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Unleashed: Community Cats Ordinance is an Essential Component of Making Baton Rouge a No-Kill City

“Baton Rouge has spoken very clearly that it wants to become a No Kill community,” begins Companion Animal Alliance (CAA) Executive Director Beth Brewster. “That will never happen if this [ordinance] does not pass.”

At the September 24 meeting, the Metro Council is scheduled to vote on the community cats ordinance, which is an amendment to the regulations regarding animals.

If approved, the ordinance would save the lives of thousands of unowned, outdoor cats and kittens by allowing them to be trapped, spayed/neutered, vaccinated and released back into their environments rather than trapped and killed as is likely with the current system.

This past January, CAA initiated a Trap/Neuter/Release (TNR) pilot program. The results—in terms of lives saved—have been astounding.

By August 2012, the current protocol caused the impoundment and euthanization of 1,066 cats and kittens. In August 2013, that year’s total had already risen to 1,183 felines. With the implementation of the TNR pilot program, Brewster reports that number plummeted to 418.

An added benefit is that fixing the felines tends to stop nuisance behaviors including spraying, yowling and reproducing uncontrollably. In fact, over time, the number of animals tends to decrease.

Furthermore, the TNR pilot program has already saved the city and taxpayers money. Because grant money is available to cover the $35 cost of spay/neuter and volunteers trap and release the cats, TNR program costs no more than the $20 in routine vaccinations all cats entering the shelter receive. By contrast, the trap/kill model costs approximately $200, which includes personnel to trap the animal, transportation, vaccinations, housing, food and euthanization drugs.

In addition, both national studies and local experience at LSU demonstrate TNR does decrease the feral cat population. When one volunteer began her own TNR program in 1992, she estimated LSU’s campus was over run by 500 and 700 free-roaming cats. Over the past two decades, the LSU School of Veterinary Medicine and local vets performed over 3,000 spay/neuter surgeries and now the number hovers close to 50 cats on campus.

Despite these benefits and a mechanism in the ordinance that allows unwanted cats to be removed from an area, the most vocal opposition at the August Metro Council meeting came from songbird supporters. Although many studies cite habitat loss as the greatest factor contributing to the decline of the bird population, local birders maintain releasing cats back to their area of origin will further decimate the songbird population.

It’s argument Liz Holtz has heard before. As a staff attorney for the national Alley Cat Allies advocacy organization, Holtz has tracked the trend toward TNR across the country. Cities from San Jose, CA, to Jacksonville, FL—including Kenner, Walker and New Orleans—have ratified similar ordinances.

“These songbird advocates are deeply misguided,” Holtz counters. “If they truly want fewer cats outside, they should support trap/neuter/return—not because they love cats—but simply because this is the only tool we have to reduce the feral cat population.”

Holtz contends false allegations abound regarding the results of returning the vaccinated, fixed

felines to their home territory. She says those objections detract from the real issue: limited options available to deal with the uncontrolled breeding of feral cats.

“These arguments assume we have a better way. We simply don’t,” she asserts. “You can do nothing; you can trap and euthanize; or, you can trap/neuter/return.

“So, when [the Baton Rouge community] realizes that, that’s when they’ll focus on finding practical solutions,” she says. “Right now, it seems people just don’t want cats, and they think that’s a possibility. Unfortunately, it’s not.”

That’s because the status quo perpetuates an endless cycle of reproduction. “When Animal Control removes some cats at random and they are euthanized,” Holtz explains, “very quickly the population breeds back to the number that area can sustain.

“When it becomes clear that this is the only choice,” Holtz says, “that’s when the community changes.”

To make your views known on this issue, locate your Metro Council representative’s email and phone number at the brgov website. The meeting will begin at 4 pm September 24th at 222 St. Louis St., 3rd Floor.

Ben and Jen (foster care) were found living on the streets with their four siblings. Ben (the black and white) and Jen (the calico) absolutely love to play together and then follow a good romp with a nice long nap. At just over three months old, these easy-going kittens could fit into just about any family. While they would love to be adopted together, each could grow accustomed to other animals as well.

Camillia (#48300) is a female yellow lab/terrier mix puppy.

Kate (foster care) is a longhaired Persian mix with a gorgeous torti patterned coat.

 

Dickens (#48680) is a small adult, male, dachshund/terrier mix.

Evander (#48990) is a young, male Mastiff mix.

Community Cats Ordinance is an Essential Component of Making Baton Rouge a No-Kill City

Taelor (foster care) is a female, striped calico kitten.

All these pets have been spayed/neutered and vaccinated and litterbox trained. Many other adoptable dogs, puppies, cats and kittens are available from Companion Animal Alliance, http://www.caabr.org/#!adopt/cihc.