Cat rescuers are a fearless, determined breed. As you may have read in the Winter 1998 issue of Animal Watch (p. 33), they dedicate themselves to the neediest felines - those who are abandoned, feral or stray. If you'd like to pitch in on the local level, but can't picture yourself searching through back alleys, maybe cat-saving online is more your speed. Here are a few Web sites that can help you get involved in helping homeless cats.
The Campus Cat Coalition (CCC) at the University
of Texas at Austin (www.ae.utexas.edu/cats) demonstrates a volunteer
group's successful and ongoing efforts to humanely control local
feral cat populations. CCC's site clearly explains the group's
approach, using "TNR," or the trap/neuter/release method
for adult feral cats; catching, socializing and adopting out feral
kittens, and adopting out adult strays. If you're a student yourself,
you may be interested in CCC's spay/neuter and pet abandonment
educational materials. Posted at this site is a public service
message and related articles that you can use as a springboard
to spread the word on companion animal overpopulation at your
local campus community.
Although most universities and colleges
have policies that do not allow students to have companion animals
on campus, these rules and regulations are often broken and are
difficult to enforce.
There are two main sources for feral cat populations on college
campuses: (1) students leaving after the semester who abandon
their unneutered cats; (2) many colleges are located in residential
areas, and the areas' stray cats are attracted to dumpsters behind
cafeterias. Some campuses ignore the feral cat populations and
some hire pest control companies to trap and kill the animals.
Georgetown University in Washington, D.C. tried to eliminate their
feral population in 1993 by dumping dirt and then cement into
the holes and crevices that their feral cat population used as
homes to shelter in.
Some progressive colleges have established trap/neuter/return
(TNR) schemes that have been extremely successful in controlling
the number of feral cats on campus.
The Feline Medicine Club at the UC-Davis School of Veterinary
Medicine was started in 1986. The aim was to increase knowledge
about felines. One of their goals was to neuter the feral cats
on campus. From 1986 to 1989, 250 cats were sterilized by senior
students under the guidance of the vet school faculty. The teaching
hospital provided free surgeries.
Many campuses have implemented similar nonlethal programs for
ferals. Probably one of the most famous is the Stanford Cat Network
program at Stanford University in California. This was started
in 1989 when the university estimated the cat population at 1,000
to 1500 and planned to trap the cats to be euthanized.
The caretakers, students and staff, who had been feeding the cats,
presented a humane plan to sterilize the cats and take all future
compliants instead of campus police or the maintenance crew. Tamed
cats and kittens were placed into homes. They reduced the population
to around 300 and new students take over the program each year
from those who graduate.
In 1994, The University of Texas contracted a pest control company
to trap and remove the feral cat population. Several staff members,
including Jan Shrode, and Austin Humane Societies' Karen Medicus,
called a meeting to suggest alternative and humane methods of
control. The UT Campus Cat Coalition was established and they
take care of the cats on campus. Other universities in Seattle,
Wash, in Orlando, Fla, and the California Polytechnic State University
in California, all have implemented nonlethal control of their
feral cats.
The UC-Davis and Stanford programs have continued for over a decade.
This should allay the fears of anyone who says that on-going care
for colonies is impossible to maintain.
You can read all about the Campus Cat Coalition at the University
of Texas at Austin by checking their web site at: www.ae.utexas.edu/cats.
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