Israel has enough money to solve their street cat problem

On International Cat Day, The Jerusalem Post states that Israel's 2 million street cats remain a crisis. The country's government should be ashamed of themselves. Their street cat problem can be solved with commitment and funding. They have the money but lack commitment. How rich is Israel? The country has a hefty GDP of $273.2 billion. The population is less than that of London in the UK at 7.8 million. 

Israel has enough money to solve their street cat problem. Photo: Pixabay.

The per capita GDP for Israel is $36,200. There's money in Israel. They've got to put some of it into extensive TNR programs. The only way to resolve their street cat problem is to have extensive, committed TNR programs. It is the only humane way to deal with street cats. They should combine that with education to ensure that all domestic cats are spayed and neutered at the earliest possible time. Provide free courses on cat caretaking. I'll help if someone asks!

They could do a lot more such as compulsory registration of cats to ensure that standards of cat caretaking are improved as part of a package to ensure that cats are spayed and neutered. They could make it obligatory to microchip cats. They could make it obligatory to spay or neuter cats. They've got to take bold steps. It's pointless to simply complain about their 2 million stray cats as they have done for years.

Perhaps the street cats have become a feature of the country and the tourist board believe that they enhance tourism. That might be a possibility as to why nothing happens. What appears to have been neglected in this discussion is the welfare of the cats. Being a street cat even if you are fed by the residents is not a good or happy life.

The Jerusalem Post says that nobody has made real progress to stop the suffering of these animals. Surely, International Cat Day is a good moment to start investing in the welfare of street cat? Put some money into it. Not small amounts like tens of thousands or even hundreds of thousands of dollars. But put millions of dollars into the problem and create a government minister who has jurisdiction over the welfare of these cats. Make it his or her duty to ensure that over the next 20 years the population size of street cats in Israel will be reduced by two thirds or 66%. That will be a nice target and it would be achievable.