North Haven, Connecticut, community in uproar over trapping and euthanizing feral cats

NEWS AND COMMENT: The video tells the story nicely. I can't guarantee that this video will stay on this page forever. If it disappears I'm sorry. North Haven is approx. 100+ miles northeast of New York City.

The nub of the story is that the authorities in North Haven, Connecticut, USA were receiving complaints about feral and stray cats in their community and there was a decision, it appears, to trap and euthanise i.e. kill these cats but then this story rattled around social media, particularly Facebook as I understand it, and the community reacted to the news by rejecting the concept of euthanising these cats. There are better solutions. They are correct. 

This information was fed back to the authorities and they responded wisely and sensibly by changing their policy and the animal shelters in the area, the non-profits, have also stepped up to help remedy this situation. That's what I get from the video. I will add some detail from the written word on Yahoo News!.

A New Haven councillor has confirmed that they will not be euthanising feral cats after animal control declared that they would euthanise feral cats after trapping them.

Animal control in New Haven post on Facebook on Friday that they would start trapping euthanising the cats at the beginning of October. The post was then deleted apparently after a community backlash in comments.

I like that! The community often rallies around when there is an injustice about to be perpetrated towards animals. Essentially, the American citizen is sensitive towards animal welfare. There are many millions of Americans who are very tender towards stray and feral cats. Often they become volunteers in TNR programs and help them directly. These are great people. They deserve all the praise in the world.

The police stated that the trapping of the cats was "prompted by complaints of feral cats in the area, causing unsanitary conditions, as well as danger to domestic animals."

Apparently a dog had their eye scratched by a cat that attacked it. Comment: that wouldn't surprise me because the cat was in a defensive mode and attacked the dog because they felt threatened. And when a cat attacks a dog they slap the dog around the face with their claws which clearly in this instance caused an eye injury. This is unsurprising. I don't think it is a reason to trap and euthanise cats! And clearly the community agrees with me.

Police in general are often a bit negative towards feral cats. And in this instance they said that feral cats are carrying diseases like rabies in toxoplasmosis and damaging gardens, lawns and flower beds and cars et cetera. Comment: one can paint a negative picture about feral cats. It's quite easy. But you have to go back to the original root cause which is careless human cat ownership. The problem is a human problem and therefore the problem needs to be fixed humanely. Often the police are unaware of this.

Anyway, the end result as I understand it is a good one. The cats will be trapped but taken to shelters where if possible they will be rehomed. Some of these cats will be stray domestic cats and therefore can be rehomed. The true adult feral cat will probably be euthanised although even adult feral cats can be socialised but it takes time, sometimes as long as 12 months or more which is going to be beyond the means and abilities or capacity of the animal shelters but perhaps individual volunteers might step up.

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P.S. please forgive the occasional typo. These articles are written at breakneck speed using Dragon Dictate. I have to prepare them in around 20 mins. Also, sources for news articles are carefully selected but the news is often not independently verified. And, I rely on scientific studies but they are not 100% reliable. Finally, (!) I often express an OPINION on the news. Please share yours in a comment.

Council proposes criminalising the feeding of feral and stray cats

NEWS AND OPINION: This is another episode in the ongoing saga which troubles America namely how to effectively deal with feral cats. Sometimes these are better described as community cats because they are either semi-feral or even domestic cats recently ejected from their home. That's quite an important point in this discussion.

Meeting to discuss criminalising the feeding of feral cats. Two women for TNR face the meeting's chairperson! Guess who won! Image is a screenshot from the video below.

But historically, in America, councils have struggled with dealing with feral cats because the best way to deal with them is TNR run by volunteers and TNR requires feeding of the cats as this is a humane process. Feeding feral cats is problematic for people who either don't like cats or are unsure about the presence of feral cats.

Regrettably you'll have to watch the video on YouTube as the news media outlet does not want it shown on websites. Please click here to see it. I like it as it shows us the real life struggles in making a decision on dealing with feral cats in the community.

In fact, a lot of people in a community dislike feral cats and want them removed completely whereas on the other hand there are people who see the need to help feral cats. They see their presence as an animal welfare issue whereas the former group see their presence as harming the amenity of the area.

And this background discussion is part of the debate in Strasbourg, Ohio which has proposed criminalising the feeding of feral cats in their community specifically the Tuscarawas County village. Some residents there feel that their community is overrun by feral cats.

The proposed ordinance would stop TNR volunteers feeding feral cats. I can recall, 15 years ago, a big discussion, indeed argument, about feeding feral cats in West Hollywood. At the end of the day, the people who fed feral cats and the TNR program won the day because it is a humane solution.

In this instance, a packed meeting on Tuesday - as I believe you can see in the video - discussed the proposed ordinance at a second reading. It was a chance for community members to voice their concerns.

The video provides a hint as to the outcome of this meeting. It seems that the general community feeling was that criminalising the feeding of feral cats is the wrong thing to do. It is not the best solution. 

One should look at both points of view and one should be sensitive towards those people who don't like to see feral cats being fed because it encourages wildlife to the area. That's the classic issue but overriding that, in my view, is the fact that humankind needs to act humanely towards feral cats because we put them there.

The only humane way to deal with feral cats at the moment is TNR programs hopefully supported by the community and indeed by the local authority, which makes them more effective.

And we have to think of the women (normally) who run these programs. They enjoy doing it. It gives them purpose. They do good work. Let's think of the women volunteers and the occasional man who likes to help reduce the feral cat and community cat population through humane methods as opposed to trapping and killing.

When you watch the video, and you see these wonderful ladies involved in TNR, you simply cannot ignore the strength of the argument that TNR, despite its weaknesses, is the best way forward in a community.

In the video one person spoke up and said that sometimes among the feral cats there is a domestic cat. You cannot trap that cat and kill him or her because you will be committing a true crime that of criminal damage against the property owned by somebody else.

In nearby Dover, the local mayor there said that TNR had made a big impact in the city. TNR has been a success and it can be a success if it is run properly. Here's a quote from News Five Cleveland on "Tusc TNR":

"Since the Tusc TNR program was instituted in the City of Dover 5 years ago, the city has seen a significant reduction in complaints from residents regarding feral cats.  As of October of 2023, the group had trapped, neutered and released 862 cats and adopted out another 228 kittens.  In particular, we previously had an area of town behind several restaurants and other businesses, which we received a number of complaints about.  The TNR program came in and has significantly reduced the number of feral cats in that area.  The TNR group works closely with the city administration to target areas of town as needed and reduce the feral cat population.  The City of Dover has a great working relationship with the Tusc TNR program."

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P.S. please forgive the occasional typo. These articles are written at breakneck speed using Dragon Dictate. I have to prepare them in around 20 mins.

Large feral (?) 'Siamese' cat in Australia trapped and killed causing an outcry from some sections of the community

A large feral cat in Australia has been trapped and killed causing an outcry from some sections of the community. But was the cat feral or an inside/outside domestic cat? It appears so.

Large feral cat in Australia trapped and killed causing an outcry from some sections of the community. Image: Daily Mail Australia.

Comment on the above photograph: I find it very strange. The comments on the right-hand side appear to be have been made by the owner of this 'feral cat'. That means that the cat is not feral but an outdoor/indoor domestic cat. And the person has described the cat as "Siamese". The cat does not look like a Siamese cat judging by the camera traps image. The cat does not have pointing but appears to be an even colour throughout. So, I'm not sure what is going on. And if this is the case the authorities have killed someone's pet! Damages come to mind. The owner should sue them.

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I have followed the shenanigans and attitudes of the Australian authorities towards feral cats on the continent for years. It doesn't surprise me one jot that the authorities in charge of administrating Moreton Island off the coast of south-east Queensland decided to trap a so-called feral cat weighing 6.8 kg (15 pounds) and euthanise it (kill it). At least they didn't shoot it! That is the normal way for Australia's authorities to deal with feral cats.

Trapping and euthanising is way too humane for Australians when it comes to the 'vermin' and 'pest' that is the feral cat on that continent. They hate the animal but not everyone does because in this instance this feral cat who had earned the name 'Tangalooma puma' had a following and there was an outcry when the feline was trapped and killed.

A resident caught the cat in July having set up a humane trap. He learnt the technique in a workshop run by Brisbane City Council. The cat was then euthanised by Queensland Parks and Wildlife Services in accordance with the Biosecurity Act 2014.

In order to verify that this cat was a pest by preying on native species, they conducted an autopsy and discovered the remnants of a crow and a bandicoot in the stomach. This proved to them that the cat was decimating native while species which justified their actions in killing it.

Residents of Moreton Island are allowed to have pets but as it is given over to being a national park, they can't really let their cats go outside. I'm not sure if there is a local ordinance which forbids domestic cats going outside. The reports don't comment on that.

Of course, most of the residents are happy that the cat was killed but, as mentioned, not everyone is in agreement perhaps because it was a pet cat 😎. It makes me smile ironically. No one should agree to domestic cats being killed by the authorities for doing nothing wrong. It is wanton cat killing.

It's peculiar that they dubbed the cat a "puma". It seems that in the imagination of many they exaggerated its size to that of a mountain lion (a very large feline). This is not untypical of humans. And in doing that there was a gradual swell of hatred of the animal resulting in one resident deciding to trap it.

But 15 pounds in weight for a domestic or feral cat is not that big. It is slightly bigger than normal but not huge. And if a cat has become feral for whatever reason, they're going to have to hunt to survive. 

People need to look more carefully at why the cat became feral cat in the first place. The only reason is because of human carelessness. I always think it is very unfair if the existence of an animal due to human carelessness becomes such a nuisance that they have to kill it. The animal is an innocent victim of sloppy human behaviour. This is not a reason to kill the animal.

It is a reason to educate people to stop being sloppy on cat ownership. It's a reason to be kind to the animal because they are victims as well as the animals that they eat.

Guy saves 2 domestic cats living in -6 degrees Celsius and snow

This is the guy who runs the Cole and Marmalade website. He is a cat rescuer. He worked with a woman who is an experienced cat trapper to rescue this couple of abandoned domestic cats from the snow in sub-zero temperatures; the kind of temperatures that can kill or injure e.g. frostbite of the paws.

Clarence in the freezing cold before rescue. Screenshot.

They had to get them into the warm. They succeeded all the way to finding a woman who was prepared to adopt both of them including a full veterinary check up. Fantastic. Clarence is a tabby and Midnight a black cat. They are the kind of cats that might get left on the shelf so to speak but through great teamwork the lives of two cats have been quite possibly saved and homes for them found.

Clarence is warm at last after being trapped and cared for. Screenshot.

The video tells their story really well so no more words are needed.

The cats were domesticated and in good condition. He thinks that they were dumped by their owner or relatives of a deceased owner for example. They are both very nice characters.

Note: This is a video from another website. Sometimes they are deleted at source which stops them working on this site. If that has happened, I apologise but I have no control over it.

Huntress shoots domestic cat caught in live trap but initial shots were not fatal

GERMANY-NEWS AND COMMENT: The story comes from Zusmarshausen. It's in German with a Google translation on the Bild online newspaper website. This is the alleged shooting of a domestic cat trapped in a 'live trap' (a trap put down by trappers of wild animals). 

Huntress shoots domestic cat caught in live trap but initial shots were not fatal. Photo: SOKO Tierschutz (pixelated out the cat's head)

It occurred in December 2020. The woman hunter was videoed shooting the cat more than once. The shooting occurred in a forest near Augsburg. It appears that the initial shots may not have been fatal. Clearly this was a matter for investigation on the grounds of animal cruelty. You cannot euthanise a cat in my view with a shot to the head. If the first shot is not fatal then it is a clear case of animal cruelty. 

Huntress shoots domestic cat caught in live trap but initial shots were not fatal. Photo: SOKO Tierschutz

The authorities, both the Augsburg Public Prosecutor's Office and the Bavarian Hunting Association (BJV), are investigating. No doubt we will not know the outcome. The hunter's committee called Swabia is yet to make a decision about the case. There appears to be an acceptance that it was cruel. The shooting was recorded by an animal welfare organisation who had presumably infiltrated the hunting.

Argument over trapping and killing vs trapping, neutering and releasing

There is an argument going on in Brooklyn, Parma Heights, Cleveland, Ohio, USA about how to manage the feral cats in their community and it is an argument that you see all over the USA, all the time. And the parties who are arguing are usually the same as well. On the one hand, the authorities prefer to trap and euthanise, as they call it, but which is better described as trapping and killing. On the other hand, many residents, but not all, prefer TNR, a well-known programme which is conducted all across America.

In this instance, it seems without notification, Brooklyn and Parma Heights Animal Control published a Facebook post about its policy to trap and euthanise feral cats. It was published last Tuesday apparently and then deleted. I believe that it was deleted because of the comments underneath the post by the citizens of that community.

Essentially the Facebook post said that the authority's policy was to trap and humanely euthanised all intact feral cats (see below). They also said that they "will attempt to relocate ear-tipped cats". What that means is that those cats which have been part of TNR programs and therefore have been ear-tipped will be treated differently and that there will be an attempt to relocate them.

If that attempt failed they would be euthanised. The primary focus is on killing the cats and the reason for this is, they argue, that they get requests from the public to get rid of them. There is obviously a segment of the public (and this is quite typical) who want the feral cats gone in the neighbourhood and they don't mind how it happens.

Facebook post on Brooklyn and Parma Hts Animal Control policy on feral cats introduced without consultation. Screenshot.

I think that you can guess what they said. One veterinarian in the area said that it seemed as if the clock was being turned back. Her name is Danya Linehan and she said, "I felt like I'd been thrown back about 30 years. It's been a very long time since I've seen anyone propose a solution of rounding up and killing cats to the overpopulation problem since we've been so successful with what we call TNR."

Another, Michelle Pierce, the owner of a Cleveland-based TNR rescue, said that trapping and killing is not a permanent solution and in any case other cats come into the area after the original ones have been killed. It is no solution at all whereas TNR stabilises the colony and stops them reproducing. It also stops nuisance behaviours and gradually the population dies out.

The problem with TNR for many residents is that it is too slow a solution. And that's why the local authority steps in to try and produce an instant solution and that can only be killing.

Another obvious problem which constantly returns is that it is almost impossible to be absolutely certain that you are trapping a feral cat and not someone's pet. When you trap a domesticated cat they sometimes behave like feral cats which means that under the policy proposed by Animal Control they end up being killed which is the crimes of criminal damage and theft under the law of America if you wanted to pursue that course of action. You may struggle to get the local police to act upon that and you may struggle to get the authorities to prosecute themselves on that but it would be a crime nonetheless.

The article on the Cleveland news website 5 ABC NEWS 5 CLEVELAND has been updated to tell us that on Thursday, Brooklyn and Parma Heights Animal Control said that they have suspended trapping feral cats "momentarily". Clearly they have observed and understood the reaction their policy. I hope that they take stock and try the more common sense route which can only be TNR.

I said at the beginning that they did not consult with residents. Any authority wishing to trap and kill feral cats as a solution would be wise to consult with the community first because you need their approval and their involvement because, as mentioned above, there will be outdoor domestic cats. They need to be inside if the authority is trapping outside. More important than that is that you have to seek the agreement of residents that feral cats can be killed and many of them will disagree.

The argument outlined above is one which recurs constantly in America. It is a problem based upon patience. TNR requires patience while killing is near instanteous. The former is a long-term solution. The latter is a quick but flawed fix which does not last.

"Vigilante" Traps Neighbour's Cat to Protect His Own

This is an interesting cat story.  It concerns the town of Bristol in the United Kingdom.  A man who says that he is an animal lover and who cares for quite an elderly cat says that he was forced to trap a neighbour's cat who he claims was being aggressive towards his cat.  After he had trapped the neighbour's cat he photographed the trap with the cat inside and attached to the photograph the words:

“If this is your cat please do the right thing and have him neutered.  No harm has come to this cat, however the cat trap will continue to be set to try and deter him."

The photograph and the text were made into a poster which he stuck up around the neighbourhood.  Antonio, the owner of the trapped cat ("Murray")  discovered the poster and was distressed to see his cat inside a trap. No doubt Murray was distressed too.  He had no idea how long his cat had been inside the cage.  He makes a good point that Murray could have ended up being in the cage during hot weather for quite a long time which could result in him becoming very ill.  He said that Murray is neutered and that he is not aggressive.

Murray the cat (SWNS)

Murray went missing last week for quite a while and when he returned he was scared of people.  This is unusual for Murray.  Murray then stop eating food and his owner thought he was unwell.

Murray's owner responded to the posters by replacing them with one of his own in which he asks the "vigilante" to come forward.

The police and the RSPCA were investigating.  Soon afterwards a man claimed responsibility for trapping Murray but he insisted that he was acting to protect his own cat.  He wishes to remain anonymous but said:

“I'm a cat lover, first and foremost.  It pains me more to see animal suffering than it does humans.  My cat in animal years is 78 years old...  My cat has befriended many cats over the years.  This new cat arrived and is doing what cats do, I understand that.  But it's particularly aggressive, I've never seen a cat like this.".

The "vigilante" consulted a local cat charity who advised him how to set the trap and provided one so that they could take the cat to a local vet and then discover who the owner was (through the microchip).  He has now decided to stop trapping cats.  He said that he will return the trap to the charity.

This is an entirely new form of human behaviour concerning the domestic cat.  It's the first time that I have read about somebody trapping a cat to try and protect their own cat.  It seems to be entirely inappropriate and quite possibly illegal.  What I mean is that it may be a crime depending upon the outcome.

Fort Wayne Have Decided to Use Trap Neuter Return Rather Than Euthanise

Fort Wayne City Council are seriously considering changing the city's animal control ordinance from trap and euthanise to trap neuter and return.  My reading of the situation is that the ordinance will be changed and an efficient and organised TNR program will be set up by a coalition of organisations which include Animal Care & Control, the Allen County SPCA and the Humane Organisation to Prevent Euthanasia (HOPE).  I believe that they are calling this a Community Cats program.

For the past 30 years the approach of the leaders of the city of Fort Wayne was to trap free roaming cats and then kill them.  The peak year for this policy was 2010 when Animal Care & Control trapped more than 8,000 cats and euthanised about 7,000 of them.  In 1980 the figure was 2,000.  You can see it's been an ever increasing number which in itself is a sign of failure of this policy which no doubt encouraged the City Council to decide upon the only alternative, TNR.

Jessica Henry, director of the Alan County Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, says this about trapping and killing:

“There's zero evidence that it works.  In fact all the evidence says the contrary...  It serves no purpose."

I suppose the evidence she is referring to is the past 30 years of trapping and euthanising leading to more cats.

I think that we can agree that trapping and euthanising stray cats simply provides temporary relief to the problem by removing the cats from the environment until a new population moves in. Killing stray cats has its attractions because you see instant results and historically people find it difficult to think long-term and map out strategies that produce results over decades rather than months.

We know that politicians are always seeking instant results to get votes so it does take some courage to do the right thing and plan in the long term.

An encouraging indication of the success of TNR comes from Indianapolis which started a TNR program in 2004.  There was an average decline of 35% in stray cat numbers across the city with one area reporting a decrease of 43%.

The people who support TNR do make a good point, however.  If TNR is to work it must be done effectively and completely with proper funding.

In Fort Wayne, the three organisations referred to as being involved in this program will work as a team.  They will each have separate responsibilities.

Animal Care & Control have the responsibility of retrieving the trapped cat's, scanning them for microchips and then take them to HOPE whose role it is to spray and neuter the cats if no microchip is found.  They will also notch one of the ears of the cats after the operation. The SPCA then collect the cats from HOPE and return them to their territory. Cats visually in decent health will be returned while cats that are obviously ill will be euthanised.

There are of course concerns with trap neuter return because you are ultimately going to be putting some cat back into the environment who are ill who may well spread disease to other animals.  On that argument you are perpetuating a lot of misery amongst stray and feral cats, which is the argument we hear repeated by PETA.

However, there is simply no better solution than TNR. There is really no choice in the matter so although TNR is not a perfect solution is the best solution based upon hard evidence.

There are many people who disagree that TNR works.  These people prefer to kill the cats. It is really about how effectively the programme is carried out and I hope that the city of Fort Wayne carries out the programme highly efficiently which will help to promote this far more humane way of treating stray cats. We created stray cats it is our duty to resolve it humanely.