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Feral cats and wildlife: Ur doin it wrong
By Christie Keith
January 20, 2010
If I had to sum up in one sentence the current battle between feral cat advocates and the conservation groups that filed suit to stop Los Angeles from funding trap-neuter-return programs until an environmental impact review is conducted, it would be this: By all means, let’s fight with each other and ignore the real problem.
Birds and other wildlife are not threatened because of feral cats — certainly not the feral cats of that sylvan wilderland known as the city of Los Angeles. And feral cat colonies don’t exist because people wuv kittehs so much they can’t bring themselves to control them.
No, wildlife is threatened and feral cat colonies exist for the same reason — because people screwed up.
I feel a distinct fondness for many members of my own species, but I have to confess, we haven’t been the most forward-thinking, big-picture kind of creatures when it comes to development, deforestation, habitat destruction and air and water pollution. And those are the things that have pushed many species of bird and wildlife to and over the edge of extinction.
It’s also our lack of big-picture thinking that has allowed the problem of unowned cats to exist in the first place, as we have failed to implement simple and effective programs designed to manage their colonies and reduce their numbers through sterilization.
I understand that to a lot of people on the outside of the feral cat advocacy community, the thought that feral colonies might require some environmental review seems reasonable, even seductively so. Why not study it before funding it? Right?
That might be fine if it was coming from a place of genuine scientific curiousity. It might be fine if there was an actual concern that the best solution be found that enables both wildlife and cats to thrive. It might be fine if the information would be gathered and used to find good, non-lethal solutions for conflicts between two different groups of animals in a given location.
But I just don’t buy it.
The groups that brought the lawsuit know perfectly well the city of Los Angeles has no funds and little desire to pay for an EIR. This is, in short, an effective death sentence for those cats, disguised as a reasonable proposal for scientific study.
In fact, the issue of feral cats is always treated like a zero sum game by those who oppose TNR programs. They believe it’s a case of “kill cats, or wild creatures will die.”
But plenty of feral programs have shown that’s not how you do the math. Look at Project Bay Cats in Foster City, Calif., where the local Audubon Society and a feral cat group got together and designed a model feral cat and wildlife management program in 2006:
To protect birds and their habitat and reduce debris along the levee pedway, 10 cat feeding stations were built by Homeless Cat Network and installed along the trail. Appropriate locations for the stations were jointly identified by the three groups, with special consideration given by Sequoia Audubon Society to insure that the stations were placed away from bird habitats. The program’s effectiveness is a result of keeping the cats well-fed and concentrated away from avian nesting sites.
“There are fewer cats on the Foster City Bay Trail now, and those that remain appear healthier,” says Robin Winslow Smith, Conservation Committee Chairperson of the Sequoia Audubon Society. “Thanks to the feeding stations and the spay/neuter effort, the cats seemed to have settled into the program and don’t need to hunt for dinner since they have it in their feeding stations.” As further evidence of the program’s effectiveness, Sequoia Audubon Society recently found that the endangered California Clapper Rail, which lives in a marsh on the border between Foster City and San Mateo, is thriving and is not impacted by the cats. In fact, the Rails are quite easily seen and heard there at high tide.
Alley Cat Allies has been organizing against the Los Angeles court ruling that not only stopped the city from funding sterilization for feral cats in some very ugly and egregious ways (including forcing rescuers or Good Samaritans to “prove” a cat being brought to a spay/neuter clinic is really theirs — this, in a city with a mandatory spay/neuter law!), but stopped the city from even telling rescuers about sources of private s/n funding.
Yeah, that’ll cut the feral population down. Well played, conservation groups. Well played.
They apparently don’t care, because they want the cats killed anyway. Because wow, no one’s ever tried that before! I mean, if groups hadn’t gone in there and started sterilizing those cats, they’d all be gone now. Because that’s just how it works.
Yeah.
It’s idiotic for wildlife advocates and feral advocates to fight like this. Our communities are huge wrecks of poverty, fast food and non-sustainability. Many kids never eat a piece of fruit in their lives. Urban sprawl spun out and is now painfully contracting, leaving wastelands of concrete and stripped-down abandoned suburban neighborhoods behind. And the corporations are using the current economic meltdown as an excuse to weaken environmental regulation on all kinds of industries.
We need to stop fighting and find ways to work together, as the two groups did in Foster City, and make it work. Neither has to die — not the ferals and not wildlife. We have these big frontal lobes and opposable thumbs. I think we can figure this out if we try.
And then we can focus on the real issues. Because that’s what’s going to kill wildlife, and cats, and us.
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Woo hoo! You go, girl!
Comment by Liz Palika — January 20, 2010 @ 4:58 pm
One indication of of the intractability of this issue is that advocates on BOTH sides post completely onesided rants at the same time contending that only their side is rational and addressing the “real” issues. Neither side is willing to address what are the “real” issues for the other side. Neither side actually hears what the “real” issues are for the other side.
But you’re not really expecting a discussion are you?
Comment by EmilyS — January 20, 2010 @ 5:03 pm
Thank you for your writing as always - I wasn’t aware of this particular feral plight - in my area if someone is “caught” by the local animal control feeding ferals within city limits - they can be ticketed for exceeding the pet limit allowance - unjust, crazy and cruel..and no help at all in addressing the feral issue…LA situation is not helpful as well…just more quagmires.
Comment by mary frances — January 20, 2010 @ 5:23 pm
When it comes to feral cats in rural areas, I say thank goodness for coyotes!
Comment by retrieverman — January 20, 2010 @ 5:49 pm
One more thing….if we actually become a No Kill Nation - this discussion will become unnecessary eventually - we’d have the safety net for animals - and we’re already paying for it - but for most, No Kill is non-existent…it always come back to having No Kill. I think No Kill is the answer for so many of our woes.
Comment by mary frances — January 20, 2010 @ 5:56 pm
Habitat destruction in the tropics is a huge part of the problem with declines in migratory bird populations. If birds spend all their energy flying to places that don’t have food, shelter, water in sufficient amounts for the year-rounders and migrants to share, the number of migrant birds coming back to the US in the spring will be smaller.
Yes, when they get here and can’t find food, shelter, water sufficient to raise another generation, then it obviously must be because those damn feral cats wrecked the place.
Many (most) of the more (most) endangered bird species need habitat that isn’t conducive for colonies of feral cats to survive, like old-growth timber and dense woodlands of at least 100 acres or more. While a certain number of birds are killed by feral (and owned) cats, let’s also remember wind turbines and tall buildings, and even lighting on those buildings, cause a huge number of bird fatalities. If only we can stop cats from putting such obstacles in the bird’s ways!!!
Comment by KateH — January 20, 2010 @ 6:02 pm
Myself, I think these folks know TNR works, they just don’t care. I’ve become convinced none of this has squat to do with control of roaming cats, owned or not, but is rather referred aggression.
And retrieverman? There are plenty of urban coyotes throughout the West. So far as I’ve read and observed, they’ve not made an appreciable dent on either feral cats or dogs, or on invasive non-natives.
Comment by Eucritta — January 20, 2010 @ 7:15 pm
I remember a past post from Christie at a Las Vegas gathering (No-Kill?) - the term for feral cat was suggested to be replaced by the term community cat - sorry don’t remember who came up with the new name but it is more descriptive - many so-called ferals have been easily tamed in my experience and have been adopted with great success - the name itself feral scares people off from these terribly victimized animals.
Comment by mary frances — January 20, 2010 @ 8:43 pm
I’m tempted to quip a Rodney King at this well thought out post on an important topic. *Restraint*
Comment by YesBiscuit — January 21, 2010 @ 6:52 am
As i always say ,look at the bigger picture and why we are all there ..To help make the cats ,humans and wildlife live together in a way thats safe for everyone. Some people are so small minded and lack the common sense it takes just to live,that they forget what there fighting for and it becomes blurry and pointless…and no ones getting helped…so yes when things get like this its time to step back and look at the MUCHO BIGGER PICTURE..:) puts things back in perspective for EVERYONE involved.Sometimes i think if we all used our Common Sense that there would be world peace.Sounds simple minded…i know but think about it..;)
Comment by april — January 21, 2010 @ 10:39 am
While there are legitimate issues to be debated regarding the efficacy, environmental impact, and morality of Trap-Neuter-Return (TNR), such debate continues to be hindered (if not derailed entirely) by the National Audubon Society, American Bird Conservancy, Urban Wildlands Group, and others, who overlook, ignore, and misrepresent the scientific research about cat predation and its impact on bird populations.
These groups are vehemently opposed to TNR, and will present their case any way possible to put an end to it—science be damned. Careful scrutiny of their claims (Travis Longcore’s recent essay in Conservation Biology is a case in point) often exposes glaring omissions, contradictions, and bias. One can’t help but wonder if the individuals and organizations that fund such work know what they’re paying for.
Let’s hope any forthcoming environmental impact studies demand a more rigorous process for vetting the “experts” involved than did the court case.
Comment by Peter J. Wolf — January 21, 2010 @ 11:56 am
For those who may be skeptical of assertions made cat advocates, check out this 2009 article from Los Angeles Magazine’s online version:
http://lamag.com/article.aspx?id=13578
In it, Garry George, “chapter network director for Audubon California,” suggests to readers:
“If feral cats are destroying your property, including your birds, you can use a Hav-a-Heart trap with a permit from Animal Services. They will spay or neuter the cats you trap and offer to find them a home.”
What’s disturbing here is not the part about spay/neuter—though it seems likely that, at the time he was writing this, George knew full well that his organization was trying to put a stop to it. No, the problem here is his suggestion—published without any questions asked, apparently—that Animal Services would try to find homes for the feral cats you brought them. Either George is woefully ignorant about such matters, or is simply lying.
It’s not clear how such statements get us any closer to solving the kinds of complex problems we face. At some point, one is left to wonder whether George and so many of his wildlife conservationist colleagues have lost sight entirely of their mission.
Comment by Peter J. Wolf — January 21, 2010 @ 1:08 pm
Well said Christie!!!
Comment by DeDe — January 21, 2010 @ 8:14 pm
Read more about the cats versus birds debate from The Humane Society of the United States at:
http://www.animalsheltering.or.....ivide.html
Comment by Nancy Peterson — January 22, 2010 @ 10:11 am