Abstract
Over the last several decades, feral cats have moved from the fringes to the mainstream in animal welfare and sheltering. Although many best practice guidelines have been published by national non-profits and veterinary bodies, little is known about how groups “in the trenches” actually operate. Our study sought to address that gap through an online survey of feral cat care and advocacy organizations based in the United States. Advertised as “The State of the Mewnion,” its topics included a range of issues spanning non-profit administration, public health, caretaking and trapping, adoptions of friendly kittens and cats, veterinary medical procedures and policies, data collection and program efficacy metrics, research engagement and interest, and relationships with wildlife advocates and animal control agencies. Respondents from 567 organizations participated, making this the largest and most comprehensive study on this topic to date. Respondents came primarily from grassroots organizations. A majority reported no paid employees (74.6%), served 499 or fewer feral cats per year (75.0%), engaged between 1 and 9 active volunteers (54.9%), and did not operate a brick and mortar facility (63.7%). Some of our findings demonstrate a shared community of practice, including the common use of a minimum weight of 2.0 pounds for spay/neuter eligibility, left side ear tip removals to indicate sterilization, recovery holding times after surgery commonly reported as 1 night for male cats and 1 or 2 nights for females, requiring or recommending to adopters of socialized kittens/cats that they be kept indoor-only, and less than a quarter still engaging in routine testing of cats for FIV and FeLV. Our survey also reveals areas for improvement, such as most organizations lacking a declared goal with a measurable value and a time frame, only sometimes scanning cats for microchips, and about a third not using a standardized injection site for vaccines. This study paints the clearest picture yet available of what constitutes the standard practices of organizations serving feral and community cats in the United States.
Highlights
Animal shelters across the United States have adopted many intake diversion strategies to decrease the number of relinquished animals, maintain the human-animal bond at all socioeconomic levels, improve life-saving metrics, decrease euthanasia, and to meet community goals
There is a growing body of evidence that feral and community cat advocacy, long term colony management, and trap neuter return (TNR) and shelter-based return-to-field (RTF) programs are effective in keeping cats out of shelter systems, reducing feline euthanasia and improving the quality of life for both individual cats and colonies
We looked at the following organization-level demographic factors: the Census Region of the United States where an organization is based, the geographic scope covered by the organization, if the organization served urban, suburban, and/or rural areas, the approximate proportion of animals served that were feral cats, whether the organization had its own 501(c)[3] United States federal non-profit charity status, whether the organization had a brick-and-mortar facility, the approximate number of feral cats that a respondent served per year, the number of paid employees, and the number of active volunteers
Summary
Animal shelters across the United States have adopted many intake diversion strategies to decrease the number of relinquished animals, maintain the human-animal bond at all socioeconomic levels, improve life-saving metrics, decrease euthanasia, and to meet community goals. When a shelter in Jefferson County, Kentucky initiated a RTF program in addition to an existing TNR program, feline euthanasia at the Louisville Metro Animal Services dropped by 94.1% over 8 years (2) This suggests that feral and stray cats may have represented the majority of feline euthanasia performed in these facilities prior to implementing these strategies. A greater understanding of the practices of organizations serving feral cats will help the animal welfare sector standardize and professionalize the care they provide to feral cats. This should lead to further real-world successes and progression of the field
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