No, I do not want all feral cats trapped and "exterminated" which has been erroneously stated about me. Although that would most certainly help stop the rampant spread of rabies in Westchester County it is simply not the right thing to do.
Local, county, and state politicians need to work with animal rights organizations to establish feral cat sanctuaries where wild cats would be cared for properly away from the public. This sanctuary solution is an idea I've been pitching for years in the North County News, to former Yorktown supervisors Don Peters and Susan Siegel, and most recently to county executive Rob Astorino and the assistant commissioner at the Department of Health Peter DeLucia.
Cat advocacy groups need to start pushing sanctuaries as the solution to the unnaturally occurring huge numbers of feral cats because the TNR program absolutely endangers the health and safety of humans as well as other forms of wildlife...try asking some birds, rabbits, and squirrels what they think of feral cats. The health hazards feral cats pose to humans even extend well beyond rabies and include toxoplasmosis which is spread through cat feces, ringworm, cat scratch fever, and salmonellosis.
Most importantly the 1 rabies shot given to wild cats through the TNR program does not provide sufficient rabies protection according to New York State Law and for TNR promoters to pretend that it does is unconscionable! In addition to sanctuaries laws would need to be established to prevent the feral cat cycle from reoccurring such as mandatory spaying/neutering, visible identification of owned pet cats, cat licensing, and prohibiting the feeding of all wildlife, just to name a few.
Simply put, we need a solution to the feral cat problem that protects cats, wildlife AND people and TNR is definitely not it.
Robin "Add mandatory microchipping of feral and domestic cats to the list of laws needed to be enacted." How exactly will micro chipping of feral cats help this situation?
But these TNR advocates, and the veterinarians and shelters and local government "officials" that support them? EACH AND EVERY ONE IS IN *DIRECT* *VIOLATION* OF WELL-ESTABLISHED *NATIONAL* & *INTERNATIONAL* *RABIES-CONTAINMENT* *LAW*. They ALL need to be sued -- fast, hard and so deep that they never recover from it. Now add on top of that that anyone who feeds these cats is training them to approach humans for food (contrary to them always claiming feral cats run from humans). What happens to the child or foolish adult that reaches down to pet or try to pick up that now seemingly friendly "cute kitty"? The wild animal lashes out and bites or scratches the hand that has no food for them. Google for: FERAL CAT ATTACK RABIES Don't be surprised at the number of search-hits you get or the horrendous stories that go with them. The number of suspected rabies cases and the then required mandatory rabies shots for each individual costing them well over $3000 out of their own pockets, has been growing as exponentially fast as cats breed. Ask a cat-feeder to pay for your shots and lost work-time and suffering? Neither they, nor shelters, nor the local government who supports TNR carry ONE PENNY of liability insurance for the deadly dangers they are bringing to their communities by allowing them to feed and TNR stray cats. Two recent reports even document rabid cats entering a home through their pet-door and one even came through their ceiling searching for human-supplied foods -- one attack so bad it required hospitalization for the family.
These are just the diseases cats have been spreading to humans, not counting the ones they spread to all wildlife. THERE ARE NO VACCINES against many of these, and are in-fact listed as bio-terrorism agents. They include: Afipia felis, Anthrax, Bartonella (Rochalimaea) henselae, Bergeyella (Weeksella) zoohelcum, Campylobacter Infection, Cat Scratch Disease, Chlamydia psittaci (feline strain), Cowpox, Coxiella burnetti Infection (Q fever), Cryptosporidium Infection, Cutaneous larva migrans, Dermatophytosis, Dipylidium Infection (tapeworm), Hookworm Infection, Leptospira Infection, Giardia, Neisseria canis, Pasteurella multocida, Plague, Poxvirus, Rabies, Rickettsia felis, Ringworm, Salmonella Infection, Scabies, Sporothrix schenckii, Toxocara Infection, Toxoplasmosis, Trichinosis, Visceral larva migrans, Yersinia pseudotuberculosis. [Centers for Disease Control, July 2010] Sarcosporidiosis, Flea-borne Typhus, Tularemia, and Rat-Bite Fever can now also be added to that list. Businesses have even been ruined by some of them. Like those in Miami being shut-down due to feral-cats spreading hookworm in all the beaches there. The most surprising in my research is that people have already died from cat to human transmitted plague in the USA. Fleas and rats not even required if you have cats around. The cats themselves are carriers and spreaders of the plague. Totally disproving that oft-spewed myth about lack of cats causing the plague in Europe. Cats would have made it worse.
THERE IS ABSOLUTELY NOTHING HUMANE NOR ECOLOGICALLY CORRECT ABOUT TNR. ALL respectable veterinarians and others with the least bit of credible education and morality speak out strongly against TNR. Educate yourselves as well about this morally reprehensible TNR "business". You can start the process by Googling for these postings (include the quotes for each full search-string): "The TNR Con-Game" FACT (Lists and dispels some of the most prevalent lies told by TNR cat-hoarders.) "Be cautious about using any cats taken from outdoors for adoption or you could be held criminally responsible" (Why rabid cats are now being adopted right from shelters. Is YOUR liability insurance up to date and will cover this? I didn't think so.) "Here's another fun aspect of TNR that TNR LIARS never bother to tell anyone, except for telling fellow TNR liars." (TNR con-artist liars are now clipping cats ears only without sterilizing nor vaccines to save money and protect any stray cat from being trapped and euthanized, proof is included in that post.) and "Licensing and laws do nothing to curb the problem." AND "I don't see anyone dumping cats where I live anymore." AND "irreversible consequences to" (This posting contains the ONLY method that actually works 100%, is affordable by anyone or any size of community, and is a PERMANENT fix in less than a year.) Bonus Info: Now you'll know the underlying reason why cat-lickers do this in the first place. Even they aren't aware of why they are more than happy to throw their cats under the wheels of moving cars and still claim they love cats, and why they can't stop themselves from doing so. Google for (include quotes): Cats "Human Territorial Behavior By Expendable Proxy"