Feral FeLV+ Neuter Going Bad

[momofmany]

I'm trying to contact some rescue groups specifically geared towards rural feral rescue to see if we can work our neighborhood a bit harder. I'm as concerned as all of you that while I can treat the problem that exists at my house, it is still in the area. I have talked to our neighbors over the years, and there are at least 3 of them that do their part in TNR (some I have to remind but they at least do it). All 3 come to me when they encounter any new cat so I know what happens at their house, coach them on what to do, and I know they will work with me on this problem.

Then of course I have the neighbors whose response to a problem like this is to either shoot them or poison them (they have offered to poison mine many times). The animal hoarder moved out of the neighborhood about 5 years ago (thank heavens!). Unfortunately, I suspect that most of the ones that roam my way come from the neighbors that will simply kill them. I will contact the friendly folks and let them know that they need to test their cats. I'm afraid of telling my problem neighbors that this is happening.

Any ideas on how to deal with the troublesome neighbors? Animal control in my neighborhood usually just puts ferals down.

 

[ldg]

I'm so sorry you had to put down the other little calico girl.

Good luck with the 13-month old!

Re: troublesome neighbors... I have no thoughts other than to not tell them about the FeLV problem, but simply continue to try to convince them to let you onto their property with traps for TNR. Let them know you intend to release the cats onto your property instead of theirs after having been sterilized.

There is a lot of material about TNR vs TNK (trap and kill) on www.straypetadvocacy.org - links in my signature line). Killing the cats doens't work, but sterilizing them does. If they hate cats, I expect that if they can come to understand that sterilizing the cats will end the colony via attrition over time, whereas killing the cats only works if you can kill ALL the cats (which never happens).

Here's a rather persuasive argument against TNK (this is on page 15 & 16 of the powerpoint presentation "The Need for Low-cost Spay/Neuter Programs" - powerpoint version, located in the spay/neuter section of StrayPetAdvocacy (url=http://www.straypetadvocacy.org/html/spay-neuter.html]Spay/Neuter Section of SPA[/url])

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

The Example of Marion Island – Eradication Does Not Work

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. (14)

It took 16 years to eradicate 2,500 isolated cats from a small island with “rapid†methods of eradication that could not 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?

(14)“Feral Cats – Extermination is not the Answer,†Â[emoji]169[/emoji] 1994, 1995, 2000, 2002, Sarah Hartwell. http://www.messybeast.com/eradicat.htm

There are other articles, etc. on the site that you may find helpful.