Feral cats of Jerusalem are about to be mass killed!!! Your help needed!!!

I just got this via email from a cat lover from the Hebrew university -

A few days ago I heard from the Jerusalem municipal vets
two important things. I beg you to distribute the content
of this letter as wide as you can, it's very important!

o The Dogs law will soon be amended to include also cats.

The meaning of this is that cats will have to be licensed
and all or most "street cats" will become "illegal".
This will make it easy to kill them in large numbers.

o The last 4 Rabies cases in people were caused by cats.

This is at least half a lie, in one article that I don't
locate now, Dr. Boris Yakobson, the No. 1 Israeli expert
on Rabies (and head of the Kimron Veterinary Institute)
says that in the 3 cases of 1996/7 it was a Dalak or Samor.
In only one of these cases there was even a suspicion
that a cat was involved. In the last case the animal
involved was not found, and the Veterinary Services
epidemiologist Dr. Michael Van Ham says that the victim
and her neighbour said it was a cat.

Yours

Abraham Agay

____________________________________________________________________

The city of Jerusalem is known in Israel as the most hostile to cats. I have numerous blood chilling stories about mass killings there wherever they can. Their vet says he "doesn't believe" in TNR but I think he simply hates the cats. In one particular case someone trapped 11 cats and brought them in to the municipal vet. The Cat Welfare Society of Israel was notified by the people who took care of the colony and contacted the vet to ask that the cats be relocated to the CWSI facilities (far away from Jerusalem). There was no reason for the vet to say no, yet within a couple of days he had the poor cats killed instead

Jerusalem is a holy city - holy to all 3 major religions. I truly believe that those who run the city have a moral obligation that is greater than that of a regular municipality. Apparently, the Mayor of Jerusalem thinks the same. Here's a quote from the main page on their website (second paragraph):

Jerusalem is like no other city on earth. It is holy to the world's three major monotheistic religions, and was fought over for three millennia by a variety of peoples and nations. Jerusalem is the capital of the State of Israel and of the Jewish people, but, in a special sense, Jerusalem belongs to the whole world.

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I call upon you citizens of the world to intervene and contact the Mayor of Jerusalem. Please let him know how wrong he is to treat cats like vermin. Ask that they learn from Tel Aviv (where TNR is implemented exclusively and successfully for the past 7 years!).

The Mayor's name is: Uri Lupolianski
His email address is: [email protected]
Address - Safra Square 1, Jerusalem, Israel
Phone - 972-2-6297987
Fax - 972-2-6296407


Please send this information on to as many cat lovers as you possibly can! If he gets several thousands of emails he may change his mind!!!

The Jerusalem website can be found here:
http://www.jerusalem.muni.il

Oh, Anne! I am so horrified to read this. Your group has done such a good job of educating people about cats, I can't imagine how these rvil people have managed to gain the power needed to treat cats in such a cruel and heartless manner. I will write right away.

This is horrific news. Writing now, and then I'm sending this link to as many places as I can think of. Anne - I haven't received anything in my mailbox from CWSI - are they planning on sending an emergency letter out to their list or anything? Are other cat sites included in any of those mailing lists? Or should I go ahead and contact www.SaveSamoa.org's mailing list?

I just sent this letter:

***************************************************
June 30, 2003


Mayor Uri Lupolianski
Office of the Mayor
Safra Square 1
Jerusalem, Israel

Via e-mail to: [email protected]

Dear Mayor Lupolianski:

I am often shocked at the treatment of animals by other countries and cultures. I understand that many do not have the resources at their disposal to deal with the problem of stray animals with a humane approach, however, frequently the problem is simply one of education and not one of money. It has been proven in Tel Aviv and many cities of the United States that humane methods of stray cat population control actually cost less than all other options. But it requires proper education about the available options(1,3). Israel is an educated country, and Jerusalem is one of the most important cultural centers on Earth. To quote your website,

“Jerusalem is like no other city on earth. It is holy to the world's three major monotheistic religions, and was fought over for three millennia by a variety of peoples and nations. Jerusalem is the capital of the State of Israel and of the Jewish people, but, in a special sense, Jerusalem belongs to the whole world.”

Why, then, is Jerusalem setting such a terrible example to the rest of the world, let alone Israel? It has come to my attention that Jerusalem will soon be amending the “Dog Law” to include cats. My understanding is that this will require the licensing of all cats. Here in the United States, we also require licensing of all pet cats and dogs. The money is then used to fund shelters, animal control and low-cost spay/neuter programs. However, “street” (stray or feral) cats are still dealt with in a humane fashion, and animal cruelty laws prevent poisoning or other methods of mass killing stray animals. My understanding is that Jerusalem has no such intent, and that the reason for amending the “Dog Law” to include cats is to enable the mass extermination of cats, considered no better than vermin.

Please learn a lesson from Tel Aviv! Jerusalem, a cultural center of the world, the Capitol of the State of Israel should be ashamed! There are humane methods of dealing with the problem of stray cats. Tel Aviv has educated itself and has taken appropriate measures. Why would Jerusalem not follow suit? I, for one, expect far more from a city such as Jerusalem, and I write this letter in protest of your cruel treatment of stray animals. Jerusalem should be an example to the world, a city of which we can all be proud! I am ashamed for you. It is a sad, sad day when a city that has seen so much strife through the ages must inflict further unnecessary cruelty upon defenseless species.

If euthanization worked as a method of animal population control, the U.S. would not have approx. 60 million feral cats.

Please learn from our experience and from that of Tel Aviv. Here is a very persuasive argument against extermination as a method of stray animal control. Euthanization does not work!

The Example of Marion Island – Eradication Does Not Work(2)

“Marion Island, southeast of South Africa, is a small inhospitable island (12 miles x 8 miles). In 1949, a group of scientists left the island, leaving behind five unsterilized cats. By 1975 there were 2,500 cats on the island preying on ground-nesting seabirds. Deliberate infection with feline enteritis killed about 65% of the cats. The remaining 35% developed immunity and continued to breed. Jack Russell terrier dogs were used to flush out the remaining cats, and between 1986 and 1989 further cats were exterminated by hunting. At that time, it was determined that further poisoning was necessary. Poison that also killed the birds was used to eliminate the balance of the cat population.” (2)

It took 16 years to eradicate 2,500 isolated cats from a small island with “rapid” methods of eradication that cannot be used in populated areas. How can euthanization be successful as a method of animal control anywhere that new animals can move in and recolonize cleared areas?

Please learn this lesson! Tel Aviv practices a method of feral cat control called “Trap-Neuter-Release” (TNR). This has been proven as an efficient and cost-effective method of stray cat population control in many cities of the United States AND in Tel Aviv.(3) Please spare the stray cats of Jerusalem a horrible death. Please save the citizens of Jerusalem from unnecessary tax spending. Please learn the important lesson – no matter what your view of stray cats – eradication does not work.

Require licensing of stray cats! But then please also include laws against animal cruelty that make poisoning or any mass killing of stray cats illegal. Use the licensing fees to fund low-cost or free spay/neuter programs, and effectively manage the stray populations with TNR programs. Tel Aviv is making it work. So can you. Please make Jerusalem a city of which the entire world can be proud.

I am attaching an Adobe Acrobat (ver 4.0) file for your further education. If you have any questions, please feel free to contact me.

Very Sincerely yours,

XXXXXXX

1. See attached document.
2. “Feral Cats – Extermination is not the Answer,” Â[emoji]169[/emoji] 1994, 1995, 2000, 2002, Sarah Hartwell. http://www.messybeast.com/eradicat.htm
3. Please reference:

1)\tThe Feral Cat Coalition in San Diego. Main site: www.feralcat.com . "Is spay/neuter/release working? Statistics from the San Diego Department of Animal Control as of 6/30/97 show that while the number of cats adopted or claimed by owners has remained fairly constant over the years, there has been a decrease of almost 50% in the number of cats impounded and killed as compared to 1992 (when the FCC clinics started). Before the FCC was formed, the number of cats impounded and killed had been going up 15% per year!" There are great links right on the home page. Notable are:

a) "A Model for Humane Reduction of Feral Cat Populations," by Michelle S. Chappell DVM (as published in California Veterinarian September/October 1999): www.feralcat.com/michelle.html

b) "A Report on Trap/Alter/Release Programs," copyright 1995 Karen Johnson. National Pet Alliance, 408-363-0700. www.feralcat.com/feral-tr.html

c) Same references to San Diego, but a great description of how the program works. "The Race To Outpace Feral Cat Overpopulation," a symposium presentation by Linda Kelson, Feral Cat Coalition Board Member. www.feralcat.com/kelson.html

d) Case study: Gillis W. Long Hansen's Disease Center (GWLHDC). Article: "Neutering of Feral Cats as an Alternative to Eradication Programs," by Karl I. Zaunbrecher, DVM, and Richard E. Smith, DVM, MPH, published in the Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association, Volume 203, Number 3, August 1, 1993. (Department of Epidemiology and Community Health, School of Veterinary Medicine, Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, LA). www.feralcat.com/zaunbrecher.html

3) "Kill the Problem, Not the Cats," author Sherrie Walker. Published October 1, 2000. The fourth paragraph references Stanford's successful program; the last paragraph of this two-page article references San Diego and FCC and says: "In the first 4 1/2 years of operation, the Feral Cat Coalition sterilized over 7,000 cats, reducing cat impounds and euthanasia by 50% and saving the county nearly $1 million." www.suite101.com/print_article.cfm/8122/46956

4) PAWS ( www.paws.org ) - The Progressive Animal Welfare Society, the largest animal advocacy and direct care organization in the Pacific Northwest (Kings County, WA, Snohomish County, WA - incl. Seattle and Everett). This article sites successful programs in NJ and NH, although those are spay/neuter programs, not TNR, but it makes the point. "Overcoming the Pet Population Crisis: The Effectiveness of Municipal Spay & Neuter Programs," by Tamar Puckett, MPA (a PAWS Animal Advocate): http://www.paws.org/work/factsheet/a...ets/spay3.html . There are more articles available through the website on the advocacy page: www.paws.org/work/factsheet/advocacyfactsheets/

5) Sarah Hartwell (see #1) also published a short piece: "Do Pet Cats Contribute to the Feral Problem?" Â[emoji]169[/emoji]2000. A diagram outlining the relationship between pet cats and the creation of stray populations. http://www.messybeast.com/feralcycle.htm

***************************************************

If anyone wants a copy of the PDF document I sent, just PM or e-mail me.

Laurie

I got a notice that the delivery failed. I'll rewrite it to exclude the attachment and see if that was the problem.

Thank you both for writing! Laurie, please let me know if the email still doesn't go through - I'll phone them and ask if there's another email. If not, I'll copy your letter and fax it in to them from here.

As for the CWSI - I don't really know. I know that the guy that wrote the original complaint is in touch with them and that they are constantly fighting the city of Jerusalem. Would you believe it that a couple of years ago Jerusalem's city council tried to pass a local legistlation saying that feeding feral cat is against the law!?!?

Fortunately, the CWSI took them to court and it was declared cruel and illegal.

Anne, I got another delivery failure notification.

I just e-mailed you a copy of the word document so you can print it out and fax it. Thank you so much!!!

Also... I just realized the letter still says "via e-mail" on it. Maybe you can just cross that out and write in via fax?

Thanks,

Laurie

Hmmmm....my e-mail went through (at least I think it did). I wonder what the problem is.

I don't know - the message doesn't say why delivery failed. It didn't say "user unknown" or anything like that... ???

Here's the message - did I miss something?

This is an automatically generated Delivery Status Notification.

Delivery to the following recipients failed.

[email protected]





Reporting-MTA: dns;NTJEXC.Muni.jerusalem.muni.il
Received-From-MTA: dns;fw-jer.ladpc
Arrival-Date: Mon, 30 Jun 2003 16:27:08 +0200

Final-Recipient: rfc822;[email protected]
Action: failed
Status: 5.1.1

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Mine went through as well Laurie, so I am baffled...Great letter though!

Laurie? did you get my last email? I think you should add your contact info on the letter before I fax it in - they can't just hit "reply" on a fax

I just sent the revised letter w/addy.

Perhaps the mailbox is too full to take any more emails...

Anyone who wants to fax them - please send me your letter via email and I'll fax it over to you. I just heard another horrible story about the municipal vet of Jerusalem... I met with two wonderful ladies today in a cat behavior consultations. These women have 16 cats and they take wonderful care of them - it was a pleasure working with them. Anyway, they live in Jerusalem and were taking care of feral cats living around their building. Angry neighbors called the municipal vet who came over to their place personally. He was let into the house and told them that although their cats are very well taken care of (he used the word examplary himself), if he gets another report about them helping any feral cats, he will confiscate and kill 12 of their cats and won't allow them to keep more than 4!!!! As if there was any connection between the two things! He simplay and brutally threatened them using his authority and holding their pet cats as hostages! He yelled at them and told them that people like them who feed cats outside are responsible for the eradication of birds. He said not only feeding them not allowed by him, he won't even let them just spay and neuter those cats!!!! He says if anyone traps a cat in Jerusalem that would only be in order to kill the cat!!! He sees no other options for ferals!

I'm considering setting up a web page just to fight the city of Jerusalem and get international public opinion to weigh in. As this woman told me, cat lovers in Jerusalem live in fear and are constantly threatened and harrased by local authorities!

Okay, I was "out of the game" for a while now, and Im reading this, and I feel the blood rushing to my head. I thought this kind of brutal actions was almost behind us.
We need to put a stop to this.

Im writing my own letter now. If it wont go through - I will email it to you Anne, so it can be faxed.

shame on the new mayor for letting this happen! (I can't say Im surprised, though. I did not expect much of him!)

Okya, my email did not go through either.

Anne - I emailed ou a copy. Can you please fax it?
I will email everyone I know regarding this.

I hope everyone will do the same!!!

Great letter nunny - do you mind if I post it here as well? I will fax it first thing Sunday morning to make sure there's someone there to receive it.

No problem, you can post it here. I'm sending some emails to peope about it right now...
Thanks Anne!

Nunny's letter -

Mayor Uri Lupolianski
Office of the Mayor
Safra Square 1
Jerusalem, Israel


Re: Mass Killing of Jerusalem Cats

Dear Mr Mayor,

My name is Nofar Shoshani, and I am a resident of the City of Givatayim, writing to you from Boston, where Im spending my summer.

You know, people here in the Jewish community look up to Israel, as the land of wonders, the land of the Jews. And from all the places in Israel, Jerusalem is the city admired most by Jew in the world. The city that combines people of all religions, that city that should symbolize peace and good will.

And what do the people around the world get? stories of a vicious mayor, that do not care about what happens to the animals in the streets, and employs an ignorant City Vet, that threatens people around the city - that they canâ€[emoji]8482[/emoji]t take care fo the cats around them.

Is that what we want people to hear? Isnt Jeruslaem controversial enough, that you have to put "more oil in the fire"? Is it okay for you to take the lives of creatures made by no other than Nature and God?

I think not. I am starting my own little campaign here, in the Boston area, against your actions in regards of feral cats in your city. I think you, as a believing Jew, should have more respect for living creatures than anyone else. This situation of blood in the streets - is on your hands. You have the say. You can either choose to carry on with your mass killing of cats, and rise all of us - animal lovers - against you and your people, or you can choose to follow the humane thing to do. Believe me, there are many of us, out there, that will not sit quietly watching you Kill innocent animals. We will fight you in any means possible, until you realize what youâ€[emoji]8482[/emoji]re doing is wrong, cruel, brutal, and against Jewish values.

I hope that this is the last we will hear of such cruelty in our country. This has gone far enough. Enough cats were brutally killed. We will not rest until you stop the massacre.

There are better ways to control feral cat population in your city.

Stop the Killing.

I give you my word, we will NOT rest until this horrible chapter ends.



Sincerely,

Nofar Shoshani

Animal Lover

I emailed Rivi, the head of the CWSI to tell her of this thread and here's her reply -

Thanks for sending this to me!

I have to deal with a few cats here at the clinic and than must go home!! Can you please tell the Forum participants that we are working very hard on the extermination of cats issue - it's happenning all over Israel right now - because of a few rabid animals found near a few cities (Jerusalem is one and Be-er sheva
is another). We are about to write about all this
at our next newletter - coming out in about two weeks and if anyone wants to join our mailing list and get updates - he is most welcome to send me an e-mail about this.

AND - MOST important of all - PLEASE DO MENTION OUR FUND-RAISING TRIP TO NYC 20th-26th, Washington DC 27th-30th, and St.
Louis 31st-3rd, where we hope to meet with cat lovers who care about cats' welfare in Israel and who can become donors to the purpose of helping stray and feral cats in Israel. What we hope to arrange are meetings over coffee or dinner where we can talk about what
we do and what we can achieve if we get more
fundings and hope to spread the word about
all this.

WITHOUT FUNDING - AND THE CAT LOVERS IN ISRAEL DO NOT HELP SUFFICIENTLY AT ALL - WE CANNOT
DO MUCH!!! BUT - IF WE CAN GET FUNDS
DURING OUR VISIT - WE CAN DO A LOT
TO IMPROVE FERAL CATS LIVES ALL
OVER ISRAEL - AFTER ALL IT'S A SMALL
COUNTRY AND WE CAN MAKE WONDERS,
IF CAT LOVERS HELP!
THANKS,
Rivi.
Ms. Rivi Mayer
Director
The Cat Welfare Society of Israel
www.cats.org.il
www.IsraelCatRescue.com