(Power Point presentation of feral cats:These are just a few of the photos of feral cats and kittens that PAF has helped. There are many more colonies of feral cats around the City of North Vancouver and on the North Shore.)
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Dear Mayor Mussatto and Councillors:

Every summer, there are desperate pleas from shelters and pounds all over the country asking the public to adopt kittens from their overflowing shelters.

The idea of spaying and neutering animals started becoming a focus in the early 1960’s. We’ve now had forty years of education impressing us that we need to spay and neuter. Media campaigns have helped spread the word. Many vet clinics now offer low-cost spay-neuter services.

There are 23 veterinary clinics on the North Shore alone. That would imply that there is a lot of spaying and neutering going on because each clinic would be encouraging and educating their clients about the benefits of spaying and neutering. There are over 1100 veterinarians registered in the Province of British Columbia.

So is the message not getting out, or is it that the root of the overpopulation problem is not being addressed? Have you ever stopped and asked yourself – “why does there continue to be cat and kitten overpopulation? Why are shelters and pounds flooded with kittens every single summer, year in and year out?”

Here’s a quote from the American Association of Feline Practitioners website:

“It is estimated that the number of free-roaming abandoned and feral cats in the United States may be as high as that of owned cats (about 73 million in 2000). Given the high rate of sterilization among owned cats, these unowned cats are the primary source of cat overpopulation.”

Abandoned cats will contribute to the overpopulation IF they are not fixed. However, two factors should be noted about abandoned cats.

Firstly - a certain percentage of those abandoned cats WILL already be spayed or neutered when abandoned; and

Secondly - an abandoned cat usually means the cat had a home and was friendly with humans. Therefore, they will often approach humans for food when they get hungry, thereby getting noticed and helped off the street.

Feral cats are different as they do not trust humans and will not approach people for food or shelter. 100% of ferals are NEVER neutered unless they have been targeted by a TNR program.

Feral female cats can have kittens every 60 days . . with an average of 4 – 6 kittens per litter. Thousands of these kittens are born in vacant lots, underground parking garages, warehouse buildings and waterfront areas. If a feral colony has established itself in a residential neighbourhood then kittens will also be born in garden sheds, garages and backyard bushes. Concerned and caring people regularly find these kittens and turn them over to pounds and shelters but leave the feral mothers behind to breed and breed again.

Evidence clearly shows that, unless TNR programs are implemented, numbers of feral kittens will continue to expand rapidly, faster than shelters and communities can cope with them.

If Society is ever to make a dent in cat overpopulation, priority in terms of time and money must be given to Trap/Neuter/Return programs. A feral population stabilizes immediately when a TNR program is implemented and colonies subside because no kittens are born. Pounds and shelters will notice the decrease in the numbers of kittens turned in. The quality of life for the TNR’d adult ferals substantially improves as the male cats stop fighting and getting hurt and the females no longer have endless litters.

The usual comment from the large humane organizations is that they can’t afford to spend money on ferals. Financial facts indicate otherwise. It’s the old story about an ounce of prevention versus a pound of cure.

Investing money upfront for neutering and a vaccination costs LESS than housing a feral for six days providing food, kennel staff and medical care, as required by a shelter, and then eventually killing and disposing of the animal.

In addition, if TNR were practiced, the numbers of feral kittens entering the animal control system would substantially diminish, LESSENING expenses at the back end of the program and freeing up resources to be used elsewhere in a pound or shelter.

Trap/Neuter/Return – it’s the only effective, humane solution and, if practiced all over the country, WILL reduce those overflowing pounds. To ignore the ferals is to exacerbate the overpopulation crisis.

Implementation of a Trap/Neuter/Return program by the BC SPCA is long overdue.

Our group has been practicing TNR for 15 years on the North Shore. Because of the extensive, and expensive, all-volunteer efforts of PAF, we have substantially reduced the numbers of kittens being born. If PAF stopped tomorrow and shut down, who would step in?