Letters to the Editor

Why kill animals that are already a 

victim of society?

Animal Aid Network is a small organization, we are supported by the community through donations, grants and our Four Paws Emporium in Old Town Cottonwood. Although we do not have a feral cat program, we have sterilized feral cats at no charge for persons who where willing to trap, transport them to the veterinarian for surgery and then care for them. It would be inhumane to sterilize the animals and just set them free.

Because we are a community supported animal welfare organization, we are not interested in radical or controversial approaches to any animal welfare issue. Since the feral cat situation was brought to the public’s attention through The Verde Independent, our telephone has been ringing off the hook. There have been many calls, in addition to the 23 people who have pledged support by way of services, equipment, trapping, food, colony management, etc., moreover the phone still continues to ring. 

Although not all the feral cat colonies in Cottonwood have been identified and counted, I think it is safe to say that we do not have an immense problem due to the fact that this is a wilderness area and coyotes prey on cats, whether or not they are a person’s pet or a feral animal. No one has any substantiated numbers at this time, but the Wal-Mart colony was estimated by KFC to be 15 animals and by the Suzy Q market to be closer to 8. Wal-Mart has also stated that this has been an ongoing problem, since most cats will produce 3 litters per year with 4-6 kittens per litter, one can quickly ascertain why. They may have instituted a no feeding policy, but other business owners nearby have indicated that they will continue to feed the animals.

When I was first contacted about this issue, I had not done any research in this area and I was unprepared. I have since found out that it is not in the animal’s best interest to relocate them, but this situation is unique, in that there are a few washes and two overgrown properties in the vicinity. Additionally the people who have been feeding them told me that not all of them are feral, some are domesticated strays, in the original article it stated that some Wal-Mart employees had taken kittens home. 

I have also discovered that there are successful feral cat programs all over the country. San Diego has sterilized 7000 cats in 4 1/2 years, shelters report a decrease of almost 50% in cat impounds, which saves tax dollars. The University of Texas has sterilized 64 feral cats through their TNR program and socialized 71 kittens, placing them in homes along with 14 other domesticated strays. Cal Poly Tech State and Stanford University, started with approximately 500 cats each. Cal Poly started their TNR program in 1992 and now the colony is stabilized with 100 remaining. Stanford’s program began in 1989 and the colony has declined by 2/3 to date. Texas A & M University has only had a program for 21 months, but they have also decreased their colony by 2/3. Locally, Jerome has had great success with their program and Ed Boks of Maricopa County Animal Control Services is assisting several of the 24 cities in his county to develop TNR programs, including Scottsdale. This is only a portion of what I discovered in a quick search of the Internet, it would be redundant to list them all and obviously, there are many more TNR programs that were not advertised using this medium.

There is no doubt that cats, feral or domesticated sometimes prey on wildlife. I myself have a birdfeeder, my cats are restricted to the indoors for their safety and the safety of the songbirds I feed. But I do have one cat that refuses to use a litter box, for that reason only she is an outdoor cat, she is well fed, sterilized and has not preyed on wildlife, to my knowledge. 

Furthermore, I would like to see the data that supports the statement that “cats are responsible for killing hundreds of millions of songbirds and more than a billion other small animals every year.” Somehow I doubt that any organization has the funding available to conduct a North American study of decreased bird and small animal populations, theorizing each and every animal’s demise. For that to be a truly accurate statement, one would have had to have followed around every feral and domesticated cat in North America for a period of months.

It is well known that pesticides have decreased bird and mammal populations in the past. DDT was banned in the US in 1972, but it still continues to be used in third world countries, this combined with migratory bird patterns makes the ‘cats are the only cause’ argument suspect. Furthermore, new pesticides are being developed every day and their long term effects are not known. “The pesticides carbofuran and diazinon are responsible for the majority of bird kills in California, affecting many species of songbirds, waterfowl and raptors. Controlled studies have shown that when carbofuran is applied to crops, as many as 17 birds die for every five acres treated” (Pesticide Action Network North America).
 

If there are entities trapping and euthanizing the feral and stray cat populations, then Animal Aid Network cannot move forward with a TNR program. It would be futile for our organization to spend money in this area only to have the animals recaptured and euthanized, while there are still so many pets in the Verde Valley requiring sterilization. But AAN is committed to this problem, we will move ahead with collecting data to document the actual scope of the problem, identify all the colonies and continue to collect the names of persons interested in supporting a TNR program in any manner. By networking with all the persons who are already feeding feral colonies, there will not be a duplication of these ‘unofficial’ volunteer’s efforts. AAN will continue to help the colonies that have managers to feed them, with free sterilization services.

Personally, I would prefer not to solve our problems by killing animals that are already victims of our society. That is why Animal Aid Network is dedicated to solving the animal overpopulation problem in the Verde Valley by offering low cost Spay Neuter Incentive Programs. I feel that there is strong evidence that TNR programs work and that eradication does not, but I also feel that this is not Animal Aid Network or even Wal-Mart’s decision to make. Wal-Mart has one solution, AAN has another, I truly feel it is up to the tax paying, consumers of this community to decide this issue. 

Deborah Engle                    Animal Aid Network, Inc. Clarkdale