Roaming packs of cats in London could soon find welcome signs -- shelters and food -- at up to seven sites to be chosen by city hall.
Officials want to use tax dollars to help animal activists save cats that would otherwise roam and breed, their proposal to be reviewed Monday by politicians on the city's environment and transportation committee.
Such cats, called feral because they're born in the wild and can't be tamed, have overrun some North American cities, a problem the city's environment chief hopes to avoid here.
"The key part is finding neighbours who want to be a willing host," Jay Stanford said yesterday.
Stanford has found three property owners who already use their yard to feed colonies of feral cats (he won't disclose where unless council adopts the one-year pilot project).
The goal is to find as many as four more homes, then pay to build better shelters, buy food and trap the cats so they can be spayed or neutered, vaccinated and returned to the colony. Giving better shelter and food may draw more feral cats to a neighbourhood, he acknowledged, and some Londoners may oppose the move.
"If we get opposition in an area, we'll try to wind down the operation and move it," he said.
But in the long run, the program may reduce the number of feral cats, he said. Its effectiveness will be measured by marking captured cats and monitoring them.
The proposal is drawing cheers from an animal activist who lobbied against euthanasia -- in 2006, the latest year for which figures were available, more than 1,500 cats were put down at the city pound and humane society.
"I'm very excited," said Dianne Fortney, who for seven years has rescued about 100 cats through her organization, Animal Outreach.
Both Stanford and Fortney say euthanasia doesn't reduce the number of feral cats -- the population grows to whatever level of food is available.
"Trap and kill is certainly not humane and it's completely ineffective," said Fortney, who co-chairs London's animal welfare advisory committee.
Spaying and neutering the cats instead has been done for years by activists, but their work will be made easier by the city's financial backing, she said.
"Londoners will be very proud."
Stanford estimates the one-year program would cost between $7,750 and $17,000.
He doesn't know how many feral cats roam city streets, nor does he believe the numbers are a pressing threat -- yet. "I don't believe it's a problem in London now, but I don't want it to become one."
Many problems people associate with feral cats disappear after spaying and neutering, Fortney said. Fixed cats typically won't fight, howl or mark territory with urine, she said.
While some claim feral cats reduce the population of songbirds, she thinks the effect is exaggerated, especially when the cats are given food.
1 comment:
I hear kittens make good top-water musky bait
Post a Comment