Cat colonies often serve as dumping grounds for other unwanted cats. |
Wild birds and free-ranging cats are not a good mix.
As a Backyard Wildlife Sanctuary manager, you likely control your own cat and talk to cat-owning neighbors about doing the same.
But feral cats – those untamed strays that now total up to an estimated 10 million throughout the United States – can, and have, seriously damaged wild bird and other wildlife populations.
While domestic cats are solitary animals, colonies of feral cats often form around food sources like bird feeding stations, garbage dumps, or places where people deliberately leave food for them. In fact, many colonies of feral cats are supported by well-meaning but misinformed advocates of what’s become known as “TNR” management: Trap, Neuter, Release.
The theory behind TNR programs is eventual reduction of feral cat colonies. But sadly, such claims are not substantiated.
Cat colonies often serve as dumping grounds for other unwanted cats. The food provided usually attracts more cats. Contrary to TNR proponent beliefs, colony cats do not keep other cats from joining the colony. As time goes on, some colony cats become too wary to be caught, so rarely are all spayed or neutered. With females capable of producing up to three litters of four to six kittens each every year, it doesn’t take long to grow a feral cat colony.
Well-fed cats, either feral or domestic, become “super-predators” of birds and other wildlife. The need to eat and the instinct to hunt can and do function separately. Any cat owner can attest to this fact with stories of “gift birds” laid at their feet by feline companions.
Almost one-fifth of all injured wildlife brought to Washington’s wildlife rehabilitators across the state was harmed by cats
In addition to their threats to wildlife, feral cat colonies pose human health risks. Even TNR-managed colonies can spread disease such as ringworm, toxoplasmosis, cat scratch fever, and rabies, since every cat is not captured regularly for health care.
Free-roaming cats usually have short, miserable lives, due to collisions with motor vehicles, attacks by other domestic and wild animals, accidental poisoning or trapping, and parasites and diseases. The Humane Society of the United States reports that the expected life span of an indoor cat is at least triple that of cats that spend their lives outdoors.
TNR management of feral cats is clearly not in the best interests of anyone, and it often overwhelms the ability of well-meaning people who genuinely want to help animals. It also undermines efforts of responsible pet owners who keep their cats indoors.
For more information contact the American Bird Conservancy’s “Cats Indoors! The Campaign for Safer Birds and Cats” at 1834 Jefferson Place, NW, Washington, DC 20036 (www.abcbirds.org). |
