Treatment by Country
Domestic cats can be found on every continent except Antarctica. Control of free-roaming dogs and cats is a worldwide problem. Beyond pragmatic and scientific considerations, cultural heritage, ethical beliefs, and social and economic impacts play critical roles in efforts to address it. The legal status of free-roaming and community cats varies from location to location, as do the histories and efforts of TNR programs. There are numerous governments supporting trap-neuter-return. The following highlights some of the TNR issues around the world: AustraliaIn a Feb 17, 2017, news release in the Sydney Morning Herald, Threatened Species Commissioner Gregory Andrews reportedly summarized the reason for the federal government's intention to wipe out 2 million feral cats - about a third of the population - by saying that they are "the single biggest threat to our native animals, and have already directly driven into extinction 20 out of 30 mammals lost." This cull is planned to go until 2020. CanadaAcross Canada, municipalities are replacing old animal control bylaws with "responsible pet ownership" rules intended to direct the obligations of pet behavior to their owners. A common feature of the accelerating trend is a requirement that owners get a license for their cats and ensure they do not roam. In January 2012, a bylaw officer in Merritt, British Columbia, removed cat food and asked the Royal Canadian Mounted Police to consider criminal charges against those feeding the community cats. No charges were laid, but the rescue group's business license was revoked and it was forced to move from its storefront location. The City of Toronto, Ontario, includes TNR in its animal services and has a bylaw specifically addressing TNR and managed colonies. The Toronto Animal Services offers spay and neuter for colonies that are registered and have an assigned trained caretaker. DenmarkTNR was practiced in Denmark in the mid-1970s, as reported at the 1980 Universities Federation for Animal Welfare (UFAW) symposium in London. Denmark's Society for the Protection of Cats practiced both tattooing and tipping the ear of the neutered cats to identify them. FranceIn 1978, the city of Paris issued a Declaration of Rights of the Free-living Cat. In that year, Cambazard founded cole du Chat and TNR would its first cat, continuing to help thousands of cats in the following years. IsraelLike Turkey, Israel struggles with a continually increasing population of stray cats. Cats exist in every location with people, from the southernmost city of Eilat to communities in the Golan Heights. Moreover, it is illegal in Israel to remove cats from the streets as a result of pressure from Let the Animals Live. Due to large amounts of food left by people feeding them, colonies of cats are continuing to increase, with estimates putting the population within the city of Jerusalem at 2,000 cats per square kilometer. Efforts to trap, neuter, return the cats within Israel are not working, as the population is too large to feasibly catch enough cats to make a difference. Moreover, there is no national agreement on what to do regarding the cat population. As a result their population is increasing with no future plan of action. In January 2019, from a push by people who feed the cats, Jerusalem plans to instill "feeding stations" throughout the city. The goal is to facilitate specific areas for feeding to help the populations of stray cats and to improve their welfare. This plan has been criticized by ecologists and conservationists, stating that it does nothing to help the welfare of the cats, with Amir Balaban of the Society for the Protection of Nature stating that "If someone cares about animals, they should take them home." ItalyKilling feral cats has been illegal in the Lazio Region, which includes Rome, since 1988. A study in 2006 found almost 8,000 were neutered and reintroduced to their original colony from 1991 to 2000. It concluded that spay/neuter campaigns brought about a general decrease in cat numbers among registered colonies and censused cats, but the percentage of cat immigration (due to abandonment and spontaneous arrival) was around 21 percent. It suggested that TNR efforts without an effective education of people to control the reproduction of house cats (as a prevention for abandonment) are a waste of money, time and energy. Since August 1991, feral cats have been protected throughout Italy when a no-kill policy was introduced for both cats and dogs. Feral cats have the right to live free and cannot be permanently removed from their colony; cat caretakers can be formally registered; and TNR methods are outlined in the national law on the management of pets. South KoreaNegative attitudes towards cats in general and free-roaming cats in particular are culturally entrenched. Cats are culled for meat, or for body parts used in concocting health aids. The 2011 South Korean amendment of its Animal Protection Law required humane methods to be used in the transportation and euthanasia of animals. Some areas have government supported TNR programs, but these programs are often scorned by the public and poorly managed. Negative attitudes and fear towards cats in general have been slow to change and free-roaming cats may be subjected to abuse or violence. In recent years, however, South Korea's attitude toward homeless cats has improved. New ZealandThe Department of Conservation (DOC) is legislatively mandated to control feral cats on public conservation land. It has eradicated feral cats from several offshore islands. Control techniques include poisoning, trapping and shooting. Lethal controls follow efficient and humane best-practice techniques and adhere to the Animal Welfare Act 1999. In 2017, the New Zealand Companion Animal Council released its National Cat Management Strategy Discussion Paper, in which they advise that "when stray cat management is justified, non-lethal methods of removal (e.g. rehoming or best practice managed, targeted trap-neuter-return [mtTNR]) must always be the first option." This discussion recognized the limited value of mtTNR in some situations. Their goal is for all cats in New Zealand to be responsibly owned and that cats are humanely managed in a way that protects their welfare and the environment. TurkeyTurkey has a significant problem with free-roaming dogs and cats and the country is struggling with ways to manage the problem. Its Animal Protection Law prohibits killing "ownerless animals" except where permitted by the Animal Health Police Law. They are required to be taken to animal shelters established or permitted by the local authorities. In keeping with the tenents of its main religion, most Turks are very much against euthanasia of animals for "population control;" recent efforts to curb an ever-increasing population include TNR for roaming cats and dogs. United KingdomThe earliest documented practice of trap-neuter-return was in the 1950s, led by animal activist Ruth Plant in the UK. In the mid-1960s, former model Celia Hammond gained publicity for her TNR work "at a time when euthanasia of feral cats was considered the only option". Hammond "fought many battles with local authorities, hospitals, environmental health departments" but stated that she succeeded over the years in showing that control "could be achieved by neutering and not killing". The first scientific conference on "the ecology and control of feral cats" was held in London in 1980 and its proceedings published by the Universities Federation for Animal Welfare (UFAW). Subsequent UFAW publications in 1982, 1990, and 1995 were the primary scientific references for feral-cat control for many years. In 2008, the Scottish Wildcat Association began utilizing TNR of feral cats to protect the regionally endangered Scottish wildcat. Their goals include: Saving the genetically pure Scottish wildcat Removing all feral cats from the region Using humane, neutering-based feral cat controls Establishing buffer zones to prevent feral cats returning to the areaUnited StatesCurrently, there is no applicable federal law that controls the feral cat issue. A few states have recently recognized the need to establish programs to control feral cat populations since their effects on wildlife have now been more widely studied and the efficacy of euthanasia for population management has been criticized. These laws vary in their approaches. The Endangered Species Act and the Migratory Bird Treaty Act, have played a role in setting forth policy on feral cats. The federal case, American Bird Conservancy v. Harvey, puts the challenge of bird advocates under these federal laws in response to cat programs front and center. The merits of this case have not been decided but have the potential to impact both sides of the issue. In a January 2013 legal brief, Alley Cat Allies provided evidence that at least 240 municipal or county governments in the United States had enacted ordinances supporting TNR; a ten-fold increase from 2003. New Jersey, California and Texas had the highest number of local ordinances. New York City-based organization Neighborhood Cats has cataloged local ordinances in 24 US states. Model ordinances are available from Neighborhood Cats, Alley Cat Allies, and the No Kill Advocacy Center. On January 29, 2019, the Hawaii Invasive Species Council adopted a resolution supporting the keeping of pet cats indoors and the use of peer-reviewed science in pursuing humane mitigation of the impacts of feral cats on wildlife and people. TNR of cats is illegal in Alaska, owing to a law against the release of cats into the wild, even if they were originally captured there. This has left trap-and-kill the only legal method of controlling the feral cat population there, however the law against TNR is not well enforced and there are proposals to exempt sterilized cats from the rules. Governments have been sued to try to block their TNR efforts. In December, 2010, an injunction was granted to prevent a planned TNR program of the City of Los Angeles until an environmental review was completed under the California Environmental Quality Act. The judge did not rule on any environmental issues, or prohibit other organizations from doing TNR in the city. Some caretakers have been prosecuted for taking care of feral cats. The perplexing issues of where a "feral" cat fits in local ordinance depends on the consideration as to whether they are pets or wildlife and whether they are "owned" or not. Many ordinances restrict feeding of wildlife (excluding birds). Then there are ordinances that restrict how many pets a person may own, and those that disallow free-roaming pets. In 2011, charges against Danni Joshua of Vandercook Lake, Michigan for "allowing animals to run loose" were dismissed when she agreed to have her colony of 15-20 cats relocated. In 2012, 78-year-old Dawn Summers was sentenced to community service for 'hoarding"; she was feeding up to 27 community cats within a managed colony in a city-sanctioned program in Biloxi, Mississippi. Alley Cat Allies criticized the decision, stating that the community cats should not have been considered owned by the caregiver. The Virginia Supreme Court found a zoning ordinance too broad in 2013, when Henrico County charged Susan Mills for caring for feral cats, which the county said was not a permitted activity under the zoning. A circuit court judge had ordered her to stop feeding the cats, but that part of the decision was not enforceable. Opponents of feral cats have also been prosecuted for violating animal-protection laws by trying to harm or kill the animals. In 2007, Jim Stevenson stood trial for shooting a cat from a colony in Galveston County, Texas, which he reportedly did after observing the colony cats hunting endangered piping plovers in the area. The trial resulted in a hung jury because of a gap in the law stating that ownership of the animal had to be proven, an issue which has since been resolved. In December 2011, wildlife biologist Nico Dauphin received a suspended sentence for attempting to kill feral cats with rat poison in Washington, DC.
