CAT MANAGEMENT

What To Do About Free Roaming Cats On Your

Property

This presentation is brought to you by: Cat Management Services, sponsored by The Foundation For Homeless Cats; in partnership

with Maricopa County Animal Care and Control.

What is Your Current Cat Management Program?

Cat Management

• Not just a cat issue• A community issue• You are not alone• Affects every neighborhood in our

county

Cat Management

• What is your cat management protocol?

• When asked that question the usual answer is . . .

“We Don’t Have One”

Cat Management

• These are not your neighbor’s cats• These cats have been:• neglected• abused• abandoned

• Many are un-socialize with humans

Removal Programs/Catch & Kill• Killing cats creates public relations

nightmares• Does not control population• Ineffective - success is difficult• Not long-term• Not low cost• If it worked, there would be 0 cats

Removal Programs/Catch & Kill• Approximately 400 cats per

hour for over 20 years at a cost of

• 2 BILLION per year- 2,000,000,000

• to taxpayers in the United States from Municipal shelters

You Can’t Just Call MCACC

• No local ordinances• MCACC can not come and pick up

cats unless they have bitten a person

• Arizona law states cats are free roaming

• No licensing/leash laws• No mandatory spay/neuter laws for

cats

Arizona Animal Cruelty Law• Arizona Revised Statutes (ARS) §13-

2910• A person commits cruelty to animals if they

knowingly and recklessly:• subject animal to cruel neglect or abandonment• inflict unnecessary physical injury• subject animal to cruel mistreatment• fail to provide medical attention necessary to

prevent protracted suffering• kills any animal under the custody or control of

another person without either legal privilege or consent of the owner

Relocating Cats

• Could be deemed abandonment resulting in criminal prosecution

• Could be a lost pet• Pets are property in Arizona therefore

relocation could result in civil prosecution

• Collars, tattoos, microchips and other methods of identification are not always visible

You Can’t Just Call MCACC

• Free euthanasia service no longer available

• $96 per cat fee for euthanasia costs

• The cost to sterilize a cat is as little as $20 each

Arizona Humane Society

• $20 for the first cat you bring to them

• $75 for each additional cat • Non-profit organization• Depend on donor funding• Donors give to shelters to save

animals, not kill them

Cat Management

• Do you agree:• The issue should be addressed?• The solution should be effective?• The solution should be long term?• The solution should be low cost?• The solution should be legal and

humane?

Why is an effective cat management plan a necessary part of property management?

• Cats simply reproduce too quickly

Population Reduction Plan

• Population reduction through sterilization • Stabilizes cat population• Reduces birth rate• No new kittens born• Nuisance issues associated with

mating behavior are practically eliminated

Endorsed by:• September 18.2002 Maricopa

County Board of Supervisors issued resolution to make Trap, Neuter and Return the official means to solve the free roaming cat issue in the county

• Mesa, Chandler, Glendale, Phoenix, Scottsdale, Tempe, Gilbert

• NYC, Detroit, Houston, Miami, Palm Beach County FL,Jacksonville, San Francisco, Austin, New Orleans, Utah,

Local Cat Shelters

• Will local shelters take the cats?• Don’t they care?• Isn’t that their job?

Cat Management Services

• Why we offer only a non-lethal approach• Effective• Long-term• Legal• Humane• Low cost

Relocating Cats

• Fails when all cats are not removed

• Makes the issue someone else’s problem• Someone may “relocate” cats to

your area

• Can create the “endless treadmill”

Vacuum Effect

• Other cats simply move in• Twenty years of documented proof

that removal DOES NOT work• Removing cats has not reduced the

number of free-roaming cats• Cats may be gone, but now there is

room for others cat to move in

Vacuum Effect

• Encourages fighting, spraying and breeding

• Female cats produce more offspring than in stable colonies

• “Catch and kill” actually makes problem worse• Endless treadmill that allows cats

to breed, resulting in complaints resuming

Feeding Bans

• Archaic idea• Congregation in certain habitats

results not only from food availability:• Water, shelter and companionship

are additional reasons

Feeding Bans

• Does not result in cats simply moving out to look for other food sources if there are other reasons for staying• Dry shelter• Male cat drawn to females in heat• Lame/injured cat comforted by

human presence

• Unenforceable

Feeding Station

• Cat management plan includes set-up and maintenance of feeding station

• Why?• Cats no longer roam looking for food• Cats no longer roam looking for mates• Cats only roam 300 feet from their

food source

Feeding Station

• Why?• Keeps cats confined to isolated

area• If cats’ needs are met they stay

in the area• Businesses/landowners report

that cats we work with are rarely seen

Does Sterilization Work?

• Population stabilizes and reduces due to attrition

• Nuisance behaviors are largely eliminated

• No more kittens are born• Healthy colonies• Saying “the cats shouldn’t be here”

with NO affirmative action is DOING NOTHING

Fantasy Solutions

• Socialize• Shelters• Adoptions• Sanctuaries

How to Implement a Cat Management Plan• A community solution• Do it NOW• Designate a manager and

monitors• Call for help, instruction and

assistance

Spay/Neuter HotlineTNR Program 602-265-SPAY(7729)

A program of the

Animal Defense League of Arizona

480-968-4867