates that conimunity acceptance of TNR offers benefits in time, money, staff responsibilities, and reduced liabilities. Learn how animal control agencies and shelters can make a transition from their current policies to a TNR program with educational resources that will help your staff adjust to new policies and new challenges.
Track: Shelter Operations

You can download the brochure.

Thursday, August 25, 2005

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* Abandoned Cats - Israel Disengagement *
August 2 to 25, 2005

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On the wild side
Once nearly extinct, weasel-like fishers thrive in the suburbs, where their ravenous feeding habits threaten family pets
Boston Globe, United States
... And they point out that there are many wild animals -- the coyote, the great horned owl, and the fox, for example -- that like to prey on cats. ...

Southern Utahns battle area's feral cat population
Saint George Spectrum
ST. GEORGE - For Kris and Jim Neal, the homeless pet problem in St. George means more than animals in shelters. For them, the problem is in the streets.

Euthanization rate drops at PAWS facility
Daily News Journal, Murfreesboro, TN
Some 2,209 dogs and cats that were received by Rutherford County Pet Adoption & Welfare Services (PAWS) from May through July, and 1,454 had to be put to sleep for lack of someone to adopt them, a PAWS spokeswoman said.

Feral cats are back: Group to give population control seminar
LaCrosse Tribune - LaCrosse,WI,USA
... Earlier this year, Wisconsin made national headlines when the state's Conservation Congress considered a proposal to make shooting feral cats legal. ...

More animals landing on streets since fee added
News-Leader.com, MO
... "My neighbor ... moved and just left her three cats here. ... I took in a feral cat, and SNAP (a local spay-and-neuter organization) helped me neuter it for $20. ...

Pelzman pledges new animal shelter in ’06
Edison/Metuchen Sentinel, NJ
... Green said. “You have to take into account that a lot of feral cats are not considered adoptable,” Green said. Only animals ...

Woman bitten by rabid skunk
NorthJersey.com, NJ
... people to be extra cautious if they encounter any wild or stray animals," said ... Free-roaming cats and kittens account for the greatest number of exposures to ...

Officials seeking stricter pet laws
Fitchburg Sentinel, MA
... recently adopted a stray cat, and she has nine children. Carlson said the six-cat, four-dog maximum was too high. "I would think two dogs and two cats is enough ...

Deadly cat virus hits Valley animal shelter
Aurora Beacon News, IL
... Medical Director Dr. Sharon Colgan said an unvaccinated stray likely brought the disease into the shelter and spread it to other cats. ...
Virus kills nearly 100 cats at animal shelter
WLS, IL
August 25, 2005 (SOUTH ELGIN, Ill.) — Authorities say nearly 100 cats have died at a suburban Chicago animal shelter after catching an aggressive feline virus ...
Virulent virus kills 93 shelter cats
Chicago Tribune, United States
An aggressive feline virus that can kill within hours of the first symptoms has claimed 93 cats at a South Elgin animal shelter, attacking with unusual ...

Millbrook animal cruelty case wraps up
Millbrook Round Table, NY
... According to the SPCA, almost all the cats found were diagnosed with viral feline leukemia, which is spread by feces and urine. ...

Outdoor cats may need more vaccinations
Norman Transcript, OK
... Have the veterinarian give the canarypox virus-vectored type, since feline veterinarian experts find this to be preferable to other types of rabies vaccination ...

Cat owners warned about plague risk
CALIFORNIA
Cat owners warned about plague risk from wild rodents
San Francisco Chronicle, United States
State health officials warned cat owners Wednesday to keep their pets away from wild rodents, citing the detection of the plague in four house cats since late ...
[Excerpt]
State health officials cautioned that they had detected no signs of an upswing in California plague infections. However, they say, the fact that four infected cats from two widely separated counties were discovered in such a brief period merited a public warning.
"The motivation for us putting out this was, we routinely have one or two cases in cats each year," said Curtis Fritz, an epidemiologist with the infectious-diseases branch of the state Department of Health Services. "This year, we have already had four cases."
Dr. Claudia Jonah of the Kern County Department of Public Health said local medical officials were not concerned about the discovery.
"The testing we have done so far has shown no incidence of plague," Jonah said. "Kern is endemic for plague at the higher altitudes. It is something that we look for every year. ... This is something that we know could be here every summer."
[Feral Cat Blog! Resource:
Centers for Disease Control
Plague Information
Plague Fact Sheet ]

Police follow up on report about cats
Record-Journal, CT
... Police have sent a certified letter to the owners of the defunct Garden of Eden massage parlor on East Main Street upon learning that malnourished cats may be ...
Message made to save the cats inside
Record-Journal

MSPCA Vineyard chapter depends on annual fundraiser for cash
Martha's Vineyard Times, MA
... Some shelters advertising this policy do not count the euthanization of feral cats or aged and injured animals in their statistics. ...

Adopt a Cat
KPHO Phoenix, AZ
... The adoption fee includes spay or neuter, vaccinations, a cat license, microchip and cat carrier. Thinking about adopting a cat? Consider these cat facts: ...

McEnroe to Poke Fun at Self in PETA Ad
Newsday, NY... during US Open coverage next week, McEnroe pokes fun at himself by unleashing a trademark tirade sure to get people interested in cat and dog overpopulation. ...

JOHN MCENROE RAISES A RACKET IN NEW PETA SPAY AND NEUTER PSA
PETA (press release)
... s the most important thing you can do to make a difference for homeless animals!" barks McEnroe after another actor challenges his decision to neuter his dog. ...

New York A 7644 / S 4560 Signed! - Expands Animal Population Control Program
Full text of NY A 7644
[Excerpt]
PURPOSE OR GENERAL IDEA OF BILL: This bill would expand the animal population control program to make low income pet owners in New York State eligible for low-cost spay/neuter vouchers regardless of where they obtain their pets. Current law making New Yorkers who adopt their pets from shelters within the state eligible for vouchers under the program would remain unchanged.
Full text of NY S 4560
Current Animal Population Control Program

Wednesday, August 24, 2005

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* Abandoned Cats - Israel Disengagement *
August 2 to 23, 2005

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Feral cats pose risk, researcher writes
Northwest Herald, Illinois
WOODSTOCK – A controversial program created last year to control wild, homeless cats could be discontinued after criticism from a McHenry County health official and an ultimatum from county leaders.
[Excerpt]
Proffering a letter from a researcher at the University of Illinois at Chicago, Wheeler said at a board of health meeting that outdoor cats spread toxoplasmosis, a minor parasitic infection that can be dangerous to pregnant women and people with weakened immune systems.
Pathiobiologist Milton McAllister wrote that a "massive body of evidence regarding the public health risk" should prompt strict controls on feral cats and called it "socially irresponsible" to allow cats to live unrestricted outdoors.
But proponents of the program say the risk of toxoplasmosis was discussed extensively before the county approved the idea.
"In all, I think that it's unfair to try and revisit all this stuff based on one person's hearsay that is not statistically proven, that an increase [in toxoplasmosis] is based on feral cats," said Cindy Gaffney, the coordinator for Helping Paws' trap-neuter-release program.

Board reviews stray-cat surgery
Chicago Tribune, United States
McHENRY COUNTY -- A test program in which stray cats are spayed or neutered and released would get a three-month extension under a proposal officials are ...

State: Fix pets or pay higher fees
Bloomington Pantagraph, USA
... The new fee, which will be administered by county health departments, is aimed at reducing the number of stray dogs and cats in Illinois. ...
[Feral Cat Blog! Note and Resource: This is a new statewide spay/neuter program to include eligible feral cat caretakers as well as low-income pet 'owners'!!!:
"A resident of this State who is managing a feral cat colony and who humanely traps feral cats for spaying or neutering and return is eligible to participate in the program provided the trap, sterilize, and return program is recognized by the municipality or by the county, if it is located in an unincorporated area.
Full text of enrolled Illinois House Bill 315

Fresno County adds teeth to dog law
Fresno Bee (subscription), CA
... the 15 cities will adopt similar regulations. Anyone who doesn't want to spay or neuter a dog or cat can obtain a breeding permit. ...

Animal policies progressive in Ga.
Atlanta Journal Constitution (subscription), GA
... We worked to get the enabling legislation for the spay-neuter license plate passed, as well as the tax check-off legislation to allow taxpayers to contribute ...

CA Could Force Spaying, Neutering
KGO, CA
California cities and counties would be able to force dog owners to spay or neuter some breeds under new legislation passed by the State Assembly. ...

Most of cats rescued from FdL residence expected to survive
Fond du Lac Reporter, WI
One of the 12 cats removed from a West Bank Street residence has been euthanized by the Fond du Lac Humane Society, but Shelter Manager Lucy Mathers says the ...

20 cats taken from home euthanized
Newark Star Ledger, NJ
Twenty of the 95 cats removed from an East Orange home on Monday have been euthanized because of illness, animal welfare authorities said yesterday. ...

Samples from dead cats sent to lab; owners may be charged
Bakersfield Californian (subscription), CA
... The cats, dogs and horses on the quarantined property near Hart Flat were doing well Tuesday, said Kern County Animal Control chief Denise Haynes. ...
Animals tested for Bubonic Plague
KGET 17

Humane Society opts to not renew animal control contract
Mooresville / Decatur Times, IN
... Both women said the county needs to enact a strict spay and neuter ordinance and enforce it. They said that until the ordinance ...

ROCHDALE will be overrun with unwanted cats, an animal charity has ...
Rochdale Observer, UK
Barbara Henry, branch co-ordinator of Cats Protection, says that unless cat owners take on their responsibilities and get their pets neutered, the country’s ...

Tuesday, August 23, 2005

# of Stray Cats Becoming A Problem Locally
WLNS, MI
Last year, Ingham County picked up almost 2,500 stray cats, and even more than that this year, but they say most of the cats come from the Lansing area. ...

NH Humane Society in need of homes for 120 cats
Laconia Citizen, NH
... The situation has made it virtually impossible for the shelter to take in any more stray, abused or abandoned cats because there is simply no more space to ...

Research results fire up calls for cat crackdown
Hobart Mercury - Hobart,Tasmania,Australia
... for registration of domestic cats, compuslory desexing and microchipping were renewed yesterday in the wake of the shock findings of research into feral cats. ...

Town clerk giving back to community
The Buffalo News, New York
[Excerpts]
Boston Town Clerk David Shenk isn't a millionaire, not even close.
But he has one thing he can claim in common with Bill & Linda Gates and Buffalo's Gilded Age heiress Margaret L. Wendt. He has his own foundation. The foundation is looking to give away money again this summer, and sometimes, said Shenk, that can be a little difficult.
"Sometimes we've only had one or two applicants," he said.
The Shenk Foundation was established in 1993, but you won't see its imprint as part of any big-money projects. Instead, Shenk and his board (his father Gene, and real estate agent Elizabeth Fadale) are more likely to approve grants to buy live traps for the Ten Lives Club to capture and neuter feral cats or to provide patrol packs for new Cub Scouts.
"Sometimes we give toward something, sometimes we pay for it in its entirety," said Shenk, "but we prefer to take ownership of a particular project, to pay for the whole thing."
Gene Shenk said the school tax collection fees going into the fund have totaled about $2,500 a year. Its principal is about $15,000.
David Shenk said the best advice he can give to applicants is to come up with a complete project that costs between $200 and $500 and to get the application in by Friday.
The foundation usually gives out between $500 and $1,000 per year in grants.
Applications can be requested by writing the David J. Shenk Foundation, P.O. Box 232, Boston, NY 14025.

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There is hope for homeless pets
Ashland Daily Tidings, Oregon
Guest Forum:
Ann Wilton, President, Companion Animal Coalition
[Excerpts]
National Homeless Pets Day was Aug. 20.
Does the idea of no more homeless pets sound good to you? It does to me, too. And it is doable, right now.

Locally, we have had some success in lowering the number of dogs destroyed. But cat numbers are a different story, they are still unacceptably high. Eliminating euthanasia can happen in Jackson County, particularly now, since the old excuse of being underfunded is no longer valid.
The three animal shelters (Jackson County Animal Care and Control, Southern Oregon Humane Society and CATS, Committed Alliance to Strays) have recently each received hundreds of thousands of dollars from a bequest from the estate of Vern BeBe. Jackson County, which will get the largest percentage, has already received over $880,000, with many more thousands to come, perhaps as much as $1.2 million total.
Jackson County, the only local shelter that uses euthanasia, must stop classifying cats. Classifying cats gives them an excuse to euthanize all those that fall into their all-too-subjective “unadoptable” classification. Jackson County euthanizes 70 percent of the cats brought in.

I volunteer for a local grass-roots group called “Kitty Rescue.” We do not make distinctions between the cats we help.

Next, spay/neuter must be provided for all animals. This means all cats, whether owned, free-roaming, low income, regular income, pink or blue.

And lastly, the public must help. All of us who have had our cats fixed need go further to help others get their cats fixed, too. Too many people ignore large populations of free-roaming cats in their neighborhood. When you see a stray or unfixed cat you must act immediately. Don’t wait until the cat is pregnant to help it.
I also advocate a successful program which has become the industry standard for feral and abandoned cat overpopulation control across the country. It replaces euthanasia, it is kinder, more cost-effective, and successful at reducing numbers over the long-term, unlike euthanasia, which does not. It is called Trap-Neuter-Return, TNR for short. It involves trapping any cat that is not tame, taking it to a vet, having it neutered and ear-tipped, returning it to its location and then continuing to feed it. The motto being, “If you feed’em, fix’em.” The shelters can now afford to help fund the spay/neuter and public education part of this program.

Please contact the Jackson County commissioners and encourage them to insist that Jackson County use their funds to implement the actions I have addressed here:
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County of Fairfax, Virginia
CLERK'S BOARD SUMMARY REPORT OF ACTIONS OF THE FAIRFAX COUNTY BOARD OF SUPERVISORS - August 1, 2005
[Scroll down to]
ANIMAL CONTROL ISSUES
[Excerpt]
Accordingly, Supervisor Bulova asked unanimous consent that the Board direct the County Executive to examine this situation and report regarding Animal Control’s policies dealing with rabid, or potentially rabid, animals. If those policies are what she previously described, she further asked that the Board direct staff to provide some options to better serve constituents.
Discussion ensued regarding wildlife cases, the State’s responsibility, guidance given to citizens regarding wildlife, trapping of feral cats, disposal of dead crows, removal of snakes, and a balance in the coexistence of people and wildlife in suburbia, with input from Anthony H. Griffin, County Executive.
Chairman Connolly recapped the request as a request for the following information:
· Current guidance to residents.
· Current procedures.
· The location of the resources available to this effort.
· A clear delineation of the State responsibility in relation to the County’s responsibility.
· Proposals as to what can or should be done to provide better service and guidance to residents.

Trapping proposed for pesky cats
Herald and News, OR [Klamath County]
... Some people are inclined to feed stray cats, but won't claim ownership. "Unless you license cats, how do you prove it?" he said. ...

Deaths of cats stir up mystery
Bakersfield Californian (subscription), CA
... Some of the swarm of living cats still on the property are obviously sick, with something that may be the feline equivalent of the sniffles. ...

Group rescues 4 abandoned NCCo cats
The News Journal, DE
... You walk by their cages and they just purr.". Two of the cats, Benny and Fred, have tested positive for feline immunodeficiency virus. ...

Animal worker gets jail, $14,000 fine in deaths of cats
Newsday, NY
... ORANGE, NJ (AP) _ A woman was sentenced Monday to a 21-day jail term for failing to provide proper shelter for animals after about 200 dead cats were found ...

Judge orders all cats removed from home Newark Star Ledger

Sick, dead cats found in deplorable conditions in house on Bank ...
Fond du Lac Reporter, WI
... Aside from investigating the conditions, officers were also setting live traps inside the house in an effort to catch the remaining cats. ...

Chief inspector has authority to condemn damaged property
Fond du Lac Reporter

On the Internet, cats are man's best friend
Sun-Sentinel.com, FL
[From the New York Times]
... (Dogs Hate Bush exists, but then so does Cats Hate Bush.) As any good Web hound can tell you, Rathergood.com is filled with crazy crooning cats. ...

Study lifts lid on our fat ferals
Hobart Mercury, Australia
... they store fat on internal organs and breed out of season.University of Tasmania zoology honours student Kylie Cahill has dissected 85 feral cats as part of ...

OVER CAT-PACITY: Humane Society might stop taking animals
Winona Daily News, MN
... "Spending that $100 (to spay or neuter a pet) is the kindest thing a person can do if they love animals," Olson said. As for those ...

Monday, August 22, 2005

Ottawa Superex Super Pet PetFest
Cat Breed of the Day - Feral Cat
Tuesday, August 23, 2005 from Noon to 9 pm
The Cat Rescue Network (CRN) - The Cat Rescue Network was established in 1999, in order to bring together, in an informal partnership, animal welfare organizations and committed individuals to address gaps in the delivery of animal welfare services for homeless cats.
The CRN’s primary goals are to: Negotiate economies of scale with respect to veterinary fees, animal food and other cat related goods and services; Share resources such as foster homes, websites, volunteers, expertise and funding; Support and communicate with each other in areas of common interest such as animal welfare legislation and program delivery such as feral cat Trap, Neuter, Release (TRN) programs; Provide infrastructure and funding to smaller scale rescuers.

Pound could see $900,000 funding boost
San Antonio Express (subscription), TX
[Excerpts]
A proposed 23 percent increase in the Animal Care Services budget and a push for new programs, including one that would change how animals are euthanized, mark a significant change in the city's approach to its booming animal population.
After last year's outcry over San Antonio's high rate of euthanasia under inhumane conditions, officials at the Brackenridge Park shelter established a new mission: minimize the kill rate by increasing adoptions and spay-neuter efforts, thereby lowering the number of impounded animals.
With the $4.8 million budget proposal for 2006 — an increase of nearly $900,000 — Animal Care Services Director Sam Sanchez wants to boost funding for spay-neuter programs, maintain the switch from euthanasia by carbon monoxide to lethal injection and launch an innovative pilot program to deal with feral cats.
The animal shelter was set on a new path after the San Antonio Express-News revealed thousands of stray dogs and cats were being gassed to death each year, prompting a change in leadership at the facility and the emergence of a grass-roots movement focusing on volunteerism and education.

Perhaps the most controversial aspect of the budget is a $30,000 allocation to start a trap, neuter and release pilot project within willing communities.
The program would require City Council to change an ordinance regarding the feeding of a stray animal for more than 24 hours. Once an animal is fed for more than a day, it becomes the responsibility of that person, according to the ordinance.
The program would allow residents to trap feral cats, have them spayed or neutered and vaccinated, then released back into the community where they would be maintained in colonies with feeding stations — a kind of "urban game management," as Sanchez calls it.
"We have to look at cats differently than dogs," Sanchez said. "We've been guilty of a one-size-fits-all approach."
But Councilmen Richard Perez and Roland Gutierrez said they adamantly would oppose releasing animals back into the community.
"To me it's a health and safety issue for the citizens of San Antonio," Perez said at Thursday's City Council meeting. "There is no way I can support that."

[Feral Cat Blog! Resource:
Series in the San Antonio Express
Death by the Pound ]

The bare necessities
Jacksonville Daily News, NC
... make the site a place to provide a variety of services for animals, including dog training and behavioral counseling, care for feral cats, educational classes ...

Feeding the soul
Asbury Park Press, NJ
... took in a stray cat desperately needing a loving place to call home. She was less than a year old. What I didn't know at the time was that the male cats in the ...

New animal ordinances give Georgetown police more bite
New Albany Tribune, IN
... to dogs, cats and those domesticated animals often kept and regarded as pets.". Georgetown resident Jeff Bird said he has had problems with stray animals on his ...

40 dead cats, more live ones found on property
Bakersfield Californian (subscription), CA
Kern County animal control officers found 40 dead cats plus dozens more live animals on a property in the upper Hart Flat area Sunday that one official called ...

Dogs, cats unlikely to contract West Nile
Monterey County Herald, CA
... highest among the elderly population. The risk West Nile virus poses to our pet cats and dogs is very low. Cases of infection causing ...

Can cats get cavities?
Monterey County Herald, CA
... According to board certified veterinary dentist Dr. Jan Bellows in Weston, Fla., cats get tooth cavities but they are not the same as those in people. ...

Filthy Condo Housed Teens, Dogs, 17 Cats, Police Say
Tampa Tribune, FL
... An unknown number of dogs, two snakes and 17 cats were living in the residence. Three dogs were found in separate, dirty crates without food or water. ...

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Massachusetts: Public Hearing and Written Public Comments

Massachusetts Comprehensive Wildlife Conservation Strategy (Wildlife Action Plan)
DRAFT Outline as of: August 11, 2005
MassWildlife is working to create the state's first Comprehensive Wildlife Conservation Strategy. Posted here is a revised draft for public review and comment. Comments are welcomed and needed. The deadline for submitting comments is September 1, 2005. We look forward to hearing from you!
An Information Meeting will be held on Aug 25 in West Wareham where comments will be accepted orally and written comments may be submitted up to Sept 1.

UPCOMING FISHERIES & WILDLIFE BOARD MEETINGS
August 25--Fisheries & Wildlife Board Meeting and Hearings, 1PM, East Wareham--This meeting will be held at 1PM at the UMass Cranberry Station, 1 State Bog Road. Open to the public and media, these public meetings provide Board members with information from MassWildlife on wildlife and related topics and issues across the state. As part of the agenda, the Board will be voting on the proposals relative to the Youth Pheasant Hunt and the black bear hunting regulations (see July proposals below).
An informational presentation and meeting will be held at 3 PM at the same location regarding the Massachusetts Comprehensive Wildlife Conservation Strategy. (Wildlife Action Plan). The public is invited to provide additional comments on this plan at this time.
A Public Hearing will held beginning at 7 PM at the same location relative to establishing seasons and bag limits for the migratory bird seasons. Directions are below in Public Hearing Notices.

Sunday, August 21, 2005

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National Homeless Animals' Day 2005
Saturday, August 20

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* Abandoned Cats - Israel Disengagement *
August 2 to 21, 2005

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Fix felix
Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, PA - 8 hours ago... calling the shelter at 724-539-2544. In addition to household pets, the shelter will accept stray and feral cats for the service. ...

Study says Florida panther rebound fueled by Texas cats
Palm Beach Post, FL
... Scientists say the two events are related: The state's introduction of the Texas cats, a controversial effort that some experts scoffed at, has pulled the ...
Texas Cats Help Triple Florida Panther Population
National Geographic

Be part of the solution; rescue a homeless pet
Santa Cruz Sentinel, CA
... There are already more animals than homes available. Spay or neuter your animals so they don’t add to the staggering animal overpopulation problem. ...

Ron Henry Strait: TP&W turns ear to public in forum
San Antonio Express (subscription), TX
[Excerpts]
This week's meeting of the Texas Parks & Wildlife Commission will be busier than usual.
Thursday's action agenda includes 23 items covering topics from grants for boat ramps and target ranges to the Migratory Game Bird Proclamation (dove and waterfowl seasons). It also includes a proposed regulation providing for the humane dispatch of game animals and game birds.
The commission's Wednesday program will include the usual briefings on departmental matters in addition to the panel's annual public meeting.

That exception is Wednesday's public meeting, which begins at 2p.m. at TP&W headquarters, 4200 Smith School Road, in southeast Austin.

Go in the front door and fill out a card. At 2p.m., the commissioners will be on the podium, and you will get three minutes to tell them how you feel about any subject that falls within TP&W purview. The line can be long, so plan on spending the afternoon waiting for your turn.

The commissioners also appreciate praise and getting new information or perspectives.
In the latter category, one year, a fellow presented information on the depredation of native bird species by feral cats. It is one of those topics that is seldom aired or thought of, but it is of great concern among birders and naturalists.
The information he presented made me more aware of feral cats, that is, cats that have been abandoned or discarded and now forage on their own.
Feral cats are out there by the tens of thousands, and, unlike abandoned dogs that need some human assistance to survive, feral cats are loners that will fend for themselves. In doing so, they can devastate populations of nesting birds, small reptiles and other native fauna.
The devastation goes mostly unnoticed by the public, and the man wondered what TP&W could do about the matter.

On the action agenda for Thursday's meeting is the "humane dispatch" presentation to be made by game warden David Sinclair, chief of wildlife enforcement and a specialist in hunting regulations.
It will clarify the circumstances under which an injured or otherwise impaired game animal or game bird can be legally killed.
For the computer user who needs more background, look up House Bill 2555. The new law grants authority to the TP&W commission to set regulations such as those to be proposed by Sinclair.
Another action item, the migratory game bird proclamation, is the final word on waterfowl and dove seasons. According to TP&W, federal wildlife officials this year approved a nine-day teal season from Sept.17-25.
Comments on current, specific topics such as humane dispatch and hunting seasons can be addressed to commissioners at the Thursday meeting. You'll get three minutes to talk if you sign up Thursday morning.

[Feral Cat Blog! Resource:
Texas Parks and Wildlife Department
Texas Parks and Wildlife Commission
Public Meetings
Annual Meeting - August 24 and 25, 2005
Public Comment]

9-year-old Davis has a great fish story
Evansville Courier & Press (subscription), IN
... percent of these spend time outdoors. Factor in the homeless (feral) cats and there are more than 100 million free-roaming felines. ...

Adopting a new outlook: County works to reduce killing at animal ...
Santa Barbara News-Press (subscription), CA
... shelters, whether surrendered by an owner, picked up as a stray, or seized ... According to county figures, 8,565 dogs, cats, rabbits and other animals were taken ...

City trying to trap coyotes near homes
Dallas Morning News (subscription), TX
... Cats and small dogs are the perfect-sized meal for a coyote ... between an animal being torn apart, like when hit by a car, and being dismembered by a stray dog or ...

Saturday, August 20, 2005

National Homeless Animals' Day 2005
Today! ~~ Saturday, August 20

National Homeless Animals' Day in the News
Courtesy of Google.com News

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* Abandoned Cats - Israel Disengagement *
August 2 to 20, 2005


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More predators killed to protect endangered species
Coos Bay World, OR
... best. Now they routinely work with federal trappers who kill the ravens, red foxes and feral cats that prey on plover nests. In ...
[Anther excerpt]
Kieran Suckling, policy director for the Center for Biological Diversity, said there would be no need for predator control if there were more habitat.
"By giving up even the prospect of protecting ecosystems, we are forced to spend vast amounts of money managing what are effectively outdoor zoos," said Suckling. "If instead we protected large swaths of habitat and increased population sizes, then it wouldn't matter if a few birds got picked off by predators."

[Feral Cat Blog! Notes:
In November 2003 I sent my comments and request for non-lethal predator control to the US Fish and Wildlife Service regarding their Environmental Assessment for Predator Damage Management to Protect Oregon Seabirds.
Here is the Feral Cat Coalition of Oregon's response letter to the US Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS).
This is a statement from the federal Wildlife Services (APHIS/USDA) regarding their work resolving wildlife conflicts in Oregon. You can look up their work in your state.
And as previously posted, here are the Wildlife Services' 2004 Annual Tables showing expenditures, numbers and species of animals killed and methods used.]

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Convent is missing its kitty
A Liliha nun hopes someone recognizes the tabby’s unique crosslike markings
Honolulu Star-Bulletin, HI
... distribute Lani's picture to veterinarians and the Cat Friends organization, which works with people who take care of the colonies of feral cats in public ...

Governments plan joint session
Lake County Record-Bee, CA
The joint session will address a proposed methamphetamine ordinance, the storm water management plan, a countywide spay and neuter ordinance, regulation of big ...

Humane Society spay/neuter program meant to help curb pet ...
Quincy Herald Whig, IL
... From the additional $40, $25 will go to the Spay/Neuter Fund and $15 will go to the Secretary of State special plate fund. Renewals ...

Lisa Dunbar
Ledger Independent, KY
... Animal control officers would benefit from workshops on shelter-based trap-neuter-return programs for feral cats, zoonotic diseases, humane education and ...

Web site focuses on feline diabetes
Record-Searchlight (subscription), CA
... The links at www.gorbzilla.com will point you to resources for dealing with this all-too-common feline disease, including home-testing primers, how-tos on ...

Animal agency rescues 30 cats
Danbury News Times - Danbury,CT,USA
... someone purposely set. Simon was among some 30 feral cats found living on a piece of property on Sheriden Road. More than 20 cats ...

Health officials warn of bats, rabies
The Journal News.com, NY
... The shots are recommended for anyone who comes into contact with raccoons, skunks, foxes, rabbits, stray dogs and cats, and other animals, or finds a bat in ...

Increase in numbers of stray cats
Cambridge Evening News, UK
MORE stray cats than ever have been taken in by the RSPCA in the Cambridge area for rehoming this summer. A spokeswoman for the ...

A sheltered life? Harsh reality at pounds
San Francisco Chronicle, United States
... Less than 2 percent of stray cats are reunited with their guardians. Every 9 seconds one animal is euthanized. Count to nine. There, an animal is dead. ...

Cat-killing coyote worries woman
Gwinnett Daily Post, GA
... She recommended bringing cats, dogs and garbage cans indoors at night and not leaving pet ... She still gets choked up talking about the stray cat that her family ...

King County Animal Shelters full special adoption prices for cat ...
King County (press release), WA
... King County’s adoption fee includes vaccinations, spay or neuter surgery, a King County pet license, education materials, and a cat carrier. ...

80,000 dogs and cats put down each year
Sydney Morning Herald (subscription), Australia -
An appalling number of cats and dogs are killed in NSW pounds each year, an animal protection group says. World League for the Protection ...

BFAB offers pet-ID
Royal Gazette, Bermuda
To put a stop to stray cats the Bermuda Feline Assistance Bureau (BFAB) want photographs for a new pet-ID scheme. Close to 100 animals ...

Give us our pet cat back, pleads family
ic Wales, United Kingdom
... mistook it for a stray and called in the RSPCA who re-homed it after no-one claimed it. A RSPCA spokesman said, "Our policy is that when cats are brought into ...

Israeli Settlers Make Last Stand Atop Synagogue
ktla 5, CA
[Excerpt]
With most of the settlers gone, an animal-rescue group said Thursday that it planned to enter the settlements to round up stray dogs and cats left behind in the crush. The Society to Protect Animals planned to seek permission to go in as soon as all 21 settlements were declared secured by the army.

Friday, August 19, 2005

PETsMART Webinars:
Animal Control - Friend or Foe?
Susan Kilgore, Feral Friends Animal Rescue and Kent Robertson, Head of Dallas Animal Services
TODAY -- Friday, August 19: 12 noon Pacific Daylight Time
Friday, August 26: 9-10AM PDT and 12NN-1PM PDT

Add A New Family Member on National Homeless Animals' Day Asks HSC
PR Direct (press release), Canada
... In every community, pets are hit by cars each day, and there are tens of thousands of feral cats who live short, harsh lives. Animals ...

Shelter requests return of cat traps
Cibola County Beacon, NM
... "Feral cats can be dangerous," she said, "especially when children try to pick up wild ... Feral cats can be lured into entering the cage with food or catnip. ...

Four-legged vagabonds roaming area
Del Rio News Herald, TX
... And of course, all cats and dogs should be vaccinated against rabies ... Garcia believes that thousands of strays have become “feral” – untamed, wild, not ...

Cat control needs
Honolulu Star-Bulletin, HI
... Burns says. "The reality is that feral cats are un-socialized and cannot be handled or placed in a typical pet home. People who ...

Animal-services reforms
Miami Herald, FL
... First and foremost, pet owners need to spay and neuter their animals. Make sure that pets are registered, have ID collars and are identified with a microchip. ...

Seven-day animal shelter preferred
Enterprise-Record, CA
... About 50 percent of that comes from the city, 10 percent comes from such things as impound fees, spay and neuter deposits and fines, and the remaining 40 ...

Some think it’s time for county to call in cats
Kansas City Star, MO
... that houses criminal records and two judges. The felines could get fat feasting on the mice. For months, employees say, mice have ...

Health Department Sponsoring Free Rabies Vaccination Clinic
Westchester.com, NY
... However, domestic animals such as cats and dogs are also at risk because they can easily contract rabies from wild or stray animals. ...

Animal services department gets surprise grant for $10,000
Reno Gazette Journal, NV
... neutered at 6 years old, he doesn’t have much of a chance. Feral cats are the same because you can’t handle them,” he said. ...
[Excerpts]
Animal services supervisor Pat Wiggins said he’s still working out details for how the funds will be used, but adoption will be the focus.
“We don’t have a set time limit on (keeping) animals. We are always a full shelter, so we’ll probably be looking at more publicity campaigns and adoption clinics to help us get more dogs and cats into homes,” Wiggins said.
The award comes from Maddie’s Fund, a pet rescue foundation
Carson City has been a no-kill shelter for adoptable cats for a number of years, primarily due to a successful partnership with Pet Network, a cat rescue group based in Incline Village, Wiggins said.

Mobile Feline Unit Rolls Into Town: Organization provides care to ...
TheDay (subscription), CT
... Although TEAM does not advocate euthanasia for a healthy animal under any circumstances, it has seen its fair share of feral cats that are beyond saving. ...

Health officials find second case of rabies in Bethlehem
The Express Times, PA
... Citizens, especially children, are cautioned to stay away from all stray and wild animals, including feral cats. These are kittens ...

August is kitten month
Richmond Times Dispatch, VA
... All also are trying to encourage people to neuter animals and to help with their programs to catch, neuter and release feral cats and dogs. ...

Fighting to save cats and dogs Town issues become pet peeves for ...
Stratford Star, CT
... Westbrook, who warns that Stratford's feral cat problem is getting out of hand and questions why the shelter doesn't take cats, is one of the most vocal of the ...

Pet 'hoarding' hits home with abandoned cats
Auburn Journal, CA
... Officers suspect the Baldwins owned several cats and took dozens of feral cats under their wing by feeding them over the years. ...

Thursday, August 18, 2005

Animal control says feral cat feeding persists
Pawtucket Times - Pawtucket,RI,USA
PAWTUCKET -- Animal control officials, who have been seeking city legislation to curb the feeding of stray animals including feral cats, say they keep getting ...

Feud over cats pits Bradley, neighbor
Palm Beach Daily News - Palm Beach,FL,USA
For nearly three years, Catherine Bradley, the embattled former feral cat caretaker, fought multiple charges related to trespassing and feeding feral cats. ...

Israel to rescue cats, dogs from Gaza settlements
Reuters AlertNet, UK
... Israel is known for its many stray cats but some of the animals could be pets that got lost when owners left suddenly or were dragged away. ...

Animal rights group awaits permission to enter Gaza to save strays
Ha'aretz (registration), Israel
... "Cats and dogs left behind by departing settlers have no ability to survive under the ... The group said it is concerned about stray dogs and pets left behind by ...

Dead Cats Packed In Freezer Of Feces-Filled Home
Local6.com, FL
... "They went as far as to buy wading pools to put cat litter in," Hezlep said. "The cats were using them for litter boxes. A lot of them have feline leukemia.". ...

Cat abuse case highlights a growing problem
News 8 Austin, TX
... Nine to 10 cases of animal cruelty have been reported in Lee County since October. The animals include cats, horses and dogs. Pitbulls are big targets. ...

Chula Vista Animal Shelter In State Of Crisis
KFMB, CA
... with the San Diego Animal Support Foundation says the shelter is housing hundreds of dogs and cats. ... And, in Chula Vista they have a big stray problem, as well. ...

Pet shelter looking to relocate in Vulcan County
Vulcan Advocate, Canada
... Every small community needs a system to take care of stray or injured animals ... Currently, she is looking after approximately 50 cats in two homes in Champion. ...

Pet support group is seeking volunteers
Press-Enterprise (subscription), CA
OVERPOPULATION: The goal is to get owners to spay and neuter their dogs and cats.

Do your part for homeless animals
Sun-Sentinel.com, FL
... If you cannot adopt, sponsor an animal at your local shelter or rescue. Spay or neuter at least one animal this month. If your companion ...

Snipped Funds Mean Unsnipped Animals
Austin Chronicle, TX
... hours in the back of Branham's pickup at the Southeast Community Library in southeast Austin, and at 8am, when the EmanciPet Mobile Spay/Neuter Clinic pulled ...

Numbers tell sad story about unwanted pets
Casa Grande Valley Newspapers, AZ
... In that regard, there is a mobile spay/neuter clinic that has contracted with AC&C to come to our shelter once a month. The vet ...

Wednesday, August 17, 2005

Dog-shipping shame lies in state's tax rules [Georgia and Massachusetts]
Atlanta Journal Constitution (subscription), GA
... have implemented successful programs to control the pet population through yearly licensing of companion animals and through low-cost spay and neuter policies. ...

Windmills seen as boon, bane
Energy source is blowing in wind
SCRIPPS HOWARD NEWS SERVICE
Birmingham Post Herald
[Excerpt]
Buried in the new energy law is almost $3 billion in subsidies that supporters have earmarked to build thousands of electricity-generating windmills in the United States.
[Excerpt]
Jerry Taylor, director of natural resource studies at the Cato Institute in Washington, argued that windmills are no solution to America's electricity problem. He said the turbines operate best at night when the winds are strongest, and the technology can't be relied on to meet demands for more electricity in peak use periods during those hot — and often calm — summer afternoons when industry is at work and air conditioners are running.
Taylor said there would be no windmills if there weren't lavish government subsidies.
Taylor also noted the prime locations for windmill farms are some of America's wildest and most scenic areas. That has whipped up intense opposition from local preservationists.
Then there are the birds.
At one of the nation's oldest windmill farms, built on a scenic 50-acre site in Altamont, Calif., some 4,000 windmills have been chopping birds to pieces at the pace of 4,700 a year, according to conservative estimates. Bird lovers are suing to force the electricity farm's operator to take remedial measures.
Christine Real de Azua of the American Wind Energy Associationacknowledged that "Altamont is a problem," but she insisted that other wind farms haven't seen the same sort of bird kills, including another Southern California wind farm built in the flyway of migratory birds.
"That's not to say that an occasional bird doesn't fly into one of the structures," she said. "But they aren't a blip on the chart" compared with bird mortality from power lines, power poles and buildings.
[Excerpt]
Despite the industry's critics, some 2,000 wind turbines are being built this year, adding an estimated 2,500 megawatts to America's electrical-energy network. Less than 1 percent of America's electricity supply comes from wind, but there are sufficient windmills already built to provide 1.6 million homes with electricity.
A 1-megawatt windmill costs about $1 million to build, and provides electricity to about 300 homes a year. The industry defends its federal subsidy, noting it's less costly than the oil and natural-gas depletion allowance.

Development fees proposed to save endangered mouse
St. Petersburg Times, FL
... Janet Mizzi, US Fish and Wildlife's Panama City-based deputy field manager, said ... meet building specifications designed to prevent or reduce storm damage to the ...
[Excerpt]
PERDIDO KEY - Land developers and new residents, both blamed for threatening to squeeze the Perdido Key beach mouse out of existence, might instead help save the endangered rodent through impact fees proposed by state and federal wildlife officials.
They released a revised plan Monday to Escambia County commissioners, who are likely to vote on it Sept. 1.
Developers had objected to an earlier proposal calling for a one-time $198,000 per acre fee and annual $100 per unit assessment.
The new proposal by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission would give developers two options: a one-time fee of $157,000 per acre plus $100 per unit annually or a one-time fee of $100,000 per acre with $201 per unit annually.
[Feral Cat Blog! Note: It has been stated that domestic cats in Florida are predators of and threaten several federal-listed species of beach mice including the Perdido Key beach mouse (endangered listing).]

‘Paws and Claws Gala’ Seeks Sponsors
Southern Pines Pilot, NC
... The organization also traps feral cats for Pinehurst, Southern Pines, Aberdeen, Carthage, Robbins, Vass, Cameron, and Whispering Pines. ...

Plea for cat 'foster carers'
Norfolk Eastern Daily Press, UK
... already has a family waiting to rehome him, and Tyke were slightly feral when they ... more are needed - and not just for kittens but for older cats and families ...

County Tosses Spay Hot Potato to Towns
Cape May County Herald, NJ
... There have been complaints because it has had to euthanize feral cats and dogs (see related story) and that it is too cold in the winter and too hot in the ...
[Excerpt]
CREST HAVEN - The county has asked 15 municipalities - Ocean City is excluded - for “input and recommendations” on the question of having a spay and neuter clinic linked and adjacent to the county animal shelter.The letter to mayors includes a copy of a 33-page proposal from the Animal Shelter Alliance, the nonprofit that proposes to operate the clinic, and asks towns to “evaluate the proposal.”

Going batty: Officials say they picked up several rabid bats
The Southern, IL
... Hawk reported to the county board she plans to begin trapping and euthanizing stray cats in the Jonesboro area, since she suspects it was a cat that killed one ...

Your Stories: No Cat Pickup In Ontario County
13WHAM-TV, NY
... The problem is Ontario County does not pick up stray cats. It's a sheer matter of numbers and money, there are too many cats and ...

Botanic Garden gala helps programs blossom
Chicago Sun-Times, United States
[Scroll down to, excerpted here]
Paula Fasseas founded PAWS (Pets Are Worth Saving) with urging from her daughter to help save the unwanted dogs and cats running loose around Chicago.
This very important no-kill humane organization is focused on reducing the city's pet overpopulation problem through spay/neuter, adoption and community outreach programs.
To raise funds for their very important work, it holds a fun party for folks and their pooches at the North Avenue Beach Boathouse . . .
More than $75,000 was raised to support the Lurie Family Spay/ Neuter Clinic, the only free such clinic located in and serving Chicago area communities where most stray and unwanted pets originate.

Groups aim to curb numbers of unwanted pets
Daily News - Galveston County, TX
[Excerpts]
The Animal Alliance of Galveston County and Saving Animals are hoping the creation of a low-cost spay and neuter clinic can help cut the number of dogs and cats that are destroyed.The two organizations have purchased a veterinary clinic, 608 Bayou Road, in La Marque. The clinic is scheduled to open Dec. 1.
Hawkins said his former organization, the Spay/ Neuter Assistance Program, had served as a consultant to other groups that had wanted to start a low-cost sterilization clinic in Galveston County.Those efforts failed, he said, because some veterinarians were afraid the clinic would hurt their business.But Hawkins said the low-cost clinic would serve people who would not normally visit a veterinarian.

Animal shelter oversight increases
News & Observer, NC
... "I'm hopeful with progressive legislation such as this, it will pave the way to get some spay and neuter legislation in place," said Hope Hancock, executive ...

Trapping, and traps for, hard-to-catch or elusive cats

Drop Traps

* The drop trap described here was designed by Laura Burns of Boston.
Neighborhood Cats / Info / Drop Trap
a downloadable PDF file Drop Trap: Detailed Instructions

The Incredible Drop Trap by Laura Burns will be featured in the Exhibit Hall at the 2nd Annual National Feral Cat Summit 2005 in Philadelphia on October 15. [2005]

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Feral Cat Blog! update: http://www.droptrapdesign.blogspot.com/

Feral Cat Blog! update: Drop Trap Users Yahoo Group - started February 2006

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* Jennifer Conger, formerly of Alley Cat Allies, designed this drop trap and wrote up the instructions.
a downloadable PDF file DROP TRAP INSTRUCTIONS - Alley Cat Allies
Other articles from Alley Cat Allies on Trapping Feral Cats

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* Drop trap by David Gale
Hosted by Cat Coalition of Florida
Click on Trapping in the left menu bar.

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Super Trap (trap in a trap!)

Carol ‘s Super Trap
In Paws to Think Magazine, Spring 2005
(a publication of the Pet Savers Foundation)
a downloadable PDF file
Page 23 and 24 (Page 25 and 26 in Adobe)

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Hard to Catch Cats

Neighborhood Cats webpage
1. The Drop Trap
2. The Camoflauge Trap
3. Training the Cat
4. Trap-in-a-Box
From the inventive mind of Susan Greene comes the "trap-in-a-box" technique. For more on the method and Susan's work, go to: http://www.americancat.net/fastfood.html
5. Luring into a Closed Space
6. Little Things
7. Picking One Out from the Crowd

We don't recommend ever using a net or graspers to catch a feral cat.

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Feral Cat Blog! update:

Lisa A. Pierson, DVM
http://catinfo.org/

Drop Trap/Remote Control Trap
[excerpt]
December 26, 2006
This page will be an ongoing work-in-progress as I continue to modify a drop trap that I have designed. I will also be posting more information regarding a remote control (RC) trap that I have been using for the past several months.
April 22, 2007
I am currently building a Style 1 drop trap and am taking pictures as I go along. Please see this page for a step-by-step pictorial.

Building a Drop Trap

National Feral Cat Summit 2005 (Philadelphia, Oct 15)

for immediate release

contact: Neighborhood Cats
summit@neighborhoodcats.org
212-662-5761

2nd Annual National Feral Cat Summit Promises to be Historic Event!!
Leading Animal Welfare Organizations and Individuals from around the U.S. to Gather in Philadelphia

(Aug. 16, 2005) On October 15, 2005, in Philadelphia, PA., an all day conference will address one of the critical issues facing animal welfare today - the extreme overpopulation of feral cats. Lectures, workshops and exhibits will focus on the use of Trap-Neuter-Return (TNR) as a means of resolving the crisis. "The National Feral Cat Summit" is produced by Neighborhood Cas and presented in partnership with The Humane Society of the United States (HSUS), the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA), In Defense of Animals (IDA), the Alliance for Philadelphia's Animals and the Mayor's Alliance for NYC's Animals, with sponsors including PETsMART Charities and the PETCO Foundation.

Tickets for this important event are only $40 if purchased before Sept. 1, $50 afterwards. For the complete program, ticket purchase info and registration form, please go to:
http://www.neighborhoodcats.org/special/nfc_summit_2005.htm

The program will include:

*Esther Mechler, founder of SPAY USA, speaking on the vital role of TNR in solving companion animal overpopulation

*Dr. Margaret R. Slater, DVM, PhD, relaying the latest in feral cat research

*Bryan Kortis, Executive Director of Neighborhood Cats, giving practical tips on convincing municipalities to do TNR, and teaching a workshop on how to build a successful community-wide TNR program

*Nancy Peterson, Issues Specialist for The HSUS, announcing HSUS' new relationship with Neighborhood Cats

*Directors of leading TNR programs from around the country giving tips on the successes of, and challenges facing, their efforts

*A workshop on building animal coalitions featuring the distinguished panel of Jane Hoffman, President of the Mayor's Alliance for NYC's Animals, Ann Trinkle, President of the Alliance for Philadelphia's Animals, Tara Derby-Perrin, Executive Director of Philadelphia's Animal Care &Control, Sandy Monterose, National Shelter Outreach for the ASPCA, and Esther Mechler

*Meredith Weiss and Emma Cobb of Neighborhood Cats on how to perform a mass trapping

*Anitra Frazier, author of "The New Natural Cat", teaching a workshop on feral cat colony care

*Kit Jenkins, Grants Manager for PETsMART Charities, on finding grants for TNR programs

*Valerie Sicignano of Neighborhood Cats on creating fundraising events

The Exhibit Hall will feature a wealth of information from participating organizations, the latest equipment and innovations in TNR, including the Incredible Drop Trap by Laura Burns, IndyFeral's Fabulous Feral Winter Shelter, and the newest from Tomahawk and from Animal Care Equipment and Services (ACES).

If you care about the cats or your community is facing its own feral cat problem, and you're looking for humane, effective ways to help - don't miss this event!!

Tuesday, August 16, 2005

Commission: Who will pay to enforce animal ordinance?
Shreveport Times, LA
... two months, a committee made up of area law enforcement agents, Caddo commissioners, Shreveport city councilmen, and members of Caddo Animal Control has been ...

McHenry Co. weighs animal control plan
Chicago Tribune, United States
... For months, McHenry County Animal Control has been racked by public debate about how to balance the desire to keep all healthy, adoptable animals alive with ...

Change in city's law sought in bid to control cat population
Warwick Beacon, RI
Lesley Doonan sees no end to the slaughter or to the multiplication of cats. On an average the city’s animal control shelter euthanizes five cats a week. There’s no knowing how many cats are born weekly, but it’s safe to venture that it is many times that number.

City of Delta, Colorado - Minutes July 29, 2005
Councilmember Comments
[Excerpt]
Councilmember Thompson reported on a complaint she had received from a citizen via email concerning a cat problem. The citizen suggested that the City purchase more animal traps to be used in trapping feral cats.

City faces feral cat crisis
Auburn Journal, CA
Auburn police and volunteers are dealing with dozens of abandoned cats living in an home on Summit Street, in one of the biggest animal abandonment cases the ...

Warning in Bethlehem after rabid skunk is found
Allentown Morning Call, PA
... states. ''The public, especially children, should be warned to stay away from all stray and wild animals, including feral cats.''. ...

Health District: Raccoon Tested Positive For Rabies
TheDay (subscription), CT
... Rabies is spread mostly by wild animals, but stray dogs and cats also can become infected and spread the virus. Mansfield advised ...

Family finds rabid bat
Ann Arbor News, MI
... a rabid fox was found in Oakland County and two rabid cats were reported ... In general, Cook said, no one should hand-feed or otherwise handle stray animals and ...

New fox attacks bring total to 6
St. Petersburg Times, FL
... officials said residents should vaccinate their domesticated animals, from dogs to cows; stay away from wildlife, such as raccoons and feral cats; and report ...

Research centre takes national approach to tackling pests
ABC Online, Australia
A national approach has begun to tackle the worst of Australia's pest animals, including foxes, cats, rabbits, carp and cane toads . ...

More government support for conservation scheme
ABC Online, Australia
The Western Shield baiting scheme aims to protect native animals by controlling introduced predators like the fox and feral cats. ...

Cats will be available at Saturday Market
Salem Statesman Journal, OR
... office. It's a good deal, just a $20 co-pay for females and $15 for males. You can be a friend to a feline without adopting, too. Just ...

Skinned cats found at nature spot
BBC News

Cats, Dogs Found Abandoned In Hancock County
Iowa Channel.com, IA
DES MOINES, Iowa -- Authorities said dozens of cats and dogs were found abandoned at a farm Hancock County. The animals were found Saturday afternoon. ...

Couple Face Several Charges In Animal Neglect Case
Iowa Channel.com

Three Hamilton cats doused with turps
Stuff.co.nz, New Zealand
Someone in Glenview, Hamilton, dislikes cats enough to torture them by dipping them in turps. In the past two weeks ...

Cats rule council's agenda tonight at City Hall
Providence Journal (subscription), RI
Proposed ordinances would outlaw more than four cats at a residence and require spaying or neutering felines adopted from the shelter.

Coyotes Suspected Of Killing Cats In Grand Prairie
NBC5i.com, TX
Over the past month, seven cats have been killed, but there's no proof coyotes are to blame. "Granted, the city is getting bigger ...

Feline Companionship
LTVNEWS.COM, Canada
SADE is one of a pair of cats that find themselves living at the shelter after their owner passed away. A quiet and gentle two year ...

New budget increases state authority over animal shelters
News & Observer, NC
... "I'm hopeful with progressive legislation such as this, it will pave the way to get some spay and neuter legislation in place," said Hope Hancock, executive ...

Monday, August 15, 2005

Stolen checks put sanctuary's future at risk
Times Herald-Record, NY
... Thanks to the thieves who took a checkbook and cash from Whalen's Pets Alive no-kill animal sanctuary last month, Whalen is struggling to find money to feed ...
[Excerpt]
To make a tax-deductible donation to Pets Alive, call the sanctuary at 386-9738, or visit its Web site at www.petsalive.org.
[Feral Cat Blog! Note: This is the sanctuary that kindly made a home for the unwanted cats of the Corpus Christi Monastery in The Bronx.]

California State Park Rangers Association
The CSPRA Wave, July-Aug 2005
[a downloadable PDF file] http://www.cspra.com/wave_aug05.pdf
A MEETING OF THE MINDS
[Excerpt]
... for over three years the Natural Resources and the Interpretation and Education Divisions have held monthly lunchtime meetings to discuss cooperative efforts , and the collaboration has proven to be a productive one. The group discusses ways to interpret natural resource issues to a variety of audiences, both within the Department to DPR field staff and Administration, and outreach to the visiting public, park neighbors and the surrounding communities, our peers in natural resource management, and to local governments, legislators, and other decision makers.
The range of products and projects includes producing brochures and smaller informational brochure inserts, reviewing interpretive panel text, planning staff training, and representing DPR in larger natural resource interpretation efforts. Future endeavors include producing interpretive materials on exotic species, feral cats, prescribed burning, watershed restoration, and the outstanding geologic resources to be found in California’s state parks.
Materials published to date are designed to educate the public, encourage support for Department management actions, increase public compliance with park rules and regulations, address public safety issues, or introduce DPR’s policies and resource management program to other resource professionals. Topics covered include DPR’s natural resource management program, urban edge issues, feeding wildlife, dogs in parks, mountain lions, yellowjackets, West Nile Virus, sudden oak death, campfire management, and the western snowy plover- its natural history and the rules visitors must follow to protect its habitat. An order form (in both an annotated hard copy and illustrated electronic forms) is being developed to facilitate requests from the field for these new interpretive tools.
The brochure “Natural Resource Management in California State Parks” is intended to foster public understanding and support of our programs, and explains why the Department engages in conservation, protection, and restoration of California’s natural habitats and the native species that inhabit them, giving examples of typical management actions. Primarily intended to be distributed at the units and during outreach efforts, this brochure may be accompanied by more detailed information on specific resource management techniques and tools as the need arises in the units. “Urban Effects on Our Wildlands” illustrates the impacts of adjacent urban land uses on the natural resource values of wildlands. Besides covering the threats posed by encroaching development and the host of problems people bring with them including loss of habitat, invasive exotic plants, and uncontrolled pets, the brochure includes a check-off list of things the reader can do, a list that was designed to help park visitors and neighbors recognize the part they can play in protecting wildlands. Field offices were provided with a list of suggestions for how/where the brochure can be used/distributed, and were encouraged to create a list of opportunities for their area to guide potential future volunteers to resource management organizations or projects where their energy will do the most good.

Benefit helps critters
Cincinnati Enquirer, OH
... profit organization called Save Our Strays (SOS) will use comedy to raise money for its mission of reducing the numbers of stray and feral cats, and finding ...

~ ~ ~ ~ ~
[See also my previous post: Abandoned Cats - Israel Disengagement]

Operation Noah's Ark: Evacuating the animals
Israel 21C, CA
... activists, with the help of volunteer veterinarians, and some residents of the settlements have launched a massive operation to save the stray cats and dogs. ...

Fur flies in Samaria as 150 cats, and one blind dog, are moved out
Jerusalem Post, Israel
... and four other animal rights activists have been driving to the northern West Bank settlements of Ganim and Kadim and hauling out vanloads of stray cats. ...
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Humane Society Cat Overpopulation
WMTV, WI
[Dane County Humane Society]
... The large number comes from a combination of people giving up their cats and the fact that the shelter takes in nearly ten stray cats each day. ...


Adult cats need good homes, too
Cincinnati Enquirer, OH
... The adoption fee: $55. Johnson's shelter, which is a no-kill facility, only accepts adult cats, and the shelter is usually filled to its 40-feline capacity. ...

Cats and dogs to have £2.5m centre
Weston & Somerset Mercury, UK
... Building work is due to start on a cattery to house 40 homeless cats on August 22. ... "We have a perpetual waiting list with about 30 cats and dogs at the moment. ...

Humane society going 'no-kill'
MSNBC
[Jacksonville HS, Florida]
... organization working to create no-kill communities throughout the nation. The program calls for an aggressive spay and neuter campaign. ...

LR shelter offers pet-sterilization clinic
Arkansas Democrat-Gazette (subscription), AR
A pet-sterilization clinic will be held Saturday at the Central Arkansas Rescue Effort for Animals spay-neuter facility at the Little Rock Animal Shelter. ...

'Governor's Ball' raises funds for SPCA
The Agora Project hosts third annual event
The California Aggie Online
[Yolo County SPCA, CA]
... Bryant said the funds generated at the event for the SPCA would go toward various programs, such as the foster care, the feral cat and their spay/neuter program ...

Non Profit Center of Arizona
Job Opportunities
Chief Operation Officer
AzCATs
Phoenix
Remove after 9/4/05)

The Arizona Nonprofit Community Report
*New Listing* Chief Operation Officer – AzCATs (Phoenix)

~ ~ ~ ~ ~
[Excerpts from:]

Subject: No Kill Solutions E-News Volume V
Date: 8/14/2005
From: winograd@cox.net

Welcome to No Kill Solutions E-News
No Kill Solutions’ E-News is a free electronic newsletter.

If you like No Kill Solutions E-News, you’ll love No Kill Sheltering, our print magazine. No Kill Sheltering gives you the tools you need to save lives.

Thanks to a grant, feral cat rescue groups can get the magazine at 50% off the regular subscription price. You need to be an IRS 501(c)(3) and have a website endorsing TNR to qualify.

For more information, to download a sample issue, or to subscribe, click on “No Kill Newsletter” at http://www.nokillsolutions.com/.

Nathan J. Winograd
No Kill Solutions
http://www.nokillsolutions.com/
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

National Homeless Animals' Day 2005 - August 20

A campaign of the International Society for Animal Rights (ISAR) begun in 1992:

Saturday, August 20, 2005, commemorates ISAR’s 14th annual National Homeless Animals’ Day Observance.

Schedule of 2005 Events

Including:

NATIONAL HOMELESS ANIMALS’ DAY VIGIL

THE WASHINGTON ANIMAL RESCUE LEAGUE, TOGETHER WITH INTERNATIONAL SOCIETY FOR ANIMAL RIGHTS, PRESENT AN HISTORICAL FIRST-TIME EVENT IN OUR NATION’S CAPTIOL.

AUGUST 20, 2005
TIME: 7:00PM – 9:00PM


Online vigils

Light a Candle online

Homeless Animals' Day Online Feral Cat Vigil

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

National Homeless Animals' Day in the News
Courtesy of Google.com News

Sunday, August 14, 2005

VermontOutdoors.com
Outdoors Magazine, the monthly publication devoted to news, issues and the latest developments affecting hunting, fishing and trapping in Vermont, on Lake Champlain, in the Adirondacks, New Hampshire, Maine, Massachusetts and Connecticut.
New Hampshire News
for week ending August 14, 2005
[Scroll down to]
ENDANGERED SHOREBIRDS KILLED BY FERAL CATS; TWO ORPHANED PIPING PLOVER CHICKS FROM N.H. RELEASED IN MAINE

Piping plovers are released in Maine
Portsmouth Herald News, NH
... believe the feral cat that attacked the plovers was attracted to the beach because there’sa feral cat feeding station near the beach. Wild cats at the beach ...

Pros tell how to live with creatures great and small
Troy Eccentric, MI
... Another problem that's emerged is the stubbornly growing numbers of feral cats in the area, Obrecht added. Cats can carry rabies ...

Animal shelter facing debate
Charlotte Observer, NC
... The group had planned four stables to house abused horses and other large animals, a five-acre area for feral cats, sanctuary areas for nonadoptable cats and ...

Vox Populi: "I want to make it very clear that very rarely after ...
Savannah Morning News, GA
... or neutered their cats, kept their shots up to date, or kept them indoors, there would be no need for animal control to 'clean up' the feral cat situation ...

Best laid plans of mice, men and rats
Scotland on Sunday, UK
... WMI has removed rabbits from the Atlantic island of Deserta Grande, near Madeira, goats from the Galapagos Islands and feral cats from the Pitcairns in the ...

Feral cat colonies
St. Augustine Record, FL
... Feral cats are the cute, potentially hazardous problem that's not going away, according to Paul Studivant, supervisor of St. Johns County Animal Control. ...
... The stray colonies come about because of negligent owners, either renters or homeowners who sell or leave their homes, abandoning the cats, despite the fact ...

Tough choices at pet shelters
New York Newsday, NY
... Allen's first stop was outside the cage of a black and brown stray rottweiler picked ... We're getting hit really hard with an enormous intake of cats," DeWitt said ...

Stray cat strut
Savannah Morning News, GA
Photographer Kathleen Thomas has a passion for cats, but she admits that it can be a bit challenging to capture them on film. ... "Cats are exquisite," she says. ...

Cat trapped under city street gets a helping hand
SouthCoastToday.com, MA
... And so began a lengthy journey for a homeless feline dubbed "Piper" by the staff of Forever Paws, the shelter she was taken to after her rescue. ...

The Rabbi's Cat
San Francisco Chronicle, United States
... often poignant and unreadable. When he regards the noisy parrot, he's the embodiment of feline plotting. When the master praises ...

Doggone cat meanders 32 miles from home
Traverse City Record Eagle, MI
... She started setting out food for the stray feline, and Monday, when she found him curled up on her welcome mat, came close to adopting him. ...

Animal rights groups push to save Gush Katif's cats and dogs
Ha'aretz (registration), Israel
The Noah organization, an umbrella association representing various animal rights groups, says that hundreds of abandoned cats and dogs might starve to death ...

Holiday Hotel for Cats
LA Canyon News, CA
... to a cat hotel? Margaret Hughes is the owner of Holiday Hotel for Cats and boasts how unusual this place is. This hotel was started ...

Abandoned Cats - Israel Disengagement

August 2 to August 25, 2005:


Pets left in Gaza are evacuated
New York Newsday, NY - August 25, 2005
... from Gaza--including an iguana--have been rounded up by animal-rights groups, the Israeli government said Wednesday. The statement said about 200 animals are ...

Pets rescued from abandoned Gaza homes
Jerusalem Post, Israel - August 24, 2005
However, that's exactly what's been happening to animals in Gush Katif, who have not been evacuated by soldiers or police, but rather by volunteer workers in ...

Groups Round Up Pets Abandoned in Gaza
Newsday, NY - August 24, 2005
JERUSALEM -- About 100 pets left behind when settlers were evacuated from Gaza -- including an ... The statement said about 200 animals are still on the loose. ...

Israelis hunt for lost Gaza pets
BBC News, UK - August 24, 2005... Up to 200 animals are thought to remain inside Gaza but activists are battling to save them before bulldozers move in. Israel's ...

Cat Society of Israel
Update: August 23, 2005
TIME IS RUNNING OUT!!
[Excerpt]
The cat in the house with the blue Peugot, the injured cat by the dumpster, the grey cat near the soldiers garbage cans, the tricolour mother of the two kittens in the house by the fence, the mother and 5 kittens under Ogen's house, the two cats in the 3rd house right to the garbage can after the square, a black & white cat...

Israeli Settlers Make Last Stand Atop Synagogue
ktla 5, CA - August 20, 2005
[Excerpt]
With most of the settlers gone, an animal-rescue group said Thursday that it planned to enter the settlements to round up stray dogs and cats left behind in the crush. The Society to Protect Animals planned to seek permission to go in as soon as all 21 settlements were declared secured by the army.

CHAI UPDATE August 19, 2005: Today, Hakol Chai's mobile spay/neuter clinic, veterinarian, and staff entered Gaza to begin rescuing animals abandoned there. The clinic's first stop was Morag, where they rescued dogs and cats left behind by departing settlers.

Israel to rescue cats, dogs from Gaza settlements
Reuters AlertNet, UK - August 18, 2005
... Israel is known for its many stray cats but some of the animals could be pets that got lost when owners left suddenly or were dragged away. ...

Animal rights group awaits permission to enter Gaza to save strays
Ha'aretz (registration), Israel - August 18, 2005
... "Cats and dogs left behind by departing settlers have no ability to survive under the ... The group said it is concerned about stray dogs and pets left behind by ...

~ ~ ~ ~ ~
August 16, 2005
ISRAEL: FATE OF ANIMALS IN THE TERRITORIES

Israel’s Veterinary Services has organized an official contingent of animal groups to enter Gaza to help rescue any animals who may be left behind by departing settlers. Evacuation of settlers begins tonight, Sunday, and all areas in Gaza have been sealed off by the Army days in advance in preparation. Even families of the settlers have not been allowed entry. Concern for Helping Animals in Israel (CHAI), www.chai-online.org, the SPCA in Israel, in Tel Aviv, and the SPCA Beersheva, along with other organizations, will be part of this major rescue contingent. CHAI will bring its mobile spay/neuter clinic, with 30 cages, many humane traps, and many volunteers. The SPCA will also bring cars, traps, and volunteers.

On Tuesday, Israel’s Army is holding a briefing for those groups participating in the rescue effort. These efforts can only begin after the settlers have departed, because of the confusion and danger (55,000 Israeli soldiers have amassed to help counter any potential violence) and because until the settlers are gone, no one knows how many animals may be left behind. In the West Bank settlements, only three stray dogs were reported seen so far, two of which were captured. The true picture for both cats and dogs will not be clear until after the disengagement.

Shelters and municipal pounds throughout Israel have volunteered to take in the animals rescued and help find homes for them. Concern for Helping Animals in Israel (CHAI) appealed to government Ministers last week to provide funds to reimburse the groups for their expenses, through a special fund in the Environment Ministry set aside for assisting animal groups. The government is providing $500,000 to settlers who leave the territories to purchase a new house, establish a new business, and for the costs of moving. CHAI’s appeal to government Ministers made the point that the animals, too, deserve help.

For further information, in the U.S., contact chai_us@cox.net. In Israel, contact the Tel Aviv headquarters of CHAI’s sister charity in Israel, Hakol Chai, at kolchai1@netvision.net.il.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

From Alley Cat Allies - August 15, 2005
TAKE ACTION: Help Protect the Cats in the Gaza Strip!

Operation Noah's Ark: Evacuating the animals
Israel 21C, CA - August 15, 2005
... activists, with the help of volunteer veterinarians, and some residents of the settlements have launched a massive operation to save the stray cats and dogs. ...

Fur flies in Samaria as 150 cats, and one blind dog, are moved out
Jerusalem Post, Israel - August 15, 2005
... and four other animal rights activists have been driving to the northern West Bank settlements of Ganim and Kadim and hauling out vanloads of stray cats. ...

Animal rights groups push to save Gush Katif's cats and dogs
Ha'aretz (registration), Israel - August 14, 2005
The Noah organization, an umbrella association representing various animal rights groups, says that hundreds of abandoned cats and dogs might starve to death ...

Cat rescue group races to save felines in evacuation areas
Ha'aretz (registration), Israel - August 12, 2005
... of the cats in the Ashgaris' yard is part of an operation to save the felines of Ganim and Kadim, initiated by the Cat Welfare Society of Israel, whose ...

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Subject: letters to rescue cats in the Gaza and Shomron disengagement areas
Date: 8/12/2005
From: ellenmoshenberg@gmail.com

The disengagement from Gaza and north Shomron has started and hundreds of cats are being abandoned as I write this.

As per their request at a meeting with animal organizations, can you please send polite letters (those are more effective) to the following government ministers to prevent the death and abandonment of the cats in the areas affected by the disengagement? CWSI volunteers went to two already evacuated settlements the last two
nights and rescued so far 83 cats but there are hundreds more that need to be rescued. Volunteers and more equipment is urgently needed. I include a sample text which can be revised. Please is feel free to contact me with any questions.

Thanks and regards,
Ellen Moshenberg
Cat Welfare Society of Israel
For more information visit us at: www.cats.org.il


Prime Minister Ariel Sharon: pm_heb@pmo.gov.il Fax: +9720226705475

Shalom Simchon, Minister of the Environment: sar@environment.gov.il
and ssimhon@knesset.gov.il Fax: +9722-6553837

Israel Katz, Minister of Agriculture: sar@moag.gov.il and
yiskatz@knesset.gov.il and http://www.moag.gov.il/english/write_us/
fax: +9722-6290166

Dear Minister ,

I was apalled to learn that the stray cats of the evacuated
settlements in Northern Samaria and the Gaza Strip are being
abandonned to die of hunger and thirst. Please provide the necessary
funds and authorization to NOAH and The Cat Welfare Society to allow
the relocation of the cats to the Marchig Trust Sanctuary in Hadera.

Sincerely,
Name
Address
email

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

UPDATE: CATS--ISRAEL
`````````````
SOURCE: "Noah"
Federation of Animal Protection Organizations in Israel
10/08/05

Hundreds of stray cats will be left without any source of food and water after the disengagement in Gaza, their fate – a slow cruel death from starvation.
"Noah" – the Federation of Animal Protection Organizations in Israel is active to save these animals' lives.

"Noah" proposes the following solution: We are trying to activate a plan whereby the cats in the territories will be caught, checked by vets, spayed or neutered and transferred to the various animal protection organizations. "The Cat Welfare Society of Israel", which is under the "Noah" umbrella, is willing to receive all the strays and give them veterinary treatment. They have an area of 5 dunam which can be prepared for this purpose.

In order to implement this solution we need a minimal budget for preparing the enclosure, that is why we need urgent donations.

We have appealed for funding from different sources both private, government, and foreign organizations. So far we achieved only a quarter of the funding we hoped for. We have not abandoned hope that the Israeli government will provide at least part of the funds, So far nothing is certain.

Organizations willing to help us by donating, please contact us
by E-mail:
uri_jaffe@tzora.co.il
or tel: 972-50-2126626
"Noah" organization, Bank account: 255126 BANK HAPOALIM branch 504. TA.

Kind Regards,

Shelly Gluzman
Chairperson of "Noah".
"Noah"- Federation of Animal Protection Organizations in Israel
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

UPDATE: ANIMALS & DISENGAGEMENT--ISRAEL
`````````````
Fate of animals in territories: update
SOURCE: CHAI, chai_us@cox.net.
ISRAEL: FATE OF THE ANIMALS IN THE TERRITORIES DUE TO DISENGAGEMENT

Today, Israel’s Veterinary Services hosted a meeting attended by various animal charities in Israel and by representatives of the Environment and Agriculture Ministries and the Prime Minister’s Office, to discuss whether and how the various animal protection organizations in Israel can participate in assisting with any animals who may be left behind as settlers evacuate the territories.

The SPCA in Israel had offered 4 cars and its staff to transport any animals left behind by evacuating settlers to shelters. Concern for Helping Animals in Israel (CHAI), www.chai-online.org, had offered its mobile spay/neuter clinic with 30 cages and 20 traps and staff. Other animal organizations requested funding to rent cars, or offer assistance of another kind, though given the very small number of animals it is currently known are at risk and the resources already available, this seemed unnecessary.

Representatives of the SPCA in Israel and CHAI’s sister charity in Israel, Hakol Chai, reported seeing only about 20 cats in Ganim and Kadim, the two small northern settlements being evacuated first. The small number of animals requiring assistance was confirmed by the Chief Veterinarian of the Israeli Army. No one knows how many or which animals will be left behind when Gaza is evacuated. The Vet Services representative responsible for dealing with the issue of the animals in the territories, Dganit Ben-Dov, DVM, suggested that animal groups with no specific plans come up with plans for what they would like to do, and then write to the various ministries, outlining what funds they require. Government funds were provided to assist the evacuating settlers and the issue was raised that government funds should also be made available to provide for any animals left behind.

CHAI wrote to the Ministers of the Environment, Agriculture, Finance, and to the Prime Minister, requesting that the government provide funds and means to the Veterinary Services official responsible for dealing with this issue to reimburse animal charities for any expenses they incur, as long as the activities and expenses are legitimate, and as long as reimbursement is made against valid receipts. CHAI’s letter acknowledged the fact that the number of animals expected to be left behind in the northern West Bank settlements of Ganim and Kadim upon evacuation is very small, and the number of animals who may be left behind in the Gaza is still unknown.
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Cat welfare group starts rounding up West Bank strays
Ha'aretz (registration), Israel - Aug 7, 2005
Representatives of the Cat Welfare Society of Israel spent the weekend at the northern ... disengagement plan, in order to feed and save the many cats that have ...

Fighting for the pullout's furriest victims
Jerusalem Post, Israel - Aug 2, 2005
... With disengagement set to begin August 15, Israel's animal rights groups are feverishly trying to save an estimated 600 cats and countless other animals ...

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Cat Welfare Society of Israel

Concern for Helping Animals in Israel

Saturday, August 13, 2005

Officers to canvass neighborhoods for unlicensed animals
Katu.com, OR
VANCOUVER, Wash. - Clark County pet licensing officers will kick off the annual canvassing of neighborhoods for unlicensed dogs and cats on August 15, 2005. ...

Criminal cat case gets scratched
Adrian Daily Telegram, MI
Thornhill Subdivision resident Sheila Reinhart was charged with a misdemeanor because her four cats had wandered into the yard of a neighbor who complained ...

Take home a cat, and get free food
St. Louis Post-Dispatch, MO
... "That way, we're not only helping shelters feed the cats in their care, we're also creating a great incentive to encourage a large wave of adoptions.". ...
[Excerpt]
Adopted kitties will come with a year's worth of free vittles Saturday at the St. Charles Humane Society.
Through a promotion with Royal Canin Inc., a St. Charles-based pet food company,

Animal Control initiates improvements to serviceCat owners given
...Amarillo.com (Subscription), TX
... "We've had an upgrade of technology, so I think we're going to be able to better discern the owned animals from the actual feral cats," said Shannon Barlow ...

Owner hoping to recover cat infected with FIV
Tallahassee.com, FL
... because she misses her cat, but also because she doesn't want other cats to get ... She suspects that someone picked Ms. Kitty up, thinking she was a stray. ...

What: Benefit party for the Pet Adoption Network.
Rochester Democrat and Chronicle, NY
... Sullivan said the group's main mission now — aside from caring for its nearly 100 abandoned and stray cats being housed in volunteer foster homes — is finding a new base of operations. …

Misunderstanding sparks cat-troversy
MetroWest Daily News, MA - 6 hours ago... the kittens were born. Earlier this week, Fitzpatrick, 36, wanted to adopt Sage, a 1-year-old female feline. Fitzpatrick said the ...

Program makes spay/neutering pets more affordable
Winchester Sun, KY... Spaying or neutering cats ordinarily costs $65 and $40 respectively. The Clark County Veterinary Clinic is the other local participating clinic. ...

Remembering the animals
Rutland Herald, VT
... Herculean efforts on the part of shelters and rescue groups all over the country to convince pet owners to spay or neuter their animals have had limited effect ...

Low-cost clinics are needed
Brampton Guardian, Canada
... To back this up, they run once-a-month low-cost spay and neuter clinics where people can get the procedures done for $25 to $75 depending on the procedure and ...

Having Cats as Pets
Navhind Times, India
Although I prefer dogs as pets, circumstances have often forced me to care for successive families of cats. A heavily pregnant stray cat will sometimes find an ...

Humane Society promoting cat adoptions in August
Columbus This Week Newspapers, OH
Hoping to stem the tide of homeless felines, the Capital Area Humane Society is devoting this month to the promotion of cat adoptions. ...

FosterCat has found 600 homes for forsaken felines
Pittsburgh Post Gazette, PA
When his owner, Carolyn Kozlowski, operated and owned My Three Cats and Co., a cat supplies store in Mt. Lebanon, the ...

Friday, August 12, 2005

Directors vote to close animal rescue group
Sun-Sentinel.com, FL
West Palm Beach · Animal Rescue Force, a charitable organization that has saved thousands of pets from death by shelter, is no more, despite protests from some of its long-time volunteers.
... Every Saturday and on some Sundays, ARF volunteers picked up puppies, kittens, dogs and cats from Palm Beach County's Animal Care & Control center that would ...

Girl Scouts earn award for cat comforts
Auburn Journal, CA
... Girl Scouts. AAARF kittens and cats will now have soft and cushy pads to sleep on in their cat condos while awaiting adoption. Girl ...

A big cat problem
Investigators find 16 cats in van, 66 more in house
News Banner, Louisiana
MANDEVILLE - Investigating an animal welfare complaint against a Madisonville area woman, St. Tammany Parish Animal Control officers found 16 cats locked inside a van in a Mandeville parking lot.

Study finds coyotes at high risk in upstate suburb
Newsday.com, NY
ALBANY, N.Y. -- Traffic and hunters are killing coyotes faster than they reproduce in a nature preserve outside Albany, according to new research indicating some suburbs are particularly deadly for New York's top wildlife predator.
[Excerpts]
Bogan plans do research at Cornell University in a state-funded study of why the once-wary creatures are becoming more aggressive toward humans. That study is responding to complaints of attacked pets in the suburbs north of New York City and the Syracuse area. In Westchester County, a Lhasa apso, a Chihuahua and bichon frise were reported killed in back yards in the past few years.
"One of interesting things in comparing that with what we found, there aren't a lot of coyote hunters in those areas," Kays said.
His study published last year in the journal Animal Conservation concluded that cats seldom went more than 50 yards into the Pine Bush because of coyotes and fishers. Kays said that was good news for small mammals and songbirds and helped keep things in balance.
"House cats can kind of run amok, especially the feral ones, if they don't have a predator to keep them in check," he said. "We found cats were sticking close to home so they could run back to a refuge if they had to."

Jacksonville Human Society now a “no kill” facility
WTEV, FL
... According to Cannon, success of this new mission will depend on three things: educating the public, offering affordable spay and neuter services and increasing ...

[Feral Cat Blog! Eyes:
Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) has been added as a partner of Neighborhood Cats' 2nd Annual National Feral Cat Summit 2005 on October 15th in Philadelphia, PA !!!]

New Home for Stray Cats: New multimillion-dollar facility would ...
Shore Publishing, CT
... "Since we are primarily a no-kill shelter, people would use us as a dumping ground for hundreds of stray and feral cats," Johnston said. ...

Council opts for status quo at traffic circle
Palm Beach Daily News, FL
In other business, the council unanimously voted to:
• Authorize $30,000 for PB Cats, the town's feral cat control program, to run the program through the fiscal year that ends Sept. 30 and make payments on accrued veterinary bills. The $30,000 is in addition to a $50,000 appropriation the council gave PB Cats for this fiscal year and $50,000 for the fiscal year beginning Oct. 1.
PB Cats had a cash balance of $5,375 as of July 31, and costs $10,000 a month to operate, according to the town Finance Department, which recently assumed financial record-keeping duties for the organization.
[Feral Cat Blog! Note:
See original article reported on Feral Cats in the News ~ the Feral Cat Blog! under
Sunday, July 24.]

Channel Island-style sausage?
Santa Maria Times, CA
... Many of us have dogs, cats and other pets whose love and companionship they provide are ... Yet that same degree of consciousness we might find for a feral pig on ...

Valley woman says city can do more to control animals
Terre Haute Tribune Star, IN
... ranges from $50 to $100, depending on the number of dogs and cats. ... the city's Environmental Protection Division, doesn't believe a serious stray problem exists ...

Abandoned cats leave shelter in feline fix
Morris Daily Herald, IL
Three handsful, she says, if she cuddles up all 15 of the trusting little creatures with their wide open, heart-melting, blue-eyed innocent gazes. ...

Feline leukemia biggest threat to cats
AZ Central.com, AZ
Feline leukemia is a complex disease that can cause a variety of symptoms and, in most cases, death. ... There is no specific treatment for feline leukemia virus. ...

APL Reopens After Deadly Feline Virus Scare
NewsNet5.com, OH
... League reopened its adoption and intake services Thursday after quarantining their cats for the past 10 days due to a contagious feline virus, NewsChannel5 ...

Cattery loses nine cats
Khaleej Times, United Arab Emirates
... were kittens, at Chalets, the cattery in question some two months ago, only to receive a call the next day about the disappearance of his cherished feline pets ...

What happened to cats? Owner wants to know
Greenwood Commonwealth, MS
When he discovered his six cats, including a momma cat with a litter, missing last month, he began looking around and asking questions. ...
Two arrested in connection with neighborhood dispute over cats
Greenwood Commonwealth

Winograd, No Kill Solutions: Further Update on HSUS

Dear Colleagues,

On July 7, 2005, I wrote Wayne Pacelle about the Humane Society of the United State’s anti-feral cat and anti-No Kill positions. I did not receive the courtesy of a response. This is not surprising. In December 2004, I wrote Martha Armstrong, Vice-President of Companion Animals at HSUS and asked the same questions, questions like:

Does HSUS support TNR for feral cats as a humane alternative to shelter killing?

Does HSUS believe that healthy, feral cats should have a right to live and a right to their habitat?

She too failed to respond. In fact, despite an alleged commitment to the open sharing of information, she participated in a telephone conference call where all but two of the Asilomar Accords participants stated that they would refuse to provide the information requested.

Thankfully, several of you have written HSUS and have received responses. Unfortunately, they are not what I had hoped for as they all share a common theme: obfuscation. In one response, HSUS assures the writer that they are “concerned” about feral cats, but when asked directly, does HSUS believe that feral cats have a right to live and does HSUS demand that all shelters implement TNR as an alternative to catch and kill, they refused to respond directly, other than to say that their position is “evolving.”

This is the same tactic HSUS used when they were opposing Alley Cat Allies at Riverside Park, Virginia in the 1990s, and sided with the park service program to eradicate feral cats. In reply to public letters of disapproval, HSUS dodged the issues saying they were making sure the cats were being treated “humanely.” Of course, what they didn’t say is that “humane” treatment under HSUS standards for feral cats was execution by lethal injection. Indeed, lactating mothers were trapped at Riverside Park and subsequently killed (and abandoned neonatal kittens were found be feral cat caretakers). Is this humane? There is a trend here: using words like “concerned” and “humanely” avoids having to deal with the truth.

So has HSUS rejected trap and kill as a legitimate response to feral cats? Have they embraced the No Kill paradigm? In fact, they have not. Today, I was forwarded yet another response from HSUS that also obscures more than it illuminates. In a letter dated August 10, 2005 to a concerned animal lover, which was forwarded to me, Wayne Pacelle writes that HSUS is “proud of its role in the development of the Asilomar Accords.” We know that the Accords seek to end the term “No Kill,” but what do the Accords say about feral cats?

Not only does HSUS’ Asilomar Accords fail to mention TNR nor require groups to accept TNR, they classify feral cats as “untreatable” or “unhealthy.” According to HSUS, feral cats would fall into the category of those animals who “suffer from a behavioral or temperamental characteristic that poses a health or safety risk or otherwise makes them unsuitable for placement as a pet.” (Asilomar Accords, Animal Statistics Table, Glossary of Terms, P.) Under the Accords, feral cats share the same category for hopelessly ill or irremediably suffering pets. And the same fate—death.

While it is true that feral cats are not generally suitable for placement as pets, this should not mean that they do not have an equal right to life, or that the humane movement isn’t obligated to put in place non-lethal alternatives. Our commitment to both of these principles requires us to identify feral cats as their own category—as feral cats. And then make an equal commitment to TNR and pro-feral advocacy to bring an end to their killing.

Mr. Pacelle says that the Asilomar Accords are “an effort to move the animal care and control community beyond impasses resulting from prior disputes over issues like feral cat policy.” But it was HSUS and its ilk that caused the impasse by condemning TNR as “inhumane” and “subsidized abandonment” and seeking prosecution of feral cat caretakers. Now, Mr. Pacelle wants to move past this impasse that HSUS itself created by claiming that feral cats are “untreatable” and “unhealthy” and “suffer from a behavioral or temperamental characteristic that poses a health or safety risk or otherwise makes them unsuitable for placement as a pet.” In short, if we are to accept the Accords, we must accept that shelters can legitimately kill healthy feral cats. In fact, a resolution in favor of TNR was proposed for the Accords and voted down. This is not evolution. It is digging in one’s heels.

Mr. Pacelle then goes on to say that they are “updating our feral cat position statements” to “ensure that our policies reflect emerging consensus within the field of animal care and control.” The role of a humane organization is not to follow consensus, but to lead. The largest and richest animal agency in the world is following animal control, who has a history of mass slaughter of feral cats. Is HSUS trying to gain consensus from hunters to come up with a position on hunting? Is HSUS trying to gain consensus from factory farms to come up with a position on humane farming? HSUS is supposed to lead, not follow. But the best HSUS can come up with is consensus from people who oppose TNR, kill feral cats, and—despite its impressive achievements at saving lives—condemn No Kill. By his own admission, we have to stop looking to HSUS, and start looking elsewhere: to No Kill, to TNR, to philosophies that embrace life, not end it. Leadership by definition leads. It never waits for consensus.

In fact, no where does Mr. Pacelle address the fact that his field offices continue to call No Kill “bologna,” feral cat caretakers “hoarders” and advocate for the killing of feral cats in Wisconsin by lethal injection.

But this is not surprising. Despite HSUS “evolving” position on feral cats, on their website today is a Statement on Free Roaming Cats that blames cats for everything from plague to vehicle accidents. They state that cats “prey on small mammals, songbirds, and other wildlife; spread zoonotic diseases such as rabies; defecate on other people's property; and cause car accidents, among other problems.”

By failing to own up to its sordid history against feral cats and its campaign of vilification against No Kill, and by vilifying to the public for everything from rabies to car accidents, Mr. Pacelle is attempting to rewrite history and the facts. He further notes that “For more than a century,” HSUS has strived for “honest talk about the realities of the field.” Why then did it inflate the San Francisco death rate for dogs and cats by several thousand to downplay the No Kill success in San Francisco? And why then did it refuse to print a correction or retraction? I can’t imagine that anyone would find this “honest talk about the realities of the field.”

Finally, Mr. Pacelle says that his “approach will continue to evolve in the years ahead as we work, in a cooperative manner, to address the urgent plight and tragic plight of unwanted animals in this county. I believe that this approach has served the HSUS and its hundreds of community-based partners very well.”

To which I can only say, that I too believe in cooperation. And I say this to every shelter, feral cat advocate, rescue group and pet lover: join us in the fight against needless shelter killing. But, hear this loud and clear Mr. Pacelle, if you are with an organization or a shelter that continues to kill feral cats and other animals because you refuse to enact a TNR program, will not transfer animals to rescue groups, does not believe in foster care, does not take animals offsite for adoption, excludes volunteers from the facility and/or embraces the Asilomar Accords and other failed models of the past, there can be no cooperation. Our responsibility must always be, first and foremost, to the animals. And when a shelter refuses to work cooperatively to save lives, it is killing animals who do not have to, and should not, die.

While coddling shelters mired in catch and kill philosophies from Fremont, California to Washington D.C. and points east may serve “the HSUS and its hundreds of community-based partners very well,” it has not served the animals. They continue to end up in dumpsters, day after day, after injection with poison from a bottle marked “fatal plus.” HSUS is supposed to serve the animals, not “community-based partners” who oppose No Kill and TNR.

Perhaps the most disappointing aspect of his response was something he didn’t say. In a letter filled with platitudes, his response underscores a point: Wayne Pacelle is content to regurgitate tired clichés. His response is not thoughtful, he didn’t investigate the facts, he is content to have HSUS provide political cover for catch and kill shelters by following animal control “consensus,” a consensus that is woefully out of step with public sentiment. The ones that lose (literally their lives) are the animals.

I have no choice but to conclude that when it comes to sheltered animals, Wayne Pacelle might say he cares, but he does not care enough. And that, to quote Robert Frost, “makes all the difference.”


Nathan J. Winograd
No Kill Solutions
www.nokillsolutions.com

P.O. Box 74926
San Clemente, CA 92673
(949) 276-6942 telephone
(949) 276-6943 fax

Thursday, August 11, 2005

Animals lose
The Powell River Peak, Canada
... Why are there so many feral cats in Powell River and why are they not receiving any help? Why does the municipality not address the feral cat issue? ...

Grant to MCSPCA much needed and very welcome
Atlanticville, NJ
... work is beginning to provide the animal welfare community with useful information about the demographics and health of stray and feral cats while improving ...

Coyotes likely to blame for Edmonds cat deaths
Edmonds Herald, WA
... Mukilteo police also say they have had trouble with cats being killed, presumably by coyotes ... pet owners keep their animals indoors or not let them stray too far ...

Plan would allow pound to end gassing by Oct. 15
San Antonio Express (subscription), TX
... Last year the facility impounded 54,000 cats and dogs, of which 17,000 were ... to happen — a methodical way to stop the proliferation of stray animals," he said ...

Animal sanctuary to open in '06
Delaware Coast Press, DE
... Many people take care of stray cats and dogs in their homes because they have no place to take them for fear they will be killed, Coscia said. ...

Kirkland animal shelter brimming with kittens
KING5.com (subscription), WA
... Vaccines - anywhere from $5 to $20 each (Kittens need a series of 2-3 vaccines.). - Testing for Feline Aids (FIV) and Feline Leukemia (FeLV) - $45.

Wednesday, August 10, 2005

Shelter sees high number of unwanted animals
Kansas City Star, MO
... My story will not be a reality for all feral cats and kittens.”. ... “Feral cats and unwanted puppies are at a record high this year,” she added. ...

Animal care, control overhaul urged
London Free Press, Ontario, Canada
... and vaccinate their pets. - Spaying and vaccination of feral, or wild, cats instead of euthanization. The task force argues the ...

Animal shelter panel planned
Connecticut Post, CT
... In a given year, animal-control officers may respond to calls to handle sick raccoons, remove dead deer and other animals, or catch stray dogs and cats. ...

Law firm becomes sanctuary for cats
AZ Central.com, AZ
... So Taylor took the stray into the office and got it a companion. That was followed by other adoptions. Before you knew it, more than a dozen cats were running ...

Police investigate apparent act of animal cruelty
WTNH, CT
The bodies of two cats were found last week, both with their necks broken. ... Scooter was a stray, 8 years old, and he kind of adopted me," says Spadjinske. ...

‘Cat-nappers on the prowl’ fear residents
Stockport Express, UK
FEARS are mounting that cat-nappers may be on the loose in Adswood and Bridgehall after a string of mysterious feline disappearances. ...

Animal control officers discover cats in foul conditions
Connecticut Post, CT
... her back door. They also found the body of a cat so decomposed they couldn't immediately identify it as a feline. Bodner told authorities ...

Woman charged with keeping cats in deplorable conditions
Newsday, NY
MILFORD, Conn. -- For the second time in less than two years, animal control officers said they found more than a dozen cats living in deplorable conditions in ...

31 kittens and young cats abandoned at the Humane Society
Katu.com, OR
PORTLAND, Ore. - The Oregon Humane Society (OHS) is looking for donations after 31 kittens and young cats were abandoned on their doorstep. ...

Coupons available for Healthy Cats event
Idaho State Journal, ID
POCATELLO - The Bannock Humane Society and Friends of the Pocatello Animal Shelter plan another Healthy Cats campaign, according to a press release. ...

27 dead cats removed from Massillon home
Massillon Independent, OH
At least 27 dead cats have been found in the house at 110 Edwin Ave. ... Neighbors said they believed Minch might have had 25 cats at one time. ...

Monday, August 8, 2005

Cat Fight
The Daily News, Kelso, Washington
He's not an animal hater, says Kelso resident Anthony Currera. But cats that leave pawprints and scratches on his Lincoln Navigator SUV or barf up hairballs on his porch had better beware -- in less time it takes to say "Puss in Boots," they may get a one-way ride to the local animal shelter.

Tazewell officials seek authority to pick up stray cats
Bluefield Daily Telegraph, WV
TAZEWELL, Va. - With stray cats roaming in neighborhoods across Tazewell County, officials are looking at ways to control the feline population. ...

Opinion - Other Voices: Ecological devastation
Daily Press, VA
... The Daily Press published an editorial, dated April 17, 2004, and titled, "Feline follies." The editorial was meant as a humorous attempt to look at what the ...
[Feral Cat Blog! Repetitive Note: Again with "the Wisconsin study." Please read the following articles about predation studies. Also, please include the cite for the study indicating cats are the second leading cause of wild bird extinction worldwide.]

Feline deaths a concern
Dallas Morning News (subscription), TX
By JASON TRAHAN / The Dallas Morning News. When Mike Grabham noticed his cat Buddy was missing in March, he thought little of it. ...

Fur Factor
Mail Tribune, OR
... on Smith’s exam table. Patnesky recalls a past case of feline leukemia in a cat dumped at Shimkus’ farm. If the kitten tests ...

Animal shelter unleashes campaign
Laramine Boomerang, WY
... the room, just 8 feet or so from the toilet, is a bench where a prospective pet owner can sit down and have a few quiet moments with the feline before deciding ...

Fishers in Camden?
Waldo Village Soup, ME
... We've been told that coyotes may be around as well and they are equally dangerous to your feline friends. Keep those kitties in, folks! ...

On The Catwalk
Battalion, TX
... graduating pet owners to, at the least, hand the pet over to an animal shelter so the pet does not end up "terrorizing" the community, as feral cats have at A&M ...

SPRAYING AND MISSING THE LITTER BOX ARE DIFFERENT PROBLEMS
Hernando Today, FL
... Spraying is more a territorial response, a sort of feline graffiti. Spraying occurs most often, although not exclusively, among unaltered males. ...

BREEDING ORDINANCE: Reining Cats and Dogs
Las Vegas Review-Journal, NV
... of bed, Erickson said. Meanwhile, area shelters last year ended up killing 24,000 cats and dogs. Harold Vosco, the organization's ...

Valparaiso man faces charges for keeping cats in cages
Lincoln Journal Star, NE
VALPARAISO — For two scorching weeks in July, six cats called an unventilated storage unit home. ... He investigated and found the cats. ...

YOUR HOUSE: Pet fences work well
Detroit Free Press, United States
... Carl G. Dear Carl: It can be a problem training some dogs, and especially cats, to stay in your yard. ... The fencing is flexible, so cats cannot climb over it. ...

State of the State
Counties making news .....
Salt Lake Tribune, United States
[Scroll down to]
... The Vernal City Council has approved a six-month trial period of trap, spay or neuter and release program to reduce the stray cat population. ...
[Feral Cat Blog! Note: Excellent -- although six months is not a fair nor realistic time period, we'll take it!!!]

Humane society offers low-cost cat neutering
Inland Valley Daily Bulletin, CA
... 17. For additional information or to arrange an appointment, call the Humane Society's Spay and Neuter Hotline at (909) 623-9777, Ext. 696. ...

Sunday, August 7, 2005

Feline 911
Group tackles task of rescuing feral, tame felines
The Beacon News, Illinois
SOUTH ELGIN — For Carol Schultz, cats aren't just the affectionate creatures she comes home to at night. The retired South Elgin woman spends the majority of her time caring for and rescuing her feline friends
Schultz is the originator and manager of Guardian Angels Animal Care and Rescue, a nonprofit organization dedicated to the rescue of wild, unwanted and abused animals.

Via the Animal Advocacy Forum:
Coffee that supports people, migratory birds and the planet
Peace Coffee

Peppy pooches and captivated kitties Secaucus animal shelter ...
Secaucus Reporter, NJ
[Excerpts]
Outside the building is a makeshift feral cat motel, where wild cats can retire from city life and exit at will to the Meadowlands. Each cat becomes part of a spay, neuter and release program. McClure said many times wildlife like possums, groundhogs, skunks, raccoons and the feral cats annoy residents. They are rapidly retrieved and relocated to more uninhabited spots of Secaucus. "While we're not a no-kill shelter, we rarely euthanize," McClure said. "We pick up the wild ones [and] put them where they can work on keeping the rodent population down."

Must love cats
Times Picayune, LA
... Only an upward glance reveals the entire room's population: 38 feral cats perched on the rafters of the screen porch like birds, glaring downward. ...
[Excerpt]
Life has not always been kind to the residents of Kitty Village in the St. Francis Animal Sanctuary in Tylertown, Miss. But here, at one of the country's few no-kill havens, they have all the comforts of home, along with the chance to be adopted by caring owners.

Animal lover wins college scholarship
Connecticut Post, CT
... While she continues to donate items such as leashes, blankets and food to shelters in the region, Misur has also provided care for stray and feral cats. ...
[Excerpts]
The $1,500 college scholarship is awarded yearly to a New England high school senior who has done significant work in animal protection.
"Susan's success at translating her concern for animals into direct action that improves the lives of homeless pets is inspiring," said Joanne Bourbeau, director of the Humane Society's New England Regional Office. "The Humane Society of the United States commends Susan for her strong leadership and commitment to animal welfare."
Susan and Donna Misur love their cat, Cookie, who at one time was a feral cat. "My friends were doing construction and they found her under a rock," Susan said. "She was so tiny, only 2 weeks old. We had to bottle feed her."
This summer, she has volunteered for the Stratford Cat Project, a non-profit organization that helps the feral cat population and rescues homeless cats.

It's a real jungle out there for house cats
Huntsville Times, AL
... At night, a cat tends to wander blocks away from the owner's home, where it might fight with other cats, get hit by a car or be taken in as a stray, she said.

Absence of leash law only hurts our animals
Charlotte Observer, NC
... years ago and were amazed to find out there wasn'ta leash law.We live in a rural area on a dead-end street and have had many stray dogs and cats come wandering ...

Forum editorial: Dogs, cats face deadly space crisis
In-Forum (subscription), ND
... involvement of local government leaders. We can no longer pretend not to know the truth of what happens to too many stray cats and dogs.

Edgewater hires animal services administrator
Daytona Beach News-Journal, FL
[Excerpts]
EDGEWATER -- Amy Wade-Carotenuto, longtime director of the Flagler County Humane Society's animal shelter, has been hired to serve as the city's animal services administrator. ...
Wade-Carotenuto, 42, has been director of the Palm Coast shelter for 15 years and before that spent five years at a Daytona Beach animal shelter.

Cats 'spray' to mark their territories
Orlando Sentinel, FL
... Spraying is more a territorial response, a sort of feline graffiti. Spraying occurs most often, although not exclusively, among unaltered males. ...

Whether You’re a Dog or Cat Person, Make Sure to be a Prepared ...
Red Cross
... or on its own, “Pet First Aid” is a valuable and life-saving resource –an essential to any home where the extended family members are canine or feline. ...

Saturday, August 6, 2005

Then & Now: Spay to stem the suffering
San Antonio Express (subscription), TX
When US cities began adopting spay-neuter ordinances in the early 1990s, San Antonio briefly studied such a measure. ... Louis and Seattle, have spay-neuter laws. ...

Roses & Raspberries
Battle Creek Enquirer, MI
[Scroll down to, excerpted]
ROSES
Once again to a dedicated group of volunteers who gave up their Saturday afternoon to help in the crusade against cat overpopulation, especially feral cats who have no owners. Dozens of roses to veterinarians Dr. Atma, Dr. Beebe, Dr. Eshuis, Dr. Huelsbergen, Dr. LaHuis and Dr. TenBroek for volunteering their time to neuter and spay these abandoned and wild cats. Also, to Todd, Jennifer, Kari, Jan, Beth, Tracy, Rebekah, Katie, Molly, Paula, Wendy, Richard, Susan, Suzanne, Meladee, Roberta, Mary, Alan, Julie, Renee, Betty, Linnea, Laura, Mandi, Nancy, Amanda, Lori, Kathy and Ron who helped transport cats, assisted doctors, cleaned carriers, took pictures, baked snacks and many other important tasks that day and the week before during planning. Your time and caring is greatly appreciated. Thank you! - Jennifer Huffman, vice president, Alley Cat Angels
RASPBERRIES
To the party who hit a cat July 23 close to midnight on Avenue A. You hit the cat and kept right on going. I stopped behind you and rushed the cat to my veterinarian. I sure hope no one ever leaves you injured this way lying out in a roadway. You could have at least stopped to assess the situation.You just didn't care. Shame on you. - Candis Garringer, Battle Creek

MALEAH STRINGER: She does it because she loves animals
Anderson Herald Bulletin, IN
There was a town council meeting in Summitville Monday concerning 15 or so stray cats. According to their caretaker, these cats ... Countryside Animal Rescue will host the August visit of the Cats Only Spay/Neuter clinic on Tuesday, Aug. 16. ...

Dozens of animals looking for permanent homes after Roane County ...
WBIR-TV, TN
... Frey. The Stray Connection took in all 59 cats they rescued. And 59 quickly turned into 106 as the pregnant cats gave birth. "Taking ...

Activists work to provide 'paradise' for stray animals
Daily Star - Lebanon, Lebanon
Animal lover Hania Jurdak was feeding cats on the American University of Beirut ... main goals, which are to rescue and provide shelter for stray animals, as well ...

Buffalo house littered with cats, trash
Washington Observer Reporter, PA
... The officers planned to take the animals to the humane society shelter near Eighty Four, where they were to be tested for feline leukemia and, if necessary ...

a kitty for half price
Ann Arbor News, MI
Each cat adoption will cost $50, which includes spaying or neutering, vaccinations, deworming, a feline leukemia test, check and treatment for ear mites and ...

Pet peeve leads to a threat of eviction
Miami Herald, FL...
The reason? Boo the cat. The letter was the final notice, after another letter four weeks prior giving Cummings seven days to remove the feline. ...

Comfort couple agree to give up 202 of their cats
San Antonio Express (subscription), TX
... property. They couldn't say Friday how many of the cats are terminally ill with feline AIDS or leukemia and would have to be euthanized. ...

Nine Lives needs help to build shelter
Norton Mirror, MA
A few months ago Nine Lives of Norton Feline Rescue Shelter requested a meeting with the Board of Selectmen. The purpose for the ...

Purrfect for Seniors
The News-Review, OR
... Through the new adoption program, SPCA representatives will work to place cats 4 years and older with community members 62 and older. ...

Edmonds officers investigate dead cats
Edmonds Herald, WA
EDMONDS - Animal control officers are investigating what killed three cats in the past three weeks here. Police don't know whether ...

Friday, August 5, 2005

[Today's Feral Cat Blog! Word:
Lame -- pathetically lacking in force or effectiveness]


World Unprepared for "Bird Flu" Pandemic, Experts Say
National Geographic, D.C.
... pandemic is H5N1, a strain of avian influenza, or "bird flu." The virus is found primarily in domestic and wild birds but also in mammals such as cats and pigs ...

"Bird Flu" Could Be Slowed at the Source, Study Says
National Geographic, D.C.
... H5N1 is found primarily in domestic and wild birds but also in mammals, such as cats and pigs. The virus has yet to become easily transferable between humans. ...

~ ~ ~ ~ ~
[...a Feral Cat Blog! ~Paws Up & Purrs~:]
City OKs trapping, neutering feral cats
Auburn Citizen - Auburn,NY,USA
... Feral Cat Friends group in Auburn, said even with the organization's efforts, it will be at least 10 years before the city starts seeing a decrease in cats. ...
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Cats and Birds
Local bird researcher studies the effect of cats on sea bird populations
GTWeekly.com, Santa Cruz, California
[Excerpts]
According to Achterberg, even if euthanizing cats is necessary on islands, it isn’t currently helping much in the United States. “We’ve been trapping and putting cats to sleep for decades, and it hasn’t curbed the problem,” she says. She cites habitat loss and development as the primary threat to bird populations. People hang bird feeders where cats can reach, use non-organic fertilizers that kill the bugs birds eat, and replace shrubs where baby birds hide with manicured lawns. “We are not on an island,” she says, “cats aren’t driving birds extinct in Santa Cruz. People are.”
Dr. Stanley Temple, a professor of wildlife ecology at the University of Wisconsin, Madison, agrees that habitat loss is the biggest threat to bird populations. But on a global scale, he says cats are threatening a number of endemic and endangered species—including lizards and marsupials—within their remaining habitat. “The status of many bird populations is affected by predation from free-ranging stray, feral and pet cats,” he says. In addition, unlike native predators, non-native cats don’t stop hunting even when they are well fed.

Shelter makes room for influx of seized cats
Duluth News Tribune, MN
... And in March 1996, building inspectors condemned a West Duluth house after finding more than 100 cats, dogs and birds inside. Golen ...

Cats are terrific kitten-makers: Spay, neuter them!
The Free Lance-Star, VA
Did you know that kittens can be spayed or neutered as early as eight weeks of age? The ideal age is 12-16 weeks, unless they are ...

Abandoned Cats
KTXL, CA
[Sacramento, Stockton, Modesto - Sacramento County]
... sleep. "If the public would just spay and neuter the animals... We would not be forced to euthanize all the cats," Claerbout said. ...
[Feral Cat Blog! Comment: I parroted these same words (that animal agencies and organizations were 'forced to euthanize') for a very brief period when I first began learning about the magnitude of the "pet kill crisis" (thanks, Neuteress of the Night from Neuter Neuter Land for that term, I believe!). .....For a very brief period -- because I quickly researched in depth. I was amazed to find that, even with knowledge and best practices for programs of prevention and solution available for some years, many of those pledging to protect animals were still killing and justifying. If the public is not spaying and neutering or keeping pets for life, find ways to accomplish that. Educate and engage your governments. Reallocate funds to prevention and non-lethal solutions. No one and no thing can force you to kill. There is a choice. Same is true for wildlife management.]

State holds on to cash so budgets add up
Lawmakers' budget-boosting strategy means money meant for 911, pets doesn't get spent
Austin American-Statesman (subscription), TX
[Excerpt]
Texans pay 50 cents on their phone bills each month to operate 911 programs throughout the state. Thousands pay $30 a year for "Animal Friendly" license plates that fund programs to spay and neuter animals.
But not all of that money will be used for those purposes anytime soon. Instead, the dollars will sit unspent in state coffers.
[Excerpt]
The Legislature also uses the practice when there's less money at stake, which Ogden said is mostly an exercise in caution.
According to the comptroller's office, there is now about $1 million in an account funded by the sale of the Animal Friendly license plates. Texans who choose these plates, which feature a dog and cat, pay $30 extra, $22 of which goes into an account that is sent to organizations throughout the state to spay and neuter animals.
The comptroller's office estimates that the state will collect $894,000 through the program over the next two years. But the Legislature approved spending only $500,000 of that money.

Plates won't pay for Austin spay/neuter programs
KVUE (subscription), TX
... The Town Lake Animal Center received $71,000 over the last three years from the state, and used it to set up the mobile spay/neuter clinic. ...

~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Wamsley calls for cat registration
Sydney Morning Herald (subscription), Australia
... protect native animals. He says large numbers of the animals are killed each year by domestic and feral cats. "Twenty years ago ...

Feral Cat Blog! Note: For those unfamiliar with Wamsley:

[Excerpt]
"His hatred of cats is renowned and he has drawn our attention to the importance of cats as predators of our native animals," Mr Holmes said.
Wamsley walks away from Earth Sanctuaries
March 2005

Earth Sanctuaries Ltd has recently completed an exciting merger with ES Link Pty Ltd to create a diversified environmental sustainability group.

Earth Sanctuaries Foundation is now
FOUNDATION FOR AUSTRALIA’S MOST ENDANGERED SPECIES (FAME!)
The new name says exactly what we do: give “Australia’s Most Endangered Species” what they need to survive. We’re starting at the top, focussing where the need is greatest. Broadening our vision to include any feasible project that benefits Australian species most at risk; looking for opportunities to make the difference between extinction and survival for endangered wildlife.

Warrawong Earth Sanctuary
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Woman, 89, Evicted for Keeping Stray Cats
Newsday, NY
STOCKHOLM, Sweden -- An 89-year-old Swedish woman was evicted from her apartment of 25 years after dozens of stray cats she kept in the flat ruined the floor ...

Woman who had dozens of cats misses hearing
The Express Times, PA
... can call her at 908-689-6657, while those who want to make donations to help cover the cost of getting them spayed and neutered can call Feline Urban Rescue ...

Fluffy proves to be friend to birds
News-Leader.com, MO
... I do know that millions of birds are killed each year by stray or feral cats, which are dependent upon their hunting skills for survival. ...

Delta: Residents angered by loose cats
Toledo Blade, OH... Committee members could look into whether cats should be licensed, he said. Delta has a stray cat ordinance, but requirements are difficult to meet, such as ...

Rabid bat bites Barron County resident
Rice Lake Chronotype, WI
... current for all dogs, cats and ferrets, keeping cats and ferrets inside and dogs under direct supervision, calling animal control to remove stray animals from ...

Animal abandonment definition of inhumanity
Stoney Creek News, Canada
... The cat is now is at the SPCA ñ who knows what the fate of this beautiful cat is now! I have already taken in five cats in that area. ...

Winograd, No Kill Solutions: Update on HSUS

Dear Friends,

Many of you are familiar with the positions taken by the Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) over the years in opposing non-lethal feral cat programs, No Kill efforts, offsite adoptions, and working with rescue groups. Because of that, it may have seemed strange for you to have also read, in the Summer 2005 issue of E-News, when I reported the following:

Nathan J. Winograd of No Kill Solutions is invited to provide input for a workbook focused on how to implement effective community collaborations being developed by the Humane Society of the United States. Although cautious, Winograd has accepted the invitation.

It was my hope that HSUS’ reaching out to No Kill might signal a change at the agency. However, given their historical positions, I could not abandon history for hope and asked, in the following e-mail to HSUS, for a guarantee that my involvement would only be cast in a positive light:

Thank you for inviting me to participate. The opportunity to help shape and influence a Humane Society of the United States project that impacts the lives of animals in shelters is something I very much look forward to.

I am encouraged by your seeking the input of someone who has been unwavering in supporting TNR programs for feral cats and in promoting No Kill sheltering. But while I welcome participation in this endeavor, since I—and other No Kill advocates—have disagreed with HSUS over its positions on these issues over the years, I believe we need to move cautiously in order to build trust.

My primary concern is that my name not be associated with the project if there are any negative connotations expressed in the final product about No Kill, feral cats and TNR, or the advocates of such programs. In order to ensure that, I would request written confirmation that my association with the project, use of my name, any statements or concepts I make, and/or any attributions to me not be used until I have an opportunity to read the final product and agree to the use.

Please let me know if this is something you would agree to and whether I can forward such confirmation for your signature.

Unfortunately, HSUS declined my request. Because of that, I could not agree to lend me name to the project as I did not want to risk legitimize something that could potentially continue a history of opposition to No Kill or TNR.

In fact, we continue to hear disturbing reports from rescue groups about actions/statements of HSUS field offices including: calling feral cat caretakers “hoarders,” saying No Kill is only possible “if you adopt pit bulls to dog fighters,” (report from feral cat advocates at a meeting in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania), demanding that groups abandon the term “No Kill” as “required” under the so-called Asilomar Accords (report from rescue groups in Atlanta, Georgia), calling No Kill “bologna,” (report from rescue in Tallahassee, Florida) and others.

It is time to hold HSUS accountable for positions which undermine our efforts to promote compassion over killing. I have sent the enclosed letter to Wayne Pacelle, the CEO of HSUS. I invite all rescue groups and animal shelter groups who value life to do the same. As I indicated in the letter:

HSUS has a firm statement regarding its alleged commitment to non-violence. On [the HSUS] website, [it] state[s] that “HSUS has never engaged in or supported any form of violence done in the name of protecting animals.” But that is exactly what the Companion Animal Division is endorsing in U.S. animal shelters. In the face of non-lethal alternatives such as TNR for feral cats and the programs and services that define the No Kill paradigm, can there by any greater violence than the continued mass slaughter of dogs and cats whose only “crime” is that they have no human address?

With five million lives at stake annually, this is an ethical imperative that we can no longer ignore. It is enough that we have to fight against public rresponsibility. To also have to fight the irresponsible positions taken by the HSUS Companion Animal Division is a burden we can no longer accept or tolerate.

They have so far chosen not to respond.

For those of us who sacrifice on behalf of animals, who care for feral cats when the local shelter will not, who try to save lives on stretched budgets and stretched volunteers while the million dollar shelter in our community offers too little or nothing at all, we can not allow HSUS to continue to legitimize this status quo.

Just today, I received an e-mail informing me of an elderly woman in Illinois who needed help with spaying some feral cats, some of which had conjunctivitis. The large local shelter told her they would not spay the cats if she did not first catch them and treat them for eye discharge. How was she supposed to do that? Who stepped in to help? Local rescue.

In Nebraska, a shelter decides to kill all feral cats with no waiting period of any kind, which is horrible enough, but also ends up killing someone’s scared lost cat in the process.

In Oregon, a shelter kills dogs instead of sending them to rescue.

In Fremont, California, feral cat caretakers are given citations for caring for the cats in violation of feeding ban, and when they turn to the shelter and local police department for help when someone poisons the cats, they are told that they should not be feeding them in the first place.

It seems like every day, we hear from caretakers and rescue groups with similar stories.

Shouldn’t HSUS be championing the animals and the people who help them, instead of justifying these other points of view, all of which have, at one time or another, been legitimized in HSUS literature and teachings?

Many of us were hopeful that change was afoot when HSUS printed a recent article on feral cats that on the surface seemed to endorse TNR. But did it? A closer look reveals another story. A story of continuing support for trap and kill, a story that says TNR is one choice among bad options, and stories of people who are always on the lookout for the need to kill. First, it is in contradiction to other documents on their website, most notably their awful statement on free roaming cats. Second, it is a rewrite of history since the views of many shelters which they cite regarding historical opposition to TNR is the point of view that HSUS historically championed. Third, we cannot accept that feral cats should be killed if someone determines there is wildlife in the area. Fourth, most of the case studies they cite are half-hearted efforts of people who reluctantly starting supporting TNR because of rescue groups and caretakers not otherwise willing to work with them, or something analogous to it. These are tales of compromise and best of the worst options type of stuff. It is too little, too late. It is not enough. HSUS was founded to protect animals, not to champion the likes of “lost in time” agencies who defiantly proclaim their opposition to No Kill and their need to kill.

Let us be clear with Mr. Pacelle: Feral cats have a right to live. Feral cats have a right to their habitats. Shelters must put in place the programs and services to save lives. Volunteers, working with rescue, foster care programs, TNR, offsite adoptions. These are not optional. They are ethical imperatives. They must be done, and done with the same zeal and effort that seems to be currently directed toward ending life.

Tell Mr. Pacelle how you or your group sacrifices for animals. And tell them if your shelter continues to cling to failed models of the past, models championed by his organization. Please join me in persuading Mr. Pacelle that it is time for change. Write him at:

Wayne Pacelle
The Humane Society of the United States
2100 L Street, N.W.
Washington DC 20037

He can no longer be allowed to ignore the mass killing of dogs and cats because his own interests lie primarily in wildlife and farmed animal protection. All are deserving of our compassion and protection. And to the extent that HSUS is going to work on sheltered animal issues, they must do so by embracing the No Kill paradigm, fully and unequivocally.


Nathan J. Winograd
No Kill Solutions
www.nokillsolutions.com

P.O. Box 74926
San Clemente, CA 92673
(949) 276-6942 telephone
(949) 276-6943 fax

Thursday, August 4, 2005

Feline Fixers Members Seek Help, Donations
Pasco.TBO.com, Florida
A gray kitten landed in the front yard with a thud, thrown from a moving car. The Feline Fixers member who found the abandoned kitten spent a lot of time helping her conquer her fear.

Kitten catastrophe
The Union of Grass Valley, CA
... the kitten. "If these silly people would just spay and neuter (their pets), we wouldn't have this problem," Johnson said. "Just don ...

Fixing the pet problem
Florida Today, FL
Last month's acceptance of a proposal to allow operation of a spay-neuter clinic at a county facility represents an important change in tactics from the ...

Local veterinarian explains pet overpopulation problem
Camden Chronicle, TN
Do you spay and neuter your pets? Just how much do you know about the population crisis of pet animals? There is a place in Tennessee ...

Frisky felines roam the streets of the city
Vancouver, Canada
Frisky feral felines are roaming our city streets, and we have only ourselves to blame, says the BC SPCA. It's impossible to know just how many homeless cats ...

Feral cats lured by sausage bait
ABC Science Online, Australia
New toxic bait that looks like cocktail sausages could stop feral cats from killing Australian native wildlife. The bait is made ...

Wednesday, August 3, 2005

WAMU 88.5 FM
American University
Washington, DC
The Kojo Nnamdi Show
13:06 Combating Cat Overpopulation
Guest host: Sam Litzinger
The numbers are astonishing. A single female cat and her kittens can produce more than 400,000 cats in just seven years. We look at programs to combat cat overpopulation.
Guests
Becky Robinson, National Director and founder of Alley Cat Allies, Inc.
Stephanie Shain, Director of Outreach for Companion Animals, The Humane Society of the United States
Linda Winter, Director, Cats Indoors Campaign, American Bird Conservancy

~ ~ ~ ~ ~
[...a Feral Cat Blog! ~Paws Up & Purrs~:]
Carroll calls for humane cat control
Ontario Mirror Guardian, Canada
Toronto's blossoming population of stray and feral cats needs some brakes applied to it, and city animal control officials should be the ones to do it, says ...

Residents discuss changes in county cat policy
The Beaufort Gazette, South Carolina
About 50 Beaufort County residents turned out Tuesday at a Beaufort Humane Association meeting to discuss changing the county's policy from trapping and euthanizing feral cats to a program that neuters the animals and returns them to their habitat.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Noblesville art fair
Indianapolis Star, United States
... IndyFeral and Pets Supplies Plus will conduct an informative road show and answer questions about feral cats Aug. 13 in Noblesville. ...

Rabid Cat Bites Ponte Vedra Woman, Community on Alert
WJXX, FL
... eye. They can be dangerous if they're feral and rabid. ... animal. Studivant said there's a colony of wild cats in the Oak Bridge Golf Club. ...

Stray sparks cat Aids alert
ic Berkshire.co.uk, UK
... Mr Orr warned: "I think it's an important factor for people to think about when they are considering taking on a stray cat if they already have cats of their ...

Many cats unaffected by catnip, C&EN reports
I-Newswire.com (press release)
(I-Newswire) - Catnip sensitivity is inherited, says Carolyn M. McDaniel, a veterinarian at the Feline Health Center at Cornell University in Ithaca, NY A ...

Abandoned cats could mean arrest
Bennington Banner, VT
VILLAGE OF CAMBRIDGE, NY -- Some 12 to 15 cats in various conditions, including a dead kitten, were discovered at a village home believed to be abandoned ...

Animal shelters have too many kittens
Pittsburgh Post Gazette, PA
... in a news release yesterday, said people who adopt two felines can get the second one at half the usual rate, which is $100 for kittens and $75 for cats. ...

Tuesday, August 2, 2005

AMA to seize stray animals
GhanaWeb, Ghana
... gear for its guards on the mission to catch stray dogs. Jockeys will also have to pay close attention to their horses after racing. Loitering cats will however ...

Volunteers seek homes for felines
Salem Statesman Journal, OR
... Last year, the Humane Society of the Willamette Valley reported taking in 8,000 stray or abandoned cats, the most of any shelter in the state, a spokeswoman ...

City will register cats, too
Bridgeton News, United States
... The new ordinance would have the same intent as the one introduced in the spring -- reducing the number of stray cats and dogs -- but also take into account ...

Workshops focus on alternatives to killing feral cat
Fond du Lac Reporter, WI
In the aftermath of the failed proposal to allow shooting feral cats in Wisconsin, a Bethesda, Md., organization is coming to Wisconsin to give advice on how ...

Individualistic Pets Seduce Independent Young Koreans
Chosun Ilbo, South Korea
... the leading cat-loving nations. Canada, Belgium, France and Switzerland are also fond of feline companions. Japan is well-known ...

Has anybody seen this cat?
Beloit Daily News, WI
... him, his gut clenched with fear. He immediately began a full-scale search for his feline friend. More than two weeks later, Tinder ...

‘Hundreds of cats will die due to pullout’
Ynetnews, Israel
TEL AVIV - Hundreds of cats in the care of West Bank and Gaza settlers are sure to die as a result of the upcoming disengagement, Let Animals Live spokeswoman ...

Rescuers fear proposal would kill more animals
Atlanta Journal Constitution (subscription), GA
... Animal Control. The animal shelter had six cats with newborn kittens that would be euthanized if they weren't claimed. Shelton, who ...
[Excerpt]
Because of rescue groups' dependence on a wide circle of volunteers, Shelton and others have grave concerns about a potential Georgia Department of Agriculture regulation change that would limit a shelter or rescue network to 10 foster homes. A rescue organization could work with 10 more homes if it bought a second license for $200. Further, each foster home could keep only up to five four-legged animals.
Two states now limit the number of animals that a foster home can accept, but no states limit the number of foster homes that can work with a shelter, according to the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals.
Shelton said that enactment of the rule change would "dramatically affect how the rescue community operates and will ultimately mean more animal deaths in Georgia."
Said David Smith, executive director of Fulton County Animal Services: "I personally would be very much against that. . . . It would be devastating to us."
[Excerpt]
The Agriculture Department and the advisory board, which produced the draft of animal protection rules containing the proposed limits, have said the reaction from rescuers and shelters is premature. There's not yet a consensus on adopting the limits.
Told of the rescue groups' concern over the draft document, Irvin said: "That's the reason we want to start to have public hearings. We want them to participate."
The advisory board's next meeting is scheduled for Aug. 9 at the State Farmers Market in Forest Park. For the proposal to become a state regulation, the Agriculture Department would have to publicly post it for 30 days. If the response is great enough, a public hearing will be held to discuss the proposal. After that, Irvin can choose to adopt the rule or not. He said the process may take a year or more.
Said advisory board member Carolyn Danese of the draft: "It's the start of a conversation, and nothing more than that."
Nevertheless, Shelton and others are leery.
"It cannot pass," she said. "I'm going to do everything I can to make sure that it doesn't."

Cat Adoption Blitz a Record-breaking Success
Canada NewsWire (press release)

Traditional, new-fangled cat breeds all popular
Arizona Daily Sun, AZ
... Kittens that don't possess adequate qualities for showing are sold as pets, and breeders are encouraged to spay and neuter prior to selling. ...

New bait toxin may ease feral cat problems
ABC Online, Australia
Anecdotal evidence suggests feral cats are responsible for the decline of about 40 species of Australian animals, however, the only methods to cull them are ...

Enough of the pets that are pests
Sydney Morning Herald (subscription), Australia
... Conservative estimates suggest that there are more than 5 million feral cats in Australia, breeding like crazy and killing millions of native animals that do ...

Keep cats indoors to reduce bird kills; put fence around feeder
MaineToday.com, ME
... Based on Temple's work, significant tension has developed between groups that seek to neuter feral cats and let them roam free and others who favor the capture ...

Kitties in the woodpile won't turn her into Catwoman
Indianapolis Star, United States
... call led to a feral rescue group, which led to me being assigned to a Cat Captain. When I expressed my disdain -- er, concern -- about cats multiplying like ...

Rabies case illustrates increasing problem of feral cats
Savannah Morning News, GA
... Meanwhile, public health officials are warning the public to avoid wild or stray animals and not to feed feral cats. The rabid mammal ...

Feline viral outbreak temporarily closes shelter
WKYC-TV, OH
... environment. The Cleveland Animal Protective League is the only shelter that accepts owned cats and stray cats without an appointment. We ...