Project Cat director explains her experience with the problem of feral cats, and why NY cat licensing can help combat these issues.

1. A small private
shelter for 14 years
My Delusional Dream
„sterilizing every cat in Ulster County
 getting all of them off the streets and
into homes
HA!

2. Our local SPCA went “no-kill” 6 years earlier
AND
No cat control in any of our towns
Breeding out of control
Running rampant outdoors
Hoarding inside
Hoarding outside (hoarders without borders)
No medical care
No affordable sterilization yet

3. We need to treat domestic
cats as the pets they are and
with accountability
AND
Think rationally about the
role of feral and free-roaming
cats in our society

4. Domestic Cats Feral Cats
all are
Felis catus
Domestic animal – any animal that has been selectively bred
by humans, socialized to humans, and has not evolved as
part of the natural ecosystem
Feral animal – any domestic animal that has lost contact with
humans and is no longer comfortable being around or
handled by humans; can be fearful of or aggressive toward
humans
Non-native animal/exotic – any animal species living in an area
where it did not historically originate

5. How Many Cats?
Owned 90 million cats (house or outdoor)
Unowned 30 to 80 million (ave 55 million)
i.e. free-roaming and/or feral
Total 145 million in the U.S.
(estimated 600 million in the world)
323 million people (U.S. census bureau 2015)
145 million cats
Soooo…for perspective...

6. That is 1/2 a cat for each person in the United States
AND
Domestic cats population tripled in the U.S.
during the last 40 years
(Lepczyk 2008, An overview of the natural history... management of outdoor cats)
AND
we have few to no ordinances or regulations for cats
AND
Basically cats can do whatever they want
AND
people can do whatever they want with cats

7. Why So Many Cats?
No-kill Shelters
&
Trap-Neuter-Return
(TNR) the perfect match
When shelters are filled they call on the TNR groups
to sterilize the cats and return them to where they
were found or to a “managed colony”
Historically - lack of sterilization
and now…

8. “No-kill” shelters strive for…
To the “no-kill” shelters TNR means:
 Fewer intake at shelters
 Less euthanasia
 Erroneous conclusion that there are fewer cats
due to TNR
Nooo…! Shelters are just rerouting the cats
back outdoors!
Low euthanasia rates + high live release rates =
more funding and donations

9. Nobody goes into sheltering wanting to euthanize but when
experiencing the suffering and the carnage it comes down to an
ethical and compassionate decision:
Provide a humane death for a surplus of cats
Or
Ignore their resulting fate so you can and collect
grants from large “no-kill” foundations
Frozen kitten on golf
course during a frigid
winter in NY

10. Why Project Cat is opposed to
Trap-Neuter-Release (TNR)
1. Welfare of the cats
- attrition by any means other than euthanasia
2. Predation on wildlife
- birds, small mammals, amphibian, reptiles
3. Environmental impact
- wildlife, parasites & disease, competition with wild predators
4. Lack of responsibility and accountability for
a domestic animal
- no licensing, no regular veterinary care, no containment, private
property rights issues

11. 1. Welfare of the cats
a. Injury examples
„  Cat fights
 „Attacks by other animals (dogs, coyotes, fishers, etc)
„Wounds, infected, systemic infection
 „Hit by car; engine fanbelt injury during cold months
„  Broken bones, broken jaws
„ Exposure to cold; frostbite on ears, toes, exposed skin
„ Abuse from humans, poisoning, shooting, torturing

12. Cat with broken leg and infected wounds
Hit by car? Shot? Leg-hold trap?
Cat with broken leg and infected wounds
Hit by car? Shot? Leg-hold trap?

13. Abscessed wound and necrotic
tissue from cat bite
Tail injury with resulting tissue
and bone death
If these were “owned” cats they would receive medical care.
These cats were not cared for.

14. This cat had multiple injuries -
broken right rear foot;
eosiniphilic complex (an immune
system problem) with resulting
necrotic abdomen; she was living
outdoors in the frigid weather
when we picked her up.
No owner - abandoned

15. 1. Welfare of the cats
b. Disease transmission
 Upper respiratory viruses - very common; infectious
„  Distemper (panleukopenia) - usually fatal
„  Feline leukemia; Feline Immunodeficiency virus (FIV)
„ Feline infectious peritonitis - mutated corona virus
 „Internal/External parasites - worms (tape, round, hook, lung),
protozoa (coccidea), fleas, ticks, ear mites, bot fly

16. Cat with upper respiratory virus
and severe conjunctivitis
Cat with Feline
Immunodeficiency Virus
(FIV)

17. 1. Welfare of the cats
b. Disease transmission
Zoonotic and interspecies contagions
 Bartonella (cat scratch fever)- flea transmission
„Toxoplasmosis - via hunting and contaminated soil
(in the news lately re: links to human ailments (including
schizophrenia, anger issues); spread to aquatic mammals through
groundwater runoff; Felidae family (all cats domestic and wild) are
the only animals in which this protozoan sexually reproduces with
oocysts spread in fecal matter
 „Rabies Virus – always fatal

18. 1. Welfare of the cats
c. Illness
„  Urinary tract infections and blockages
 „Cancers and tumors
„Teeth and gum disease
 Cardiomyopathy (heart murmurs and disease)
 „Diabetes
„Kidney disease; organ failure
 Systemic infections
Most free-roaming cats will not receive
medical care and will suffer greatly and die

19. Tumorous growth
on head
Raw, bloody growths
on all foot pads
Severe
dental disease

20. What happened to this old
stray cat?
Hit by car? Disease? Kidney
failure?
Entire side of face and
mouth infected and
necrotic.
No owner found.

21. 2. Predation on wildlife
„Cats are DOMESTIC ANIMALS and not native to
North America (or anywhere)
 Cats are an introduced, exotic and now invasive
species
 Cats are obligate carnivores & termed super
predators - they hunt small moving critters even
when not hungry - instinctual
 „Due to outdoor feeding of cats they live in higher
densities than native predators wreaking havoc on
the landscape

22. Samples of cat kills/injuries -
White-breasted nuthatch
Amphibian (frog sp unknown)
Cottontail rabbit, young

23. 3. Environmental impact
„ Disturbance on private property
Cat fights, scrounging garbage cans, spraying, urinating, defecating in
gardens, lounging on outdoor furniture, living in boats beneath tarps,
hunting at bird feeders
„ Disturbance in public areas/parks/nature preserves
Reduces the enjoyment for the public to see cats or the structures that are
erected or the plates and cans of food or cat feces on playgrounds or in
sand boxes, hunting birds, small mammals, frogs, lizards, snakes
„
 Cat food attracts native wildlife upsetting balance and creating
more nuisance problems
Usually raccoons, opossums, skunks, mice, rats

24. 3. Environmental impact
 Killing wildlife and competing with native predators
(hawks, owls, fox, coyote to name a few that use the same
food source as cats)
 Spread of toxoplasmosis in soil and ground water runnoff
affecting even marine mammals
 „Spread of intestinal parasites in soils

25. Wildlife attracted
to cat food.
Cat shelters and feeding
station at Jones Beach, NY.
Near sensitive piping plover
nesting area and location of
lawsuit filed by American
Bird Conservancy against
New York Office of Parks
March, 2016.

26.  mandatory spay/neuter
 licensing & microchipping
 leash/containment laws
 anti-feeding for outdoor/feral cats
 owner responsibility & accountability
For the welfare and safety of domestic
cats, wildlife and the environment
we need to enact and enforce: