I, too, take exception to the comment by Mr. Craig Daniell, CEO of the BC SPCA, when he says that "critics are long on complaints, short on solutions."

There is an overwhelming cat and kitten overpopulation problem in the Province. An extremely large number of kittens, born each year, stem from unspayed feral (wild) cats. Thousands of these unowned cats inhabit every area of our BC Province, most often living along waterfront areas, behind warehouse buildings and in the back alleys of urban cities and towns. A position paper, issued by the American Association of Feline Practitioners (AAFP) confirms that "these unowned cats are the primary source of cat overpopulation". http://www.aafponline.org/index.htm

Our BC SPCA is well aware of an effective program called "Trap/Neuter/Return" or "TNR" which substantially and humanely lowers the number of feral (wild) cats thereby reducing the number of kittens born each year which end up flooding animal shelters. This program has been adopted by many of the progressive animal welfare organizations in Canada and the States, most notably the San Francisco SPCA. http://www.sfspca.org/feral/index.shtml The TNR program has been successful wherever it has been implemented.

Having been involved in a private feral cat "TNR" program for over a decade, I have urged the BC SPCA for years, on many occasions, to address the feral cat problem and implement a "TNR" program in BC. If the root of the cat overpopulation problem is not addressed, the shelters will be overflowing forever.

An email reply to me, dated Sept. 10, 2004, from Ms. Mary Lou Troman, President of the BC SPCA, acknowledged my "educated and balanced input on the topic" regarding the BC feral cat crisis and a TNR solution to curb the cat overpopulation. Legitimate, viable solutions ARE being put forward to the Board of Directors, by hard-working, concerned animal lovers, to further animal welfare at the BC SPCA, but we still don't have a feral cat program . . . yet !