Demand an End to the Intentional Starvation of Stable Feral Cat Colonies in The City of Sand City, CA!
- by: Debra Long
- recipient: Mayor David Pendergrass, City of Sand City, CA (sandcitymyr@aol.com)
The City of Sand City, CA recently adopted a new ordinance, no 15-03, regarding the feeding of wild animals. They have included feral cats as wild animals and make the feeding or caretaking of stable feral cat colonies a violation. Any violation of the section constitutes an infraction.
City of Sand City, Ordinance No. 15-03, 2015
Ordinance of the City of Sand City adopting and adding Chapter 6.02 to the Sand City Municipal Code, regarding the feeding of wild animals.
WHEREAS, feral cats, skunks, opossums, and raccoons pose a serious threat to public health and safety as they are some of the primary carriers of rabies in California, and can transmit othe diseases throught their bites or via ticks, fleas and mites.
WHEREAS, the adoption of this Ordinance is intended to prevent unregulated feeding of wild animals in the protection of the public's health, safety and welfare.
CHAPTER 6.02 FEEDING WILDLIFE
6.02.010 Purpuse-finding: The intentional and unintentional feeding of wild aimals, including, but not limited to, feral cats, skunks, opossums, racoons, pigeons, and seagulls poses a threat to public health, safety and welfare; and furthermore, the unregulated feeding of wild animals may cause of threat to the life of such wild animals.
6.02.030 Feeding of Wildlife Prohibited. It is unlawful for any person to feed, offer food, or in any manner provide food as sustenance to any wildlife in Sand City.
6.02.040 Making Pet Food Accessible to Wildlife Prohibited. It is unlawful for any person to leav food, intended for pets, outside or in any other location where is is accessible to wildlife. Outdoor feeding of pets shall only be conducted when the feeding is being actively supervised by a person and the person causes any food not consumed by the pet to be removed immediately after the supervised feeding of the pet.
Stable, Sterilized Feral Cat Colonies are good for our community!
What is "trap-neuter-return" (TNR)?
TNR is a nonlethal strategy for reducing the number of community cats (feral and stray) and improving the quality of life for cats, wildlife, and people. At its most basic, TNR involves
- Humanely trapping community cats
- Spaying or neutering them
- Vaccinating them against rabies
- Surgically removing the tip of one ear (a "tipped" ear is the universally-recognized sign of a cat who has been spayed or neutered)
- Returning the cats to their home
How does TNR solve common complaints associated with feral cats?
When feral cats are trapped, neutered and returned to their territory, they no longer reproduce
The cessation of sexual activity eliminates the noise associated with mating behavior and dramatically reduces fighting and the noise it causes
Neutered feral cats also roam much less and become less visible and less prone to injury from cars
Foul odors are greatly reduced as well because neutered male cats no longer produce testosterone which, when they are unaltered, mixes with their urine and causes the strong, pungent smell of their spraying
When the colony is then monitored by a caretaker who removes and/or TNRs any newly arrived cats, the population stabilizes and gradually declines over time.
Do people take care of community (feral and stray) cats?
Many people see a cat who seems homeless and start feeding the cat. Ideally, the person quickly does more to help the cat:
If the cat is tame, the first step is to try to find the cat's owner. If the owner can't be found, step two is to try to find a permanent home for the cat through a shelter, rescue, or other means.
If the cat is feral, unapproachable, and wary after several days of feeding, it's best to find out if there are any groups doing TNR in the community so at least the cat will be spayed or neutered. The HSUS's map of feral cat organizations is a good place to start looking. If there are no local groups, step two is to consult one of the many resources that provide information about TNR.
Once a cat or colony of cats has been TNR-ed, it's ideal if a dedicated caretaker provides food, water and shelter; monitors the cats for sickness or injury; and TNRs new feral cats who arrive. Ideally, kittens young enough to be socialized (tamed) and new tame cats who arrive are removed from the colony for possible adoption.
Many dedicated caretakers pay for TNR themselves to help improve the lives of cats and reduce their numbers. Without TNR and a dedicated caretaker trapping new cats who show up, the population of the colony could increase.
Dear Mayor Pendergrass, sandcitymyr@aol.com
I am a concerned citizen, who has long worked with and advocated for the humane treatment of feral and community cats. It has come to my attention that Sand City has recently enacted an ordinance against feeding feral cats. Ordinance No 15-03. Feral cats have been "lumped in" with other wildlife for the purposes of this ordinance. Without care the animals cannot survive, it is along standing colony and population management practice to TNR (trap neuter release) cats and then feed the remaining animals to also help maintain health in the colony (to revent spread of disease) and to manage the spay neuter of any "new" additions to the colony. Without that management you have suffering, disease and ultimately statistics show that the population increases rather than decreases when not managed by responsible caregivers in the community.
I would strongly urge the City Council to put a halt on the enforcement of this ordinance for the timre being and to reconsider the breadth and scope of this ordinance. You should take some time to further educate yourselves on the process of TNR and colony mangement and how it impacts the feral cat population and learn about how it actually benefits the community while preventing suffering and encouraging managed populations. You can read more about TNR programs and feral cats at:
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