November 7, 2005
Revised/New Policies posted:

New Animal Welfare Policy #43 Feral Cats - Managed Colonies and a revised Policy #38 Dangerous Dogs and Public Safety have been posted.

BC SPCA POLICY STATEMENT

Approved: January 2002

#43 - FERAL CATS - MANAGED COLONIES

The BC SPCA recognizes the value of cats in society and aims to protect the welfare of all cats.

The BC SPCA recognizes that feral cat colonies exist in all regions of BC. The BC SPCA supports the concept of managed colonies1 for feral cats2 and the rehabilitation and subsequent adoption of free-living cats3.

The BC SPCA supports the concept of preventing abandonment through education and seeks to strongly discourage the abandonment of cats through the application of existing statutes such as the Criminal Code of Canada and the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (PCA) Act.

The BC SPCA recognizes that any control program must address both owned and unowned populations and therefore promotes affordable sterilization and aims to work in collaboration with legitimate cat rescue organizations and appropriate individuals to facilitate ongoing live trapping, neutering, vaccination and proper care of feral adult cats that have no chance of being socialized to humans.

COMMENT:

While programs such as managed colonies for cats serve a useful purpose at this time, a permanent solution to the feral cat problem is needed. Abandonment serves as the root cause. Initiatives aimed at prevention offer the best hope.

Recognizing this is a community problem that requires broad based participation and public awareness, the BC SPCA must be prepared to aggressively champion approaches for the long term, such as: targeted education to focus on the prevention of abandonment; promote approved identification (microchip and tattoo) and advocate spay/neuter and mandatory identification bylaws; as an alternative to abandonment, offer greater encouragement for relinquishment of cats to shelters; highlight the criminal implications of abandonment; work more cooperatively with cat rescue groups; seek financial and legislative support from municipalities; explore and research sound reproductive control measures; experiment with possible fund raising initiatives directed specifically at the feral cat problem; and others.

Importantly, programs involving managed colonies where the BC SPCA participates directly or indirectly require that strict guidelines be in place to guarantee for the animals the essentials of life, continuous care and with a reasonable level of comfort and security.

1A group of un-owned cats under the supervision of one or more caretakers with whom the BC SPCA has signed a contract to insure adequate care, (Five Freedom Principle) and control of breeding activities of the colony such that growth rate declines over time until complete attrition of colonies is achieved.

2A cat born of a free-living or feral queen that has received little or no socialization to humans during the socialization period. Feral cats can be tamed, but not socialized enough to become a pet unless he/she is under eight [8] weeks of age.

3A cat that has received socialization to humans, (previously owned cat), that has entered the un-owned population as a result of abandonment or from running away from home, or being lost. A free-living cat can be re-socialized and eventually have a good relationship with humans. Time, effort and chances for success are dependent on the length of time running wild, negative history and contact with humans while running wild.

Five Freedom Principle
Freedom from thirst, hunger and malnutrition; freedom from discomfort; freedom from pain, injury and disease; freedom from distress and freedom to express behaviour that promotes well-being.

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References:

Bradshaw, J. W.S et al., (1999). Feral Cats: their role in the population dynamics of Felis Catus, Applied Animal Behaviour Science 65, 273-283.

Carter, T.J. (2001) Modelling the Domestic Cat Population of England and Wales. University of Southampton.

Short, J. and Turner, B., Danielle, A., and Carnamah, R. (1997) Control of Feral Cats for Nature Conservation. II Population reduction by poisoning. Wildlife Research, 24, 243-267.

Little, S. Managing Feral Cats. Ontario Veterinary Conference Presentation, 2001.

Natoli, E. (1994) Urban Feral Cats: perspectives for a demographic control respecting the psycho-biological welfare of the species. Ann. Ist. Super. Sanita, 30, 223-227.

Nutter, FB, JF Levine, and MK Stoskopf. 1999. Preliminary report on adult and kitten survival time of feral cats in manages colonies in Randolph County, North Carolina. Abstract Proceedings of the 1999 Wildlife Disease Association Annual Conference.

Consultation with the following researchers involved in past and current research on the care and control of feral cats

Toby Carter, PhD, Biology.
Hilary Feldman, PhD. Zoology.
Margaret Slater, DVM, PhD Epidemiologist.
Julie Levy, PhD, Biology.
Susan Little, DVM.
Felicia Nutter, DVM.

Consultation with the Following Cat Rescue Groups in BC

Nanaimo Feral Cat Rescue Society
Cat NAP Rescue Group
Richmond Homeless Cat Society