Pet Care Extraordinaire

06/11/2024

Callie is stoned deaf. Ralph and Sherry Lombard with RSL Haven assisted me with this rescue using a large net.

06/11/2024

I love holding Chanel

06/11/2024

Ragdoll kittens are precious

06/11/2024

Imagine my surprise and amusement when I took him out, and he started howling to the sound of the sirens

06/11/2024

Smoky was not happy at all when his family left him with me as we did not know each other yet

06/11/2024

After a few days of patience, I earned Smokey’s trust

05/15/2024

Adorable sisters Møffe and Christian Eriksen are having a true yin/yang moment! What a great shot, thanks to Kris Paludan from Team Cat Mojo for submitting it!
😻😻

05/15/2024

How sweet. One of my long-term cat care clients sent this to me. Cat care is our specialty. 

04/25/2024

https://www.jacksongalaxy.com/products/safe-space-for-cats

If you’re dealing with symptoms as wide-ranging as hiding, urine-marking, aggression towards other animals or others that signal and stem from poor self-confidence in cats, this is the solution for you (and them!). Designed to help reassure cats that their territory is safe and secure, and so ther...

04/18/2024

04/03/2024

https://www.catster.com/guides/are-plug-in-air-fresheners-bad-for-cats/

In this info guide, we'll discuss why you should avoid plug-in air fresheners around your cats and which alternatives to use instead to keep your kitty safe.

03/26/2024

We are open tonight at 1465 Cypress Avenue Melbourne Fl 32935 from 4-8pm

We are also open Wednesday 4-8pm and Saturday 10-4pm.

Drywall is a shy sweet girl who loves other cats & is still waiting for the right people to pick her!

03/24/2024

One of six adorable, ragdoll kittens, her name is Chanel 🩷

03/24/2024

When I had adopted this girl from an elderly couple, she definitely had Cattitude. As the alpha, she ruled the house for the next seven years. Her former family called her pretty girl, but in the end, she was Miss pretty to us.  I always say she was the best and worst cat I ever had. 

02/20/2024

11/19/2023

Removing cats from an area by killing or relocating them is not only cruel—it’s pointless. Animal control agencies and city governments have blindly perpetuated this futile approach for decades. But scientific research, years of failed attempts, and evidence from animal control personnel prove that catch and kill doesn’t permanently clear an area of cats.

Scientific evidence indicates that removing feral cat populations only opens up the habitat to an influx of new cats, either from neighboring territories or born from survivors. Each time cats are removed, the population will rebound through a natural phenomenon known as the “vacuum effect,” drawing the community into a costly, endless cycle of trapping and killing.

The vacuum effect is a phenomenon scientifically recognized worldwide, across all types of animal species
Well-documented among biologists, the vacuum effect describes what happens when even a portion of an animal population is permanently removed from its home range. Sooner or later, the empty habitat attracts other members of the species from neighboring areas, who move in to take advantage of the same resources that attracted the first group (like shelter and food). Killing or removing the original population does nothing to eliminate these resources; it only creates a “vacuum” that will inevitably draw in other animals living nearby.

Scientific research has observed the vacuum effect across many species—herbivores, carnivores, and omnivores. When studying mountain lions, for example, one researcher noted, “When you remove resident lions that have established home ranges you create a void.” He continues, “Other resident lions that have home ranges that may overlap the individual you removed now find that territory empty. This allows them to expand their range, as well as create openings for transient lions to establish a new home range.”

Simply put, when mountain lions are removed from their habitat, other mountain lions move in. This behavior has also been documented in possums, badgers, and raccoons.

A habitat will support a population of a certain size. No matter how many animals are removed, if the resources remain, the population will eventually recover. Any cats remaining after a catch and kill effort will produce more kittens and at a higher survival rate, filling the habitat to capacity. As one study found, “populations greatly reduced by culling are likely to rebound quickly.”Over time, the number of cats in an area where a feral cat colony has been killed or relocated will simply recover and return to its original size.

Removing cats from an area is a futile effort—one that cannot succeed
The only documented “successful” effort to remove a population of cats occurred in a cruel program on uninhabited, sub-Antarctic Marion Island. It took two decades and ruthless methods—methods that are impossible to replicate in areas inhabited by people including poisoning, hunting with guns, and introducing disease—to clear the island of cats. As scientists tried each method, they noted “the recolonization of preferred habitats, cleared of cats, from neighboring suboptimal areas…” In other words, like the mountain lions, whenever they killed cats in the best habitats, the cats next door simply moved in.

The Marion Island example proves the vacuum effect while it also proves the impossibility of permanently clearing an area of an entire target population. Municipalities engaged in any type of catch and kill efforts are fighting a cruel, endless, losing battle against nature that is a gross waste of taxpayer dollars and ends hundreds of lives.

Years of failed catch and kill policies prove this method’s ineffectiveness
Animal control officers all over the country have observed the ineffectiveness of lethal methods firsthand through years of misguided policy.

Joan Brown, President and CEO of the Humane League of Lancaster County (PA), says that her organization made the switch to Trap-Neuter-Return when they started to realize that they were never making any headway with catch and kill.

“I finally went to the board and said, ‘Where in our mission statement does it say euthanize? Because all we’re doing is taking [feral cats] in to euthanize them…we’re not only doing an inhumane thing, we’re actually contributing to the problem, creating a vacuum effect that will just be filled again—and probably at a faster rate than when we started,’” says Brown.

Brown says that they noticed it was a never-ending and growing problem, draining their resources and their morale: “At the very least, we were standing still. That was clear, and it seemed as if we were running forward, but actually moving backward.”

Other animal control and shelter organizations nationwide have also taken a stand after acknowledging the failed results of their catch and kill efforts. Maricopa County, Arizona’s animal control website says, “We have over 20 years of documented proof that traditional ways of dealing with feral cats don’t work. The catch and kill method of population control (trap a cat, bring it to a shelter, ask that the cat be euthanized), has not reduced the number of feral cats. The cat may be gone, but now there is room for another cat to move in…So, catch and kill actually makes the problem worse.” And the Humane Society of Ochocos (Oregon) agrees: “…[W]e know now, that more than 30 years of trapping and killing cats has done nothing to reduce the feral cat population.”

The National Animal Control Association amended its feral cat policy in 2008 to be more supportive of Trap-Neuter-Return, in part because, as then president Mark Kumpf put it, “[i]t’s recognizing that in some cases, certain jurisdictions and communities are more interested in maintaining a stable cat population than they are in simply bailing the ocean with a thimble.”

He continues: “What we’re saying is the old standard isn’t good enough anymore. As we’ve seen before, there’s no department that I’m aware of that has enough money in their budget to simply practice the old capture and euthanize policy; nature just keeps having more kittens.”

If catch and kill had any long-term effect on cat populations, animal control officers nationwide—and their leadership organizations—would have observed it by now. Instead, they are reading the writing on the wall and switching to the method that works.

Trap-Neuter-Return is the responsible, humane method of care for feral cats
Trap-Neuter-Return stabilizes feral cat populations. The cats are humanely trapped, vaccinated, and neutered, so no more kittens will be born. They are then returned to their original location to live out their lives in their outdoor home. Not only is Trap-Neuter-Return the humane option for feral cats, it also improves cats’ lives by relieving them of the stresses of mating and pregnancy. In the end, unlike catch and kill, TNR works.

It’s time to stop the killing.
Cities and shelters across America have experienced great success with Trap-Neuter-Return—it is now official policy for feral cats in Washington, DC, Baltimore, and Chicago. It’s time to learn from past mistakes and move forward instead of going around in circles—it’s time to stop fighting the endless battle of catch and kill and protect cats’ lives.

11/19/2023

This is Borris. He’s a lemur 💙

11/17/2023

💕 help if you're able

11/17/2023

11/15/2023

Is Your Pet Obese? 5 Signs to Look Out For and How to Help Them: https://lttr.ai/AJuwL

11/15/2023

A Happy Tail has become Pet Care Extraordinaire LLC at the suggestion of one of our clients. We currently have availability for all of your pet care needs. 

12/01/2022

It's impossible not to fall in love with cats. They bring so much joy into our home and into our lives, and that's a gift we can't imagine living without.

11/11/2022

Mateo and Belen 😻