Monday, July 11, 2005

Who kills more birds...cats or humans? on Cat Out Loud

On Feral Cats from Dogma

Opinion: Trap-neuter-release can work
The News-Press, FL
• To solve the problems of feral cats, the entire community has to get involved, because the entire community contributes to the problem. ...
[Feral Cat Blog! Note: the five-year feral cat study that Carla refers to is “ Modeling feral control using population viability and decision analyses” investigated by Dr. Michael K. Stoskopf of North Carolina State University and funded by Morris Animal Foundation. Here is a summary:
Lay Language Description:
The management of feral cat colonies is controversial. Attempts to develop consensus plans are hampered by differing opinions about the potential effects of different actions on the future population of the colony. This project will use computer simulation models to help evaluate the effects of different feral cat management strategies and conflict resolution techniques to find common ground between groups with different perspectives. Results of this work will aid in the development of improved feral cat management programs.
Accomplishment:
This study provided further evidence that a well-managed neutered feral cat colony will decline in population. The study also showed that it is very important to collect real data that test the validation of population prediction models because different models yield very different results with the same data. During the study, the investigators were successful in bringing together stakeholders and using conflict resolution and decision analysis techniques to help build consensus on how to manage feral cat populations. Sustaining interaction with stakeholders, however, was very important because of the high turnover rate of animal control personnel.]

Feral cat problem back at trailer park
Times Herald-Record, NY
... Estevez said they "did a wonderful job," but fears either a few were missed – feral cats can be notoriously elusive – or some new ones found their way to ...