Fish & Wildlife Attacks Feral-New Jersey

From the proposal:

Free-roaming house cats kill millions of birds, small mammals and reptiles each year in
the United States. Feral cat “colonies†contribute to the problem of anthropogenic
(caused by man) wildlife mortality and can eliminate small, isolated wildlife populations,
especially in urban settings. Trap, neuter and release (TNR) programs developed by
many localities are not a solution and are inherently incompatible with wildlife
conservation.


________________________________________________

NJ is once again presenting an assault on feral cats and we are turning
to you for help.

The NJ Division of Fish and Wildlife (DFW) has put forth its Wildlife
Action Plan (a.k.a. New Jersey Comprehensive Wildlife Conservation
Strategy for Wildlife of Greatest Conservation Need). While the NJ
Department of Environmental Protection supports feral cats in managed
colonies,
the DFW has chosen to speak out against them. In the 660+ page document
the DFW states "ferals are a burgeoning predator population" and makes
several suggestions "to reduce the excessive predation of ferals on
several species."

The Plan suggestions include:
-- Implementing feeding bans
-- Reduce resources that encourage feral colonies
-- Implement policies against managed colonies
-- Create public outreach programs against feral cats

This will be a devastating blow to ferals in our state and a step
backwards in the progress made to elevate the status of ferals and
encourage
the implementation of TNR. NJARA will be sending in our comments on the
Plan and we encourage you to do the same. For a copy of our synopsis of
the Plan, please contact our office at feralcats@....

The deadline to send comments to the DFW is December 31, 2005. Send
your comments to:
Division of Fish and Wildlife
Attn: Director Martin McHugh
501 East State Street
Trenton, NJ 08625-0400

Talking points can include:
-- Trap and kill method is proven ineffective
-- People will continue to feed regardless of bans
-- DEP endorses TNR
-- Encourage mandatory spay/neuter programs

For a copy of the Wildlife Action Plan, in PDF format, please visit:
http://tinyurl.com/7wkfr

Please send your letters today!


Lisa Young
Feral Cat Program Coordinator
New Jersey Animal Rights Alliance (NJARA)
PO Box 174
Englishtown NJ 07726
732/446-6808
Fax: 732/446-0227
www.nj-ara.org

What an OUTRAGE!! Do you think it will do any good if a letter comes from California?

Originally Posted by catsknowme

What an OUTRAGE!!

Do you think it will do any good if a letter comes from California?

Click to expand...

I don't think it can hurt...especially if you have cases of TNR that worked.

Katie

I'm in NY but Ill send a letter over as this is such a line of tripe BS that it isnt funny. I smell someones private Ornithological agenda at work here.

"Feral cat “colonies†contribute to the problem of anthropogenic
(caused by man) wildlife mortality and can eliminate small, isolated wildlife populations,especially in urban settings. Trap, neuter and release (TNR) programs developed by many localities are not a solution and are inherently incompatible with wildlife conservation."

I wish i could find the study that references the amount of birds, small mamals killed every by car compared to this type of statement.
There has never been any data available to make such a statement as "free-roaming house cats kill millions of birds, small mammals and reptiles each year in the United States."

Feral cats are more of a problem with sanitation and scavenging in the urban environment than bird fatalities.

Everyone in the US should act. This is another step in the direction of a "cat hating" society.

Thank you for posting this.

Ric

Originally Posted by Middletown

There has never been any data available to make such a statement as "free-roaming house cats kill millions of birds, small mammals and reptiles each year in the United States."

Click to expand...

Ric, the "study" they use to justify this is known as The Wisconsin Study which was actually a theory, not a study. But that's what they use.

In this article, which disproves that study entirely, there are links to the materials that the anti-cat groups use: http://straypetadvocacy.org/html/wisconsin_study.html

Glass windows kill many more birds per year than cats do. We have a lot of information about cat predation, vs. other causes of death for birds, here: http://straypetadvocacy.org/html/cat_predation.html

You know, I work for the State of Arizona, and this "study" sounds like the proposal that they gave us for Voc Rehab.

We were told that they wanted the counselors to spend more time counseling with their clients, so to accomplish this, they (the higher-ups) told us that the secretaries would do the planning (clerical part of job) and just give the counselors the information to authorize.

One week to the day, they initiated a new procedure that had 18 pages to fill out. You know who was the only ones that could fill it? The counselor and the clients. So much for having the secretaries do the clerical work.

This is the same thing. I can not believe for one minute that someone in Fish and Game does NOT know the value of TNR! Notice the points about roaming house cats. Ferals are not HOUSE cats. Once a colony is spayed and neutered, at least in my small experience, they stay together as long as they are fed and watered by their caretaker. Yes, they catch an occasional bird. People driving cars sometimes hit birds. Notice also that the attacks are on CATS. This obviously was based on some cat hater's ideas.

Originally Posted by Middletown

I'm in NY but Ill send a letter over as this is such a line of tripe BS that it isnt funny. I smell someones private Ornithological agenda at work here.

"Feral cat “colonies†contribute to the problem of anthropogenic
(caused by man) wildlife mortality and can eliminate small, isolated wildlife populations,especially in urban settings. Trap, neuter and release (TNR) programs developed by many localities are not a solution and are inherently incompatible with wildlife conservation."

I wish i could find the study that references the amount of birds, small mamals killed every by car compared to this type of statement.
There has never been any data available to make such a statement as "free-roaming house cats kill millions of birds, small mammals and reptiles each year in the United States."
Feral cats are more of a problem with sanitation and scavenging in the urban environment than bird fatalities.

Everyone in the US should act. This is another step in the direction of a "cat hating" society.

Thank you for posting this.

Ric

Click to expand...

Or the number of wildlife that is killed or effected by all the Toxins we are pumping into our environment. At least a cat killing a bird is natural. The crap that is released into the environment is far from natural.

Heidi,


Thank you for the links, Ill spend some time on them tonight when i get out of work.

Im distantly familiar with that particular opinion known as the Wisconsin Study,
if i remember it started as a transmission tower study and has become the thesis for an anti-cat agenda by bird lovers.

and i too, find it hard to fathom that the fish & wildlife would have an open season on any animal to protect another species especially without hard statisical data of the populations involved. to go as far as legislating a "no feeding" ban. That is unheard of and not enforcible.

I think that many of the toxins that have been dumped in poor NJ has finally gotten to the people in charge's minds. :0