Posted on 11/04/2007 10:44:59 PM PST by MHT
My community has a problem with feral cats. The animal control department has a no-kill policy so they never seem to be able to catch them, muchless reassign them. Animal-rights wackos continue to feed them and never neuter them. Consequently, the females are constantly pregnant and we now have an over-population that no one wants to deal with. If you do not have a big dog in your yard, your grass (and doormats, outdoor furniture, etc.) will reek from the waste these cats spread everywhere.
Has anyone else had a problem like this? What has your community done?
I had a family of cats take up residence in my garden shed. I have similar restrictions on getting rid of them, so I purchased a 2lb bag of fine ground pepper and sprinkled it liberally around the shed.
It took three applications but no more cats...
Thank you. I know that fox urine will work but it washes away quickly and is very expensive. I tried washing my porch with Pine Sol, which worked for two applications but if it was not done twice a week, it was worthless. How often did you have to wait between pepper applications?
Do you have a problem with rats and mice as well?
We trap them and take them to the vet for neutering and shots. There are two no-kill agencies who will take them and try to find homes for them.
Ferals seem impossible to trap here. The thing that makes me angriest is the unwillingness to neuter them. The same people who feed the ferals also feed the birds and it is sickening to watch the birds come in for seed only to get attacked by the cats. It looks like the people are setting up the birds to be the cats’ victims.
No problem with mice. Years ago there was a rat in the neighborhood. There are people around with house cats that come out occasionally so I don’t think that between the domesticated cats there would be a problem with mice if the ferals were eliminated.
It’s not that hard to trap feral cats; I’ve done it more than once. If it seems “impossible” to get them where you are, the people doing it are either completely incompetent or — more likely — they don’t really want to get them.
I love cats and would hate to see innocent kitties killed (cats whose only “crime” is being born and not being adopted into a home). Really, the only answer is to trap and neuter them, re-home as many as possible into loving homes with humans, and re-locate the hardcore group who can’t be tamed at all into some area where they won’t bug humans or wildlife too much.
You might consider starting your own trap/neuter/re-home group, so that the necessary work will finally actually get done in your area. Most animal assistance organizations start that way, with one or two ordinary people who care about animals and are fed up about nothing being done to help them.
http://www.aspca.org/site/PageServer?pagename=pro_nyc_cares03
Change the no-kill policy to a kill policy with feral cats. They are just animals.
Since this is posted under Religion, I'd have to have more info to answer you properly. Are the cats Catholic or Calvinist, Amil or dispensationalist? Do they speak in tongues, or are they purpose driven?
To wander somewhat from the key points, are the cats really feral or are they just free - range? If they are truly feral, there are only two things to do - catch, cut, and release, or catch and exterminate. (Or, a third. You could introduce coyotes to the neighborhood.)
The animal rights people may be wacko and not neuter them, but I will tell you animal WELFARE people - at least where I am - have a spay/neuter and release program in most counties around me. They don’t want the problem getting out of hand. They don’t have the resources to deal with huge numbers of semi-wild cats.
The programs where they neuter and spay does help keep the numbers down. The problems where we are are the farmers who like having the cats aroundto take care of mice and such, and as they are feral they don’t have to feed them. The farmers don’t want them spayed or neutered because this reduces the number of cats that ‘work’ for them.
In CT we haven’t had much of a problem with feral cats since the coyotes arrived about 10-15 years ago.
Where there are Federal Preserves, the Feds trap them, neuter them, and put them at no-kill shelters nearby. (Though the Director's name is Anne Morkill). :)
http://www.keynoter.com/articles/2007/05/09/news/news06.txt
I think we agree. Kill them.
For everything else, there's MasterCard.
Cats HATE citrus peels.
And pellet guns are silent and deadly.
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