There has been a raging debate over feral (wild) cats in the United States for decades. The most heated debates are between cat rescuers/lovers, & conservationists/Birder's. Many conservationists believe feral cats are a nuisance species, an introduced creature that is causing damage to the ecosystem it is living in. The biggest issue the conservationists have is that feral cats are responsible fo
r many small animal deaths, most notably birds. Some conservationists claim that feral cats have brought certain species of birds to extinction. What they fail to recognize or admit is that HUMAN'S are responsible for more wildlife deaths than any creature on the planet. While many cat rescuers/lovers sympathize with the issue of feral cats killing native wild-life, they still feel a need to protect the cats as well as the wildlife. Most of the conservationists believe feral cats should be exterminated. Millions of cats have been cruelly poisoned, killed by traps, tortured, shot by guns, etc. in order to remove them from the environment. Cat rescuers (such as myself & my mother) have worked tirelessly to remedy the problem, while trying to spare the precious lives of these feral cats. The most effective method of bringing down the population of feral cats in the US (thus, in turn preventing the death of many native wildlife) is a method called Trap-Neuter-Release (TNR). Using the TNR method, cat rescuers humanely trap feral cats, take them to a clinic to be spayed/neutered, vaccinate them, & when they are well enough, release them back where the cats were trapped. TNR first originated in Europe, & was made popular in the United States in the 1990's by a cat rescuer named Becky Robinson, who founded an organization called Alley Cat Allies. Since then, TNR has become widely used among cat rescues & humane animal organizations. My mother & I began working with veteran volunteers from PetFBI & The Humane Society of Delaware County 7+ years ago as volunteers, helping to catch feral cats using the TNR method. Over the past 7 years I, along with my mother Mary & other volunteers, have spayed and neutered over 300 cats in the Lewis Center, Ohio area. I have seen with my own eyes the effectiveness of the TNR method. Yet many conservationist oppose TNR, saying it's wrong for us to release the cats back where we trapped them after we have neutered & vaccinated them. They claim that TNR creates a "vacuum effect" - that by depleting feral cat colony's draws even MORE feral cats to the territory where there are less ferals. To cat rescuers, this theory is B.S. Even IF the "vacuum effect" is real, you cannot argue that preventing new birth's by spaying/neutering only HELPS reduce the feral population. To us, this theory is mute. Unfortunately, releasing the feral cats is the only option b/c they are wild and no one will adopt these cats. The only other choice would be euthanasia, but we want to avoid that. We are forced to euthanize some of the feral/stray cats we trap if we find they are carrying a communicable disease or are injured & suffering. But as long as they are healthy, they are set free. We feel by neutering these cats, we are helping prevent the death of wildlife, b/c an un-spayed female cat can have a dozen or more litters in her reproductive life-time, & all her kittens the same. So spay/neuter obviously cuts down the number of cats who would otherwise be killing native species. But the debate rages on, as the conservationists point out studies that claim TNR is making the problem worse. I have created this FB page to tell the story of the feral cats in my area. Some are from a colony my mother & I tend to, & others are roamers who visit my property from time to time. I believe that education and awareness will help spark a solution one day in the mind of someone who can see the bigger picture regarding the issue of feral cats. I also want to promote compassion for these animals, as it is human error that has caused them to be caught in the middle of a heated, seemingly never-ending debate in the United States, & abroad.
*Note: I wanted to also add that although this page was created to tell the stories of the feral/semi-feral/stray cats that I have been involved with (you can find their stories under "Albums"), I will also be sharing my own personal knowledge of cat husbandry (look for my posts titled: "Cat Tip of the Day"), sharing posts from other animal rescue sites (Adoption Info/Spay-Neuter Info/Lost Pet Info), & even some funny cat pictures to lighten the mood!
