Abstract
Substantial societal investment is made in the management of free-roaming cats by various methods, with goals of such programs commonly including wildlife conservation, public health protection, nuisance abatement, and/or promotion of cat health and welfare. While there has been a degree of controversy over some of the tactics employed, there is widespread agreement that any method must be scientifically based and sufficiently focused, intensive and sustained in order to succeed. The vast majority of free-roaming cat management in communities takes place through local animal shelters. Throughout the 20th century and into the 21st, this consisted primarily of ad hoc admission of cats captured by members of the public, with euthanasia being the most common outcome. In North America alone, hundreds of millions of cats have been impounded and euthanized and billions of dollars invested in such programs. Given the reliance on this model to achieve important societal goals, it is surprising that there has been an almost complete lack of published research evaluating its success. Wildlife conservation and public health protection will be better served when debate about the merits and pitfalls of methods such as Trap-Neuter-Return is grounded in the context of realistically achievable alternatives. Where no perfect answer exists, an understanding of the potential strengths and shortcomings of each available strategy will support the greatest possible mitigation of harm—the best, if still imperfect, solution. Animal shelter function will also benefit by discontinuing investment in methods that are ineffective as well as potentially ethically problematic. This will allow the redirection of resources to more promising strategies for management of cats as well as investment in other important animal shelter functions. To this end, this article reviews evidence regarding the potential effectiveness of the three possible shelter-based strategies for free-roaming cat management: the traditional approach of ad hoc removal by admission to the shelter; admission to the shelter followed by sterilization and return to the location found; and leaving cats in place with or without referral to mitigation strategies or services provided by other agencies.
Highlights
Significant investment is made in active management of cats in many parts of the world, with common goals including reduction of cat populations and associated harmful impacts on wildlife; mitigation of nuisance complaints and public health concerns; and promotion of cat health and welfare
Cat numbers fell and stabilized at pre-culling levels. This led the authors to conclude: “This study provides evidence that ad hoc culling of feral cats may be ineffective, but has the potential to increase the impact of feral cats in open populations.”
Traditional ad hoc admission to shelters is not a panacea that eliminates the concerns generated by free-roaming cats. Placing it as such in contrast to TNR has needlessly pitted the interests of cats, cat lovers, and shelter staff against the interests of wildlife advocates and public health officials
Summary
Significant investment is made in active management of cats in many parts of the world, with common (and sometimes purportedly conflicting) goals including reduction of cat populations and associated harmful impacts on wildlife; mitigation of nuisance complaints and public health concerns; and promotion of cat health and welfare. This paper will review traditional and emerging strategies to achieve these commonly held goals, with an emphasis on those available to shelter-based control programs which represent one of the most common contexts through which cat management efforts are funded and delivered. Definitions and distinctions amongst cats have been made based on socialization level toward people (e.g., “feral” or unsocialized vs friendly), ownership status (e.g., owned/pet vs semi-owned or un-owned), confinement (indoors, outdoors at times, or free-roaming), level of care (subsidized or selfsufficient), or location found (urban, suburban, or natural habitats). This review will focus on the potential for cat management practices to achieve common societal goals with respect to any cat found outside without evidence of ownership, for which the umbrella term “free-roaming cats” will be used
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