Ernst: Legislature considers adopting trap/neuter/return as statewide tactic to control feral cats | HeraldTribune.com
Abandoned Cat (Photo credit: Animals Abused & Abandoned)
Every day, irresponsible people decide they no longer want that kitten (now a cat) that looked so cute when they bought it for their child’s birthday.
So they get in the car, drive to a place where they’ve seen cats congregating — maybe a farm, or a restaurant, or a vacant lot in another neighborhood — and they dump their responsibility on someone else.
As we all know, the world has plenty of stupid, callous human beings, so now it’s also full of wild-roaming cats. There is a solution, at least a partial one. We could round them up, neuter them and return them to where they were found.
I agree that irresponsible people are likely to dump cats they no longer want to take care of in places where they see other cats. Here’s the thing. They’re going to dump them regardless, so it is actually better if they dump them where cats are being fed and given care than just alone somewhere.
Alley Cat Colony (Photo credit: elh70)
For humans the problem is much more complex. Education alone will not change the behavior of people. They have to have an internal commitment before they will act. The issue is even more complex given the amount of flawed research that has been trotted out recently. A recent study shows that 90% of people will believe any statement that begins with “A recent study shows”. Also, 85% of all statistics are made up! So make sure the research you pay attention to is referenced with source information, is not sponsored by those who would most benefit from conclusions, does not rely on weak methodology, does not base its hypothesis on outdated or otherwise flawed research.
Related articles
- Shelters seek volunteers to help trap feral cats (newsday.com)
- Spartanburg Tries New Program to Control Feral Cats (wspa.com)
- Register, Volunteer or Donate for Homeless Cat Management Team Clinics (thecreativecat.net)
- Support Non-Lethal Cat Management in Florida (forcechange.com)
- How to Love a Feral Cat Colony (spreadinformation.wordpress.com)
- To Get Involved or Not with TNR (Why I chose to get involved) (thisandthatwriting.wordpress.com)
- Business Owners Can Help City Feline Committee (gloucestercitynews.net)
Firepaw
Maddie's Fund
The National Humane Education Society
Thank you for this very thoughtful and informational post. Purrs and hugs, Lily Olivia, Mauricio, Misty May, Giulietta, Fiona, Astrid, Lisbeth and Calista Josette
Great article! Thanks for supporting TNR, it’s so important that cat lovers show their support of TNR, the humane, effective solution to feral cat overpopulation, instead of killing. The cats need us to protect them!
I would like to see TNR be enacted in every state, especially in mine. I would also hope that one day we can look at the problem of feral and stray cats as far greater than just that of people dumping their cats, because we know that’s not the only reason we have so many of them.
Yes! It is a big problem. Dumping is one reason. I notice a lot of the people who object to managed cat colonies try to argue against the vacuum effect by saying people will just dump more cats where they see a colony. I say, don’t even argue against that because idiots will dump cats and better they do that where the cats stand a chance at getting some help. There are many more arguments the objectors to TNR have and I hope to address some of them here. One problem is that a lot of people do not know how to evaluate research or cite a source correctly. I found one newspaper article that cited another newspaper article as proof of something… it’s disheartening.
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