TNR Supporters Get Another Stronghold in New Jersey
In his September/October Incite column, Ted Williams tackles the hotly debated impact of feral cats on bird populations nationwide, particularly the effectiveness of Trap, Neuter, and Return (TNR) programs. Battles are raging between TNR supporters who have a great (surprising, actually) deal of political clout and biologists who see that the programs aren’t helping to curb growing feral cat populations and believe euthanization may be the only solution to protect our birds.
But as discussed in this month’s column, feral cat culling is never an easily-won argument and many conservation groups have been forced to join forces with TNR supporters just so something can be done to reduce stray populations, even if it has only minimal impact. One such group was the New Jersey Audubon Society, which had to collaborate with TNR practitioners in exchange for the promise that sponsors of feral cat colonies would keep them away from bird nesting areas. Well, it looks like TNR got another stronghold in New Jersey this week in Point Pleasant Beach, 100 miles north of where the state’s TNR debate originated and home of some of the most important shorebird habitat in the nation.
Officials are planning to practice TNR after the community’s population of stray cats became affected with rabies and attacked two children, including a 17-year-old relaxing in his own backyard. They intend to round up as many of the area’s estimated 300 feral cats and “place them in cages in rented, climate-controlled trailers for 60 days of observation,” reports The Star-Ledger. “Authorities will kill infected cats while healthy adult cats will be vaccinated, neutered and returned to their colonies…Kittens will be put up for adoption.”
If the Point Pleasant Beach feral cats are transmitting rabies to humans, consider what other disease they might possibly be spreading to the area’s bird populations, let alone how many shorebirds they are preying on. As Ted points out, we know feral cats aren’t just a threat as predators to birds, but also as carriers of toxoplasmosis, roundworms, hookworms, ringworms, and much more. What do you think of the use of TNR as a control method in Point Pleasant Beach or in general? To join the discussion or comment about this month’s Incite, we welcome your comments here.
TNR
IOUTRAGEOUS, can not believe NJ allowed TNR hyperbola outshout science and law. First it is against Federal Law to release a domestic animal into the wild to fend for itself (abandonment/neglect), it is also against the Migratory and Native Bird Acts to purposefully cause harm to US nesting sites and/or most birds.
In PA the only cases of rabies in two years have been from stray/feral cats. The TNRs can't [possibly trap all cats released and are not permitted by law to release them again into the wild. If these cats are domestic animals there is a moral/legal responsibility to treat them as domestic animals (pets).
For the millions poured into TNR organizations they should be providing sanctuarys that meet Health and Humane safety guidelines...I have coyote eating the TNR cats in the backyard and LOL every time I see a cat carcass - what goes around comes around and there is always a bigger predator.
Maybe we should TNR the TNR people, give them a knife for self defense and survival, deny them medical care except an occasional rabies shot, prohibit shelter building or blankets and set a bear on them... Would that be humane?
If feral/TNR cats are considered wild there should be an open season on them like any other wild animal that overpopulates; great target practice! Better yet, we scientists should start an all out campaign to enforce laws that protect birds where and when TNRs show up to spew their delusional rhetoric...Where is our back bone? Why aren't we fighting as hard as the TNRs to save birds before we have no avian species left?
Feral cats
This is the letter to the editor that i just sent to Audubon in regards to Ted Williams article. I am a member of Audubon and an owner of 4 cats. There is no reason to have posts of a hysterical nature, gloating over dead cats and unncessarily frightening people about the miniscule chance of catching rabies from cats (bats, skunks, dogs, and even squirrels are carriers). Additionally every single wild bird and mammal has a host of various parasites, so they are not exclusive to cats. The ultimate goal is to protect birds and reduce the feral cat population humanely and increase habitat.
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Dear Editor:
While we agree with Ted Williams on the problem of feral cats in fragile environment like Hawaii, we feel that he did not address two critical issues in the decline of songbirds in the US – that is the irresponsibility of owners in not sterilizing their animals and the deleterious effect of habitat destruction on songbird populations. Most of the habitat in the US consists of edges, where birds are more vulnerable to predators, especially species like cats and rodents, who are commensal with humans. Even small steps such as not mowing lawns, planting more trees and shrubs benefit birds and encourage them to find more nesting areas. While TNR cannot solve feral cat overpopulation problem by itself, it is a step in the right direction. Contrary to what Mr. Williams reports for Wisconsin, there is no “cat lobby.” There are several feral cat organizations with people who put in countless volunteer hours into trapping, sterilizing, taming, fostering and adopting out cats. They work to inform mostly rural owners of opportunities to sterilize their animals through the Maddie’s Fund and similar programs. On some farms, it is still acceptable to have 50+ cats. They are not owned by the farmer, but roam and breed indiscriminately, serving as vectors for feline diseases. These are the people who should hear about the decline of songbirds and cat sterilization. Attacking feral cat organizations for trying to control the cat population through TNR is really “barking up the wrong tree.” As members of Audubon and owners of four cats, we have taken the following steps to ensure a bird friendly habitat in our yard. We encourage others to join us. 1) We have ceased mowing the lawn and planted bird and bee friendly native species 2) We have erected a 8 ft high cat proof fence (easy and inexpensive instructions are at www.jeffinnakari.weebly.com), so that the cats can enjoy the outdoors without roaming 3) All four of our cats are sterilized and are rescues from local feral cat organizations/humane society 4) Cats are not let out early in the morning or at dusk, which as we found are prime ground foraging times for birds 5) We continue writing and working with local and national government to preserve habitat and decrease edge, lawn and monoculture type of environments
Rabies and Ferals
Unfortunately, the only thing I find written on this blog unsubstantiated by scientific or legal fact is written by the author of Feral Cats...
Being that September 28th is World Rabies Day, it should be noted the CDC and AVMA have classified cats second only to raccoons in carrying the rabies virus. That is the reason several feral cat colonies in NJ and FL have been outlawed, (these states legalized TNR in the past few years ). TNR should be outlawed nationally: Feral cats are the greatest carrier of virulent disease of any domestic animal. Also according to the CDC (cdc.gov) the only domestic animal carrying plague are feral cats. Of course the hyperbola with TNR advocates is cats rid Europe of plague. That is a theory and can not be scientifically proven in the first place. Diseases regularly die out, that is a part of thermo dynamics in biology; they have thrived beyond the point of their energy (found in DNA). But why trouble TNR people with hundreds of years of dedicated scientific work and research...that would be tedious for someone who just screams and cries to get what they want.
And yes, legally they are considered "domestic animals" not "wild"...Of course if cats were classified as wild we could open season on them and secure our God given spot at the top of the food chain.
Pretty extraordinary a cat lover would advocate the abandonment of a cat that results in coyote cat dinners, road kill, fodder for sadists or just plain inhumane neglect.
The only hysteria I find in the TNR debate is people not taking responsibility of an unwanted pet with finding a proper home for that animal - that can hardly be the fault of TNR dissidents. It is illegal to abandon an animal. Instead of supporting groups that reabandon animals maybe time would be better spent making citizen arrests for abandonment to control the population of ferals. That would mean TNR advocates would have multiple offenses and then go to jail and end this debate. I do agree with sanctuaries that are fenced for ferals if they are well kept, of course Tiger Ranch in Western PA was supposed to be such a place, then Linda Bruno (owner) was convicted of 612 acts of animal cruelty, charges mostly stemmed from not euthanizing sick animals (post-gazette.com).
The reality is abandoned cats will die anyway, so why not put them out of their misery or build sanctuaries with the 24M surplus at ACA; the Feds should check those 501C's - most municipalities pay for the trapping of ferals, where is TNR money going?
Further on this
Thanks for your reply.
Please do cite your source on the rabies info. I looked at CDC.gov and did not see anything on cats being 2nd to raccoons in carrying rabies. I did see the plague info, but in most cases plague outbreaks occur in SW US and the primary vectors are rodents. I would love to see feral cat sanctuaries, but sadly the government has other priorities, as in fighting 2 wars and misusing our tax money for various projects that benefit almost no one.
As a cat person, I will admit, I am not entirely sold on TNR, for the reasons that you mention. It is a hard life for the cats in the outdoors whether they are fixed or unfixed. I dont think it is a responsible thing to dump cats in the middle of nowhere or in the city. Our feral cat organizations only release fixed animals to places where they have access to shelter like a barn and food, so the person who brought them in to be fixed has to promise to feed them. I do not want an open season on cats. Not only is this a moral issue, but can you imagine people crawling around houses and farms trying to shoot at a small animals. Do you realize the risks involved of wounding people and other pets? Cats are not deer and they hang out mostly near people. Hunting near inhabited areas is absolutely crazy.
The the whole point of the article is bird kills by cats. OK let's assume that TNR does not work and the cats are euthanized. Meanwhile, more cats are mating and making more kittens and no one is getting fixed. So the population does not decrease and thus the amount of bird kills remains the same. Secondly, the article mentions that the effect of TNR is negligible, meaning only a few percent of the ferals are actually being caught and fixed. If that's the case, then euthanizing these ferals won't make any difference and the bird kill numbers remain the same.
Someone has to get into the people's thick skulls that they cannot have scores of unsterilized cats. The problem it is mostly cash strapped rural and city people and they dont care. At this point the only people who are making a difference are the feral cat people who organize spayathons and distribute literature on animal sterilization. Maybe the bird people should join the cat people in an education campaign, because often bird and cat people are one and the same!
The other point I wanted to make is that not all cats are bird killers. It really depends on the cat. Of the 8 that we have had over the years in our outdoor fenced area, 6 caught an occasional mouse or baby bunny. Only 1 cat was a mouser extraordinaire, we logged something like 40 mice and sadly 2 birds in one year. In the 10 years that he lived with us, those were the only 2 birds he got. Now this year, we got a semi-feral kitten, although he was tamed and adopted at 3 months old. This cat, as we found out, is a rodent and bird killing machine. After 4 birds in 4 outdoor forays, we said this is it. Our strategy has been to let him out in the yard between 10 am and 4 pm and that has eliminated the bird stalks completely. He got the birds always in the morning when they were foraging. My point is that not all feral cats are offing the birds, but maybe only 20% of them.
Another study worth conducting would be to compare bird numbers in Russia vs. the US. None of the cats there are fixed and the population of ferals in the city and country is far larger than in the US. I belong to various cat forums and have lived there, and it is only now that fixing a cat and keeping it indoors is filtering into the country. Nearly all cats are outdoor and unsterilized, so there should be far more bird kills there vs. the US.
While I accept that cats share the blame for the decline in song bird population, we cannot make the cat the scapegoat. We have to increase habitat and prevent fragmentation. These practices decimate bird populations and encourage predators like cats to catch them.
Reply
For information about public health issues see here:
http://tnrrealitycheck.com/pubhealth.asp
Why would sanctuary be a priority for government? There are hundreds of thousands of dollars provided by the ASPCA, Alley Cat Allies, Maddie’s Fund, Petco, PetSmart, and various charities and foundations that could have gone toward sanctuaries and education and not TNR.
If the cats and the food source are removed, the problem is solved. A single cat can extirpate native fauna from a given site. Maintaining fixed cats in the wild does not prevent hunting. Removing the cats improves habitat for at least that local area. Here is a reference:
http://cals.arizona.edu/pubs/adjunct/snr0704/snr07042l.pdf
People may not witness all the destruction caused by cats. Cats may completely consume what they kill. They may take the prey elsewhere. The wild animal may appear to have escaped only to die later from bacterial infection or internal injuries. An attack on an adult bird or mammal during nesting season translates into multiple fatalities as orphaned offspring starve to death.
Where does this 20% come from Freia?
Cats are not the scapegoat. People are to blame, and that includes anyone who allows his/her cat to roam, abandons a pet, or releases one through TNR. All those actions further degrade habitat.
Correction to the Audubon article for a citation
The actual Conservation Biology article is August 2009 vs. Feb 2009
Here is the citation with text.
http://www3.interscience.wiley.com/cgi-bin/fulltext/122216162/HTMLSTART
Very interesting and I mostly agree with the authors' assessment of the cats contributing to bird population declines, disease vectors, etc. TNR is only one of the issues that they discuss. However, I feel this is a half an article. It refutes various claims by the feral cat groups, but offers no alternatives. It would be very useful to offer better solutions to feral cat groups. We absolutely must work together to address this issue.
Point Pleasant Beach
Something should be done, but never at the expense of wildlife, public health or the cats. TNR produces collateral damage. Unfortunately, most of these programs do not disclose colony locations so there is no external oversight. That is the case in the aforementioned collaboration in NJ.
For information about Point Pleasant Beach, the rabies outbreak, toxoplasmosis and more see here:
http://tnrrealitycheck.com/pointpleasantbeach.asp
To the editor: Contrary to
To the editor:
Contrary to the picture painted by Ted Williams in his article, Felines Fatales, TNR advocates and conservationists are not at war. We share the same goal: no more feral cats. Aside from extremists, TNR proponents acknowledge the complexity of the problem but recognize that, for over a century, trap-and-kill and other lethal methods have failed to eradicate feral cat colonies. Williams' only solution to the feral cat problem is to continue on a path that he himself admits has never worked and will never work.
Williams provides no evidence to support his position that TNR does not work. Furthermore, he omits evidence in support of TNR. On Riker’s Island, for example, the feral population plummeted by over fifty percent in just five years. In Cape May, NJ, volunteers reduced a colony of 400 cats to less than 100 in ten years. There are several published studies that indicate TNR works in journals such as the Journal of American Veterinary Medical Association and the International Journal of Applied Research in Veterinary Medicine.
TNR is not a quick fix. It takes time to see results, which may not be a bad thing. It would be prudent to examine the collapse of an ecosystem on Australia’s island Macquarie following feral cat removal. The rabbit population subsequently swelled, which caused a significant decline in the fragile vegetation that birds relied on for cover.
In my article, Killer Kitties, published in the New York City Audubon newsletter (May/June 2008), I expressed my hope that cat enthusiasts and bird conservationists could unite to save the most lives of both cats and birds by embracing TNR. Williams succeeded in polarizing the issue, but sadly his article doesn't achieve much for the welfare of birds or cats. There is a myopic failure wherever the field of wildlife management forces a disconnect between individual animals and their species or ecosystem as a whole. For many of us who care about both, TNR provides the best solution to a difficult dilemma. I imagine this is likely a reason for the public support and funding that TNR groups enjoy and that Williams laments.
You mention a century, but
You mention a century, but the population explosion of cats in the US happened within the past three to four decades. In that same period, songbirds have declined precipitously. No method of control (lethal or TNR) will make a significant dent in the population. For that to happen, attitudes must change. TNR undermines that effort and people will continue to dump cats as if they are some form of biological litter.
TNR will never help wildlife for two reasons. Well fed cats still hunt. The cats are always there.
Colonies do not die out and new cats replace old ones. Wildlife does not get a break. In removal - wildlife DOES get a break - and even a small break can make a difference for breeding success and survival.
And even though the article focused on birds, cats are prolific hunters of small mammals, reptiles, amphibians and invertebrates. They are listed in the Top 100 World's Most Invasive Species.
There is plenty of peer-reviewed research. Look on the References page at the link for some. You will find citations there.
Please provide a citation for your claims and not simply a journal.
What you mention at Riker's Island is not peer-reviewed and one cannot get evaluative information about what happened there. I emailed the ASPCA and never heard a word. So I guess we need to take your word for this?
If many of those cats were removed by adoption, then that is removal, not TNR. And what about the impact of introducing all that food there?
As for Cape May -
This particular program is often touted as a great success, but also has never been scientifically evaluated. In October 2007, 12 years after the program began, there were still 28 registered colonies and 88 managed colony cats. However, whether or not there has been a decrease in the overall population of feral cats on this island is unknown.
As for Macquarie Island, they needed to remove the rabbits, too - not just one invasive species.
You don't 'save lives' of birds by returning a non-native invasive predator to the wild. If you truly want to save the lives of cats and the wildlife they kill, then fence in those colonies, remove the cats for socialization and adoption, or start allocating funding for sanctuaries.
Provide for a closed and controlled system.
Quality over quantity.
These are the people who
These are the people who should hear about the decline of songbirds and cat sterilization. Attacking feral cat organizations for trying to control the cat population through TNR is really barking up the wrong tree.
John
3g wcdma Professional
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The bird population has
The bird population has definitely taken a big drop and we have to fix this. I think the ideas that they have is good to see. We have to push this to save the birds in the future. This is so important for the future.
American Gold Eagle
International Journal of
International Journal of Applied Research in Veterinary Medicine.
The use of TNR needs more
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TNR people, give them a
TNR people, give them a knife for self defense and survival, deny them medical care except an occasional rabies shot, prohibit shelter building or blankets and set a bear on them.. Baby Names
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