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According to the American Bird Conservancy (one of the plaintiffs in the case), this type of TNR program "turns cats loose so they can continue to kill birds. Scientists estimate that owned and feral domestic cats are responsible for up to one billion bird deaths each year, perhaps the single largest ongoing cause of avian mortality on the planet."
But cat people have a different take. The volunteers who bring about 80 feral felines to Sun Valley's FixNation every day to be neutered feel like they are helping their communities. Francis Battista, founder of Best Friends Animal Society, which helps fund FixNation, told the Los Angeles Times, "This program has been a boon to animal-control folks because it helps them manage an issue in a way that the community approves. If you take feral cats to a shelter, they're dead."
Cat advocates fear more of L.A.'s homeless felines will be euthanized as a result of the ruling.
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This ruling is crazy. Good decent people are trying to help these cats due to the lack of responsibility of humans. All the animal agencies want to due is put these cats to sleep. They can live a good life, we just need to stop the unwanted babies from being born. This because of birds? I love all animals but this is just ridiclous. Some cash was dropped into someone's pocket. They're birds, it's called the circle of life.
How can they say that it's isn't helping when 80 feral felines are neutered every day? It's OK that cats hunt down and eat mice and rats but not birds? Birds can fly away. What about the poor innocent insects that birds eat?
Aren't all domestic animals entitled to a home, food, and love? When a cat has to live under a house and kill birds for food, and revert back to being wild, do you really think that's any kind of a life for that poor creature? I can't bear to see these poor cats trying to fend for themselves in the freezing cold in my neighborhood. All the while, turning into skeletons and acting afraid and SO stressed out.I would rather see them put to sleep, than let these an animal live like this. Sometimes, having to fight other strays for food, territory, and mating, which extends the tragic circle, until something is done about it. I've seen as many as a dozen females and kittens living together in a burned out garage, all the while, my uncle spending a small fortune on food for them. He died 2 yrs. ago, I don't know who's feeding them now. I just wish people would think about the suffering these strays endure to just survive. I had to put my beloved pet to sleep because of cancer, so I know its not a terrible procedure.The little angels go to sleep, and then the vet gives them a shot of something to stop the heart. It's not easy to experience, but it alleviates their suffering. Do you believe that they go to heaven? I do. That's where they belong, if they can't be taken care of.I can't let a living creature suffer, and I can't support every stray that I find.
On the other hand, lets not forget about all the rodents and other vermin that they eat also. How bad would some city streets be if there were no longer these animals to feed on them?
Sounds ridiculous, how many bird deaths are contributed to disease & being hit by cars, etc? How do they know this for sure, are they filming the cat's? The cat's are just trying to feed themselves the best way they know how. Sounds made-up to me, politics. Bet they wouldn't end a program to help "wild dog" population. I love all animals and believe we should try to help them all. Cat's get a bad rap & are treated like vermin when actually they are very resourceful.
In the Middle Ages they killed off cats too and rats and mice increased and then the people had the Black Plague to deal with that killed thousands.
What about all the kittens they will end up having without any control? Which will
mean more cats able to killed the birds. Rather than less because these cats are
fixed.
Will they next restrict cars because of bird deaths due to automobiles? What about bird strikes that have brought down passenger jets?These people need a reality check.There will always be a food chain in the wild ,and feral cats are part of that. In my area of Southwestern Pa.,I have lost quite a few cats from my colony to foxes,but I haven't attempted to control the fox population,which is small here.I have seen dead foxes on the road also,but realize this will always be a problem as wildlife and people come closer together.
Welcome to El Stupido, California. Home of the O.J. Simpson,Michael Jackson and Robert Blake trials. Dumbest courts in the country!
Sorry George, but that's a ridiculous comparison. I agree that this decision is rather ridiculous and backward (now the feral cat population will remain intact and breed, increasing the feral cat population exponentially) but you can't compare a judge's ruling to the cases you mention. Those cases weren't decided by the courts..they were decided by the population via jury panels. You can't blame the courts because the people serving on California juries are more struck than they are interested in justice.
This ruling makes no sense. I applaud each comment above, and think what Hillary Swank is doing for animals is commendable. She is one of many true animal lovers in the entertainment world. Please, I hope and pray the stars and celebrities who live in the L.A. area and have name recognition will step up for the sake of these cats, who need all the help they can get. I used to live in the Silverlake area of the city, and yes, I care about birds, too. This trap-neuter-release plan is doing a LOT of good, with many unsung volunteers helping. We have it going here in Phoenix. It beats that "maintenance man" using his Weed Whacker to go after a homeless kitty. Thank goodness, that one was saved.
If cats were the only thing birds had to deal with they would be in fine shape. We two legged animals have waged more havoc on birds than cats ever had. Intentionally or not; from ddt poisoning, wind farms wacking them (and bats too), lost habitat, non-native predators (snakes accidently brought into Guam has nearly eradicated native birds) etc. etc. Oh yea, lets blame the cats, by the way where did these yahoos come up with cats killing one billion birds? Convenient figure.
I loveeeeeeeeeee animals!!! The feral cat programs are amazing and have blessed thousands of animals with a second chance at life!
I rescue animals and know the devastation and harm that comes to God's precious creatures when humans decide they no longer want their pet and toss it out a car, leave it to fend for itself on the country road, or attempt to kill it and don't complete the job!
I just rescued a wonderful old dog on Monday that someone attempted to kill with wounds from the top of his eye into his sinuses and trauma wounds to his hip and leg. Is this love? Who could do such a thing?
A horribly emancipated cat showed up in my yard with about a six week old kitten in October. I cried when I washed up the little female after she was with me for two days as the bath water was black with old blood from severe flea bites and infestation. She weighed only about four pounds and was a skeleton yet had managed to take care of her little tiger striped kitten at the expense of her own health. The amazing miracle was that she totally trusted me to love and care for her as she had been feral for months to be so ill. She had obviously at one time been someones pet, what happened?
I could go on and on with stories that would break a pet lovers heart but the blessing of all of them is that with good nursing care, medical treatment, excellant nutrition and being spayed or neutered, most of them are alive to live and be loved in wonderful new forever loving homes.
Stopping a feral cat program that has been in place is absolutely leading to a total disaster of a huge magnitude. People want to help and do not know how.....simple....GET INVOLVED!
Stop sitting on the sidelines and doing absolutely nothing to help. People are the ones who step in and make a difference in this world, one person at a time. United we stand packs alot of force when several people decide to make a difference and learn what they can do to change what seems to be a hopeless situation. There is always a way to help, I know it for a fact!
Contact the feral cat associations like Alley Cats and ask for their help to start a feral cat program in your area. All cats will be safer for it. Do you know that when they help out, the cats are not only neutered and spayed but also given shots, dewormed and medical care? People in the area agree to continuje to feed and water these feral cats at specific sites and provide some type of shelter that enables them to be fed and cared for in all types of weather. Just how it is done in each community varies by who those wonderful cat lovers are but the gift is the cats have a better life.
You cannot tame a feral cat! They go crazy when held captive and will bite and fight to protect themselves. Their kittens if recovered at a young age, can often be rehabiliated and have a chance at becoming pets. When feral cats are cared for in this way, the community is a better place and your house cats that go outside are not harrassed and mated by wild cats with hormones gone wild.The feral cats no longer have to fight for food and know they have a safe place to go to get fed each day.
So please take a stand of faith, step up and make a difference!
Get involved, care enough about innocent lives of pets that have gotten into these horrible situations due to being tossed away to fend for themselves in the first place.
Let's turn hopeless situations into positive life changing, positive miracles! Bless you for reading this and taking the time to make a difference in the lives of innocent animals who just want a chance to live and be loved!
The kindest thing we could do for feral cats is euthanasia. You people have some Disney-like idea of what a feral cat's life is like. Disease, traffic, cruel people are just some of the bad things in a feral cat's life. They are far from their wild ancestors. They don't belong on the streets. Work hard to educate people about things like : spay/neuter makes a healthier pet, and DON'T let your cat outside. If you let your cat out, you risk that it will contract a disease from one of the feral cats, get run over, or simply run away and become part of the feral problem.
This is a Stupid ruling and I for one am allergic to cats but I do a TnR in my area. Feral cats are very sweet and have allowed me to be their guardian. They deserve to live their lives out just like any other creature.
It's amazing how they are quick to euthanize animals but will let people on death row live for many many years and they know what they did was wrong. Pray tell what did the animal do that was wrong?
I believe that this decision is mathematically illogical because it will reduce sterilization rates without necessarily increasing euthanasia rates. Cat advocates can help cats by keeping an open mind about wildlife concerns. It is bothersome to see both sides being dismissive of the other side's concerns. The two groups actually agree on most issues, such as keeping cats indoors, not abandoning pets, getting pet cats sterilized, etc. The lawsuit is an unfortunate step in the wrong direction.