C AT M ANAGEMENT

1. CAT MANAGEMENT What To Do About Free Roaming Cats On Your Property

2. 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.

3. What is Your Current Cat Management Program?

4. Cat Management • Not just a cat issue • A community issue • You are not alone • Affects every neighborhood in our county

5. Cat Management • What is your cat management protocol? • When asked that question the usual answer is . . . “We Don’t Have One”

6. Cat Management • These are not your neighbor’s cats • These cats have been: • neglected • abused • abandoned • Many are un-socialize with humans

7. 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

8. 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

9. 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

10. 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

11. 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

12. 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

13. 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

14. 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?

15. Why is an effective cat management plan a necessary part of property management? • Cats simply reproduce too quickly

17. 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

18. 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,

19. Local Cat Shelters • Will local shelters take the cats? • Don’t they care? • Isn’t that their job?

20. Cat Management Services • Why we offer only a non-lethal approach • Effective • Long-term • Legal • Humane • Low cost

21. 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”

23. 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

24. 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

26. Feeding Bans • Archaic idea • Congregation in certain habitats results not only from food availability: • Water, shelter and companionship are additional reasons

27. 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

28. 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

29. 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

30. 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

31. Fantasy Solutions • Socialize • Shelters • Adoptions • Sanctuaries

32. How to Implement a Cat Management Plan • A community solution • Do it NOW • Designate a manager and monitors • Call for help, instruction and assistance

33. Spay/Neuter Hotline TNR Program 602-265-SPAY(7729) A program of the Animal Defense League of Arizona

34. 480-968-4867