HomeMy WebLinkAbout2015 10-07 Maplewood looks to crack down on feral cat population MAPLEWOOD REVIEW2/18/2016 Maplewood looks to crack down on feral cat population I Lillie Suburban Newspapers - LillieNews.com
Maplewood looks to crack
down on feral cat population
Submitted by adminl on Wed, 10/07/2015 - 8:55am
By: Erin Hinrichs
Trap -Neuter -Return likely method
In a residential strip of Maplewood bordering St. Paul, two neighbors are at odds when it comes to dealing with stray and feral
cats that inhabit their streets.
One has been trapping the cats and bringing them in to be set up for adoption or euthanized, depending on their condition
Meanwhile, the other feels obliged to set out food for these homeless cats, rather than see any starve or be put down.
It may not be an issue that's on everyone's radar. But the Maplewood Police Department — which, historically, has been
responsible for the management of these cats — has noticed an uptick in the city's cat -management related expenses as of
late.
Year-to-date, officers have responded to 30 cat -related calls, accruing more than $3,300 in associated impounding and
euthanasia fees. And the population doesn't seem to be dwindling.
"We are aware of neighborhoods in the city where people ignore the feeding ban based on the belief that they are humanely
intervening," Police Chief Paul Schnell wrote in a report he presented to the Maplewood City Council on Sept. 14. "The result
is frustrated neighbors and a sustainable increase in the feral cat population."
Looking for an alternative strategy, Schnell says the department is interested in partnering with the Animal Humane Society to
roll out its new "community cat" program by the start of 2016. The program prioritizes cat adoption, when possible. But cats
deemed unfit for adoption are sterilized and released back in their outdoor territories to continue using food resources that
might otherwise attract new, fertile cats that are ready to reproduce.
A litter of feral kittens finds food on a deck in Maplewood
back in 2007. The feral mother cat was trapped and spayed,
so she couldn't have more kittens. (Linda Baumeister/
Review)
This spayed feral cat could still be seen coming out of the
woods for food and naps, but skittish enough to take off back
to the woods at the sound of people. The Trap -Neuter -Return
(TNR) has been implemented other places, is being
considered in Maplewood. (Linda Baumeister photos/Review)
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While this cat -man age mentstrategy is being met with some community opposition, Schnell noted the Humane Society has
already partnered with a number of other metro cities.
Humored by the unexpected lesson in cat terminology, council member Marylee Abrams took heed of Schnell's report and
voiced her support for the new program.
"I like the idea thatthe Humane Society would be involved because this really is their area of expertise," she said.
Cats of Maplewood
The city currently licenses 76 cats — a number far lower than the actual number of cats owned by residents. Given the fact
that many cats are kept as indoor pets, Schnell says, it's a policy that's nearly impossible to enforce.
To make matters worse, the captured stray cats caught are seldom claimed by owners, he adds.
The expense for impounding 24 cats that were turned over to a cat rescue group to be adopted, combined with the
euthanization of two due to poor health, cost the city more than $3,300.
With annual cat licenses only generating $1,500 in revenue this year, Schnell reasoned it would make sense to ditch the
licensing ordinance — apart from limitations on the number of cats allowed and care requirements — and focus on reducing
the police department's role in handling stray and feral cats.
In partnering with the Animal Humane Society, the city would provide trapping equipment with the expectation that residents
would trap free -roaming cats and bring them directly to the Human Society in Woodbury or St. Paul. Cats brought to one of
these locations by a community member would not be subject to fee payment.
"In the long-haul, we think [this would result in] a reduction in some of our costs related to the storage, medical services and
euthanasia of many of the cats thatwe are currently taking in," Schnell explained.
In certain instances where a resident requests police assistance to help trap a particularly agitated cat, the city would bear the
costs charged by the Humane Society. Even so, city staff predict the city's overall cat -management strategy would become
cost neutral.
'Community cat' program
Once brought to the Human Society, each stray cat would be assessed and vaccinated. If it shows signs of domestication, it
would be put up for adoption. If deemed unfit for adoption, the feral cat would be sterilized and returned to wherever it was
found living outdoors — a method commonly referred to as Trap -Neuter -Return. Euthanasia would be used as a last -resort
measure, only for cats with untreatable illnesses or injuries.
After listening to an explanation of the Humane Society's "community cat" program, council member Kathleen Juenemann
asked, "Returning them to the same area you found them, I understand to a point. But if it's an area where [residents] are
complaining about all these cats, how do you keep the complaint from coming around again?"
It's a question Kathie Johnson, senior director of operations for the Animal Humane Society, has fielded many times since
rolling out the new cat -management plan Oct. 1, 2014.
"When you first hear about this program it seems counter intuitive," she told the Review. "I think once people hear what we
had been doing and how it wasn't working ... most people come on board."
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For years the focus was on euthanization and adoption. But this approach wasn't reducing the number offree-roamin g cats in
the community, Johnson said.
Searching for a new solution, she took note of a TNR program that seemed to be working in San Antonio and San Jose. By
sterilizing feral cats and returning them back to their outdoor territories, these cats continue using up natural food supplies
that fertile cats would otherwise encroach upon. Overtime, the population stabilizes, and then decreases, she says.
"Our hope would be that we would start seeing the effect of this within a few years," Johnson said, acknowledging the fact that
not everyone will be on board.
But since its local inception, more than 800 feral cats have been sterilized and returned to where they were found. These cats
can be identified by their tipped ears.
Letter of opposition
Since discussing the new cat -management plan, city staff and officials have been contacted by a number of concerned
residents and beyond.
Not only do feral cats hold a reputation for being the "No. 1 killer of songbirds," butthey're also known to carry a disease
called toxoplasmosis.
According to Mayo Clinic, toxoplasma gondii only reproduce in cats, which are "the parasite's ultimate host." Humans can
contractthis parasite by coming into contactwith infected cat feces, common among cats that hunt and eat raw meat.
In his letter urging public officials to reconsider the TNR program through the Humane Society, University at Buffalo Professor
and "Nature Watch" columnist for The Buffalo News, Gerry Rising, wrote, "The federal Centers for Disease Control suggests:
cover sandboxes when not in use and wear gloves while gardening. And others are recommending that small children be
kept out of public parks where these cats defecate. In other words, we have to be on the defensive against these animals."
He supports the continued practice of trapping and adoption, or euthanization of feral cats.
Asked to address people's concerns about feral cats spreading disease, Johnson indicated disease is not a major concern.
"There's a perception that these cats are diseased or sickly. But in reality, studies have shown that they're not," she says.
Christopher Smith, an associate wildlife biologist for Wildlife Research Consulting Services, wrote in with similar concerns.
He also pointed out how — despite the seemingly humane practice of vaccinating, neutering and returning feral cats to their
outdoor environment — these cats are also subject to harsh winter conditions, predators like coyotes and urban dangers like
busy roads.
In response to such claims, Johnson cycles back to the fact that the Humane Society is not looking to introduce new feral cats
into communities. The program is simply aimed at sterilizing cats that are already surviving outdoors.
"People need to understand that these cats have been living in our communities decades upon decades," she says. "They
keep coming and coming, in part because it's impossible to catch every cat that's living wild in our community.
"When you sterilize them, they'll [stop] reproducing."
Erin Hinrichs can be reached at 651-748-7814 and ehinrich sp_lillienews.com. Follow her at twitter.com/EHinrichsNews.
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