By Linda Wilson Fuoco / Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
November 14, 2015
Bird lovers and cat lovers are often on opposite sides of the political and philosophical fences, and that’s the case with a recent controversy in New York state.
“Gov. Andrew Cuomo vetoed legislation that would have used public funds to support statewide trap, neuter, release programs for feral cats,” according to the news release from American Bird Conservancy, which is happy about this.
Unbenownst to me, New York has an Animal Population Control Program Fund supported by dog license fees. What a wonderful idea, for government funds are so seldom used to help dogs and cats. The original purpose of the fund was to support low-cost spaying and neutering for the dogs and cats of low-income owners.
Up to 20 percent of that fund could have been diverted from pets and used for felines known as ferals, community cats or unowned cats. We used to call them stray cats.
New York’s Senate Bill AB 2778/SB 1801 would have also paid for rabies shots for feral cats. It’s amazing that proponents won over a majority of legislators. Support came from individual citizens, animal shelters and animal protection organizations, according to Alley Cat Allies (alleycat.org), a Maryland-based advocacy organization “dedicated to the protection and humane treatment of cats.”
More than 550 municipalities across the country and “tens of thousands” of individuals and organizations support trap, neuter, release programs, said Becky Robinson, who started Alley Cat Allies in 1990 and is its president.
She said in an email that Alley Cat Allies is disappointed in Mr. Cuomo’s decision.
“Trap-Neuter-Return improves the health of cats, decreases the size of [feral] colonies, reduces animal control calls from citizens, improves public health and is humane and economical,” she wrote.
Opponents included Audubon New York, birders, animal welfare organizations and sportsmen’s groups, said Grant Sizemore, director of invasive species for the American Bird Conservancy (abcbirds.org), which considers cats to be a “non-native predator.”
“Studies have shown that free-roaming cats kill billions of birds in the U.S. each year,” Mr. Sizemore said in a telephone interview. “We hope that other lawmakers draw inspiration from this decision and recognize TNR is a lose, lose, lose scenario for cats, wildlife and people.”
The conservancy contends that trap, neuter, release programs do not reduce feral populations and says these cats pose serious public health risks because they are a source of rabies and toxoplasmosis, a parasitic disease.
Locally, many people are working to reduce the births of unwanted kittens. Homeless Cat Management Team has spayed and neutered more than 18,000 feral cats in the past 18 years. When cats are released or returned, they have a human caretaker who watches over them. The cats live outside but do not breed and contribute to the overpopulation problem, members say.
“Caretakers overwhelmingly want to get their cats fixed, but the cost is a deterrent for many people who barely scrape by,“ said Lisa Lendl-Lander, its secretary.
The team’s free spay/neuter clinics are made possible by veterinarians and vet technicians who volunteer their services and by cash donations for supplies.
Trap, neuter and release only works if enough cat lovers take the time and effort to trap feral cats and get them to a clinic. It’s rather labor-intensive, but for many it’s a labor of love, and they’re happy to teach others how to humanely trap.
For further information, including schedules for spay/neuter clinics, go to www.homelesscat.org and the Homeless Cat Management Team Facebook page. Also, check with your favorite shelter or rescue group for its spay and neuter programs.
