How the BC SPCA is Addressing Community Cat Overpopulation

A survey in the United States of 1,011 people revealed that the surveyed Americans prefer the trap-neuter-return (TNR) approach to control the population of unowned “community” cats. The TNR initiatives in the United States have had a high success rate because they reflect community values. More details on the survey can be found here.

British Columbia has suffered with feline overpopulation for many years which the BC SPCA has been tackling along with rescue groups, humane organizations, veterinarians, and other animal lovers. TNR is one of the ways British Columbia is trying to reduce the feral cat population. Feral cats can often suffer from illness, injuries, starvation, frostbite, and predator attacks. Amy Morris (BC SPCA Policy and Outreach Officer) feels that Canadian attitudes towards community cats are similar to those found in the United States. Morris states, “Many cat lovers provide food, water and shelter for the cruelly abandoned felines, but they lack the financial resources to pay for spay and neuter surgeries.”

In 2014, $80,000 was allocated towards helping community cats and another $80,000 will be allocated in 2015. The BC SPCA is dedicated towards the success of their initiative and is ensuring that all of the cats in a colony or community are sterilized. This success is possible due to help from the communities themselves. Morris says. “They [communities] have shown that by working together, British Columbians are capable of solving the problem of cat overpopulation.”

READ THE BC SPCA NEWS ARTICLE HERE

Supporting Community Cats - Free webinars

PetSmart Charities and the Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) has announced its February sessions of the Supporting Community Cats series.  This eight-month webinar series, which began in January, is aimed at helping start a colony-level TNR program, conduct TNR at the community level or take current programs to a new level. 

The HSUS and PetSmart Charities are focused on providing interested individuals and organizations with proper training and management of the cats in their communities. Each month will have three tracks: Colony Level; Community Level; and Hot Topics. 

Next month's free webinars include: Have a Plan! An Overview of the TNR Process; Targeted TNR - Making the Most of Your Resources; and Creating Wining Nonprofit and Municipal Partnerships. 

CLICK HERE for more information. 

Nova Scotia TNR documented through video

Have a look at this informative video about the Spay Day HRM TNR project. 

Wild at Heart - Sackville TNR

Spay Day HRM tackles N.S. Trailer Park

Photos by Pat Lee, The Chronicle Herald 

This month, Spay Day HMR is taking on its largest project yet. Spay Day is partnering with several local organizations to Trap Neuter and Release (TNR) every abandoned and feral cat in a Nova Scotia trailer park. 

This project will be funded through volunteer time and donations, including those contributed by Tuxedo Stan and Earl Gray's election campaigns. A recovery hall will be available to TNR cats for a week where the animals will receive medical care and TLC while they recover from their procedures. Kittens and friendly cats will be adopted out and shelters will be put in place for the released animals. 

Spay Day HRM began three years ago as a weekend project and has grown into an on-going program due to the growing cat problem in Halifax Regional Municipality. Cats owned by students and people on fixed or low income benefit from the program as it focuses on cats who wouldn't normally have access to veterinary care. 

Updates on this project will be posted on www.facebook.com/SpayDayNovaScotia

New study shows altering could be more effective than traditional sterilization methods

Research from Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine at Tufts University found that vasectomies and hysterectomies were more effective at reducing feral cat populations than traditional neutering methods. 

The findings support trap-vascectomy-hysterectomy-release (TVHR) as a better alternative to trap-neuter-release (TNR). Professor of Biology in the Tufts's School of Arts and Sciences and co-author of the study J. Michael Reed explained, "With TVHR, a male cat's life span, sexual drive and social status aren't altered with a vascectomy, so he'll fend off competing males who try to intrude into his area even though he can't actually produce offspring."

TUFT'S FERAL CAT STUDY

The study was conducted using a computer-based model that compared the efficacy of vasectomy (vs. neutering) and hysterectomy (vs. spaying). Each computer run simulated the cat population over 6,000 days, tracking individual cats on a daily basis. New cats were added to the population as they were born and deceased ones removed. The simulation showed that to reduce the population by a quarter, 57% of the cats in a colony had to be removed by lethal means or captured, neutered and released. TVHR however, could reduce the population by half with an annual capture rate of 35% and at that rate could completely eliminate the colony within 11 years. (TNR required capturing 82% of the cats in order to eliminate the colony in 11 years.)