Feral Cat Statistics

I constantly read conflicting feral cat statistics. On a different subject I also read differing statistics in relation to wildcats and big cats. If we do not have decent and reliable figures as to feral cat populations and other statistics we are unlikely to be able to get an handle on the feral cat problem and that will lead to desperate measures. This is gradually becoming apparent in the so called developed countries worldwide.

Lets take a recent article in the Brownsville Herald. Where is Brownsville? It's here on the Mexico border:


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The local authorities are under pressure from complaining residents to do something about the feral cat problem and they are, it seems to me, considering some desperate measures. The author calls it the "cat infestation problem". The author talks of complaints pouring in of screeching cats and "diseased strays." These are provocative words that further inflame the situation. The mayor is skeptical of trap neuter, return programs saying that they cost too much at $60 per cat and are ineffective. He is heading towards a compulsory registration process of all domestic cats and any cats that are not inside the owner's home would be removed and likely euthanized. People with unneutered cats will need a breeders licence at $500. And so on.

The point is this there seems to be a gradual intolerance of the feral cat. The same is happening in Australia (see Ground Shooting of Feral Cats). Yet, as I mentioned, we do not have accurate figures as to the extent of the problem. I hear that there are 60m feral cats in the USA and I also hear 14m euthanized yearly but I also hear 2.2m euthanized each year. And this Brownsville Herald article quotes the CFA as reporting that there are between 6 million and 12 homeless cats in the USA. This seems to conflict with the other fgures but perhaps the CFA is deliberately under reporting the numbers to support their position. I have even quoted on person who claimed that there was an undersupply of feral cat and stray cats as demand outstripped supply from eager and willing adopters. See solutions to cat ovepopulation.

We need accurate modern feral cat statistics collated from a professionally run survey paid for by the government and/or the cat associations. At that point in time a proper strategy can be formulated, which is humane as we caused the problem in the first place.

Feral Cat Statistics to Cat Facts