Pet Limit Ordinances affect the well-being of animals and people alike by making it more difficult, if not impossible, for foster and rescue organizations to continue helping homeless and abandoned animals while shelters with local city/borough/municipal contracts will be flooded with animals.

The Concerned Citizens for Responsible Government has been formed to defeat the Pet Limit Ordinance in the City of Lebanon and to work with City Council at revising the current Ordinance to provide for improved regulations that will assist City Public Health and Safety Officials to resolve public nuisances and conditions.

Concerned Citizens’ spokesperson Kathy Smith said, “In no way do we want to limit the City's ability to investigate or cite health or cruelty complaints involving animals. In fact, we are asking for a better Ordinance to do just that. We have agreed to seek legal counsel to effect this change.”

The City of Lebanon will vote on its Pet Limit Ordinance at its February 28th meeting. A working meeting will be held February 24 at 4 pm in the Municipal Building, Room 210.

To get involved or for more information, contact Kathy Smith at Kc@fitzkee.com, phone 277-7197. Also, if you are a City resident and are able to circulate a petition to oppose this ordinance, please contact Kathy Smith for a copy.

Further information on Pet Limit Laws is available from Merritt Clifton, Editor of Animal People News, and the San Francisco SPCA's statement:
http://www.21stcenturycares.org/petlimits.htm; and The Feral Cat Blog’s Cat Management in Communities at http://catmanagement.blogspot.com/.

New Freedom Feral Cat Seminar
York County Feral Cat Coalition will hold a public information seminar at 7 pm Thursday, Feb. 24, at St. John Lutheran Church, 175 E. Main Street. The seminar will feature an open discussion on the humane prevention of growing numbers of unwanted cats; methods that are now working successfully all over the country;  and what can be accomplished in New Freedom.

TNR is a more effective use of government and taxpayer funds and also has heallth benefits. TNR, as many of you are already aware, is a method of a nonlethal method of reducing feral and stray cat populations where cats already living outdoors are humanely trapped, evaluated, vaccinated, sterilized and eartipped, for identification by veterinarians. Kittens and tame cats are adopted into good homes. Healthy adult cats too wild to be adopted are returned to their familiar habitats under the lifelong care of dedicated volunteers.

Public resistance to the killing of healthy animals is growing ever stronger. It goes beyond a simple refusal to cooperate and has grown into active interference in municipal efforts to harm cats. Without community support, a thorough trap-and-kill campaign cannot be accomplished.

TNR and sterilization programs reduce public health risks because the cats' health is evaluated and they are vaccinated for rabies. Such programs reduce cat populations in both the immediate and long-term by removing adoptable kittens and strays from feral cat colonies and because healthy, sterile adult cats that remain in the colonies die out from natural attrition.

New Freedom residents who may already be working with a feral colony or those who simply feed and care for strays and castaways, those who have concerns about stray cats or those who own and love their pets, will find this seminar informative. A video presentation from Alley Cat Allies, the national  organization promoting the TNR concept, will be shown and literature will be available.

TNR is a proactive approach to controlling the stray and feral cat population while trap-and-kill is a reactive approach. Can we consciously and morally support killing cats simply because they do not have an address? After all, it us--we "humans" who have created this problem. Let's solve it humanely. Let's encourage our local governments to support TNR programs, such as The City of Philadelphia, whose plans to go no kill includes a TNR program for humane feral and stray cat population control.

Review of all available data concludes that TNR is the only viable solution for reducing outdoor cat populations and studies reported in the Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association (JAVMA) backs up these findings.

The seminar is sponsored by York County Feral Cat Coalition, a division of The Humane Society of Southern Maryland Inc. and York, Pa., http://www.dogrescue.org. For more information, phone Jane Heller 717-845-3797 or Susan Douglas 717-227-8056.

IN THE SPOTLIGHT

First Ever Municpal TNR Contract
Neighborhood Cats receives first-ever municipal contract to implement TNR Atlantic Beach is a small village on the western tip of Long Island with 2000 residents and two miles of beach front - and a large feral cat population.

For many years, the only attempts to control the problem included sporadic trap and remove efforts and some TNR by individuals on a small scale. As a result, the problem grew, impacting the enjoyment of visitors to the many beach clubs and the quality of life of residents. Deciding something had to be done - something new and effective - the Mayor and Village Trustees entered into a contract with Neighborhood Cats to TNR the entire feral cat population in Atlantic Beach. Neighborhood Cats is being paid on a per diem basis up to a maximum amount based on our estimate of how many trapping days we expect the project to require.

Crucial to the success of the program is the hands-on work of the newly formed local group Atlantic Beach Cats and the cooperation and discounted rates offered by local veterinarians. Neighborhood Cats was brought in to lead the effort because our expertise and manpower are required in order to quickly complete the trapping prior to the spring kitten season. Long-term care of the colonies will be the responsiblity of Atlantic Beach Cats.

The contract for a private feral cat organization to carry out a comprehensive TNR program as a municipality's official animal control policy is the first we're aware of in the U.S. We believe this represents a significant precedent.

As more and more municipal officials look to TNR to solve longstanding feral cat issues, the expertise developed by feral cat groups will be increasingly in demand. In many instances, a formal "for hire" agreement will be appropriate and should be considered. A contract allows for clear expectations on the municipality's part and for new funding sources (inc. animal control and pest control budgets) for TNR workers. Our challenge as a community will be to meet the expectations in an efficient, professional manner while always keeping in mind the welfare of the cats is the primary concern. More to come... (by the way, we're off to a great start with the trapping!)

IN THE NEWS

Feral Cat Initiative Launched in NYC
The Mayor's Alliance for NYC's Animals is the recent recipient of a Maddie's Fund grant which could total $15.5 million over the next seven years. The Maddie's Fund grant seeks to further no-kill policies in NYC by increasing adoptions and providing spay/neuter services to low-income companion animal guardians. Recognizing that the humane control of feral cats is also a critical element of any no-kill plan, the Alliance is sponsoring the Feral Cat Initiative.
 
Under the program, Neighborhood Cats has hired two feral cat coordinators to work exclusively on TNR efforts in NYC - Valerie Sicignano (catwoman@neighborhoodcats.org) and Meredith Weiss (zekesen@earthlink.net). Their duties will include creating an Internet-based colony registration system and database, running a volunteer network, coordinating services among the groups sitting on the NYC Feral Cat Council and hands-on assistance for select field projects. The overall goal of the Initiative is to centralize TNR operations, create statistical accountability for TNR, and make sure there is always someone to turn to when it comes to the cats. 
 
Imagine Humane's Innovation Bank features Neighborhood Cats Mass Trapping Program
Imagine Humane, a program of the ASPCA, now includes in its Innovation Bank a comprehensive portrait of the Mass Trapping Program routinely practiced by Neighborhood Cats. Mass trapping is the TNR of an entire feral cat colony at once. The method allows for the immediate stabilization of the feral population, the overnight elimination of most nuisance behaviors, and less work overall for TNR activists due to economies of scale. Imagine Humane's Innovation Bank describes the process in great detail in terms of how to do it, our history in implementing it and where to learn more. To view the Innovation Bank's portrait, click here. To order or download free manuals, click here.
 
Burlington County (New Jersey) Board of Advisors approves TNR Program
On December 15, 2004, the Burlington County freeholders approved a county-wide TNR program funded by the Geraldine R. Dodge Foundation and administered by Dr. Gordon Stull, DVM, and Nature's Refuge. "I feel this is important to the county residents' quality of life as we're looking for ways to control the rabies problem in the county," said Robert Gogats, county public health coordinator. "Veterinarian Gordon Stull is presenting a program to us that will help in those efforts." To read more about this model program, visit the website of the Burlington County Feral Cat Initiative.
 
Urban Cat League produces feral kitten socialization video
Urban Cat League, a NYC based feral cat group, is now offering its recently produced video on Feral Kitten Socialization. The video follows the socialization process of several three-month and four-month old kittens, as performed by UCL President and veterinary technician Mike Phillips. The instructional video is an eye-opening look at how to turn the little ones around.
 
For more info, email UCL at: info@urbancatleague.org
 
To order send a check for $25 made out to Urban Cat League Inc. to:
 
Urban Cat League
PO Box 2476
Times Square Station
New York, NY 10108
DVD or VHS should be indicated; $20 of the price is tax-deductible as a charitable contribution
 
The Animal Rescue Site: Make a difference today!
Click on the "Feed an Animal in Need" button at http://www.theanimalrescuesite.com/ARSreminderW
and give food to an animal living in a shelter or sanctuary -- at no cost to you.
 

Feral Cats in the News
Get the latest news on feral cats around the world from Feral Cats in the News: The Feral Cat Blog. News, information and resources to actively use for cat advocacy and cat management.