Articles: TNR – trap, neuter, return

Australia’s War on Feral Cats

cat behavior,  cats,  Steve Dale,  TNR - trap, neuter, return
Australia is at war. The enemy, according to the government are feral cats. Be warned that what you are about to read is true. According to the Australian Government Department of Environment and Energy in an stepped-up effort to protect and in some cases save endangered indigenous animal species, by 2020: Two million feral cats…
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Aquaman Rescues Cat

cats,  TNR - trap, neuter, return,  veterinary health
When seeing a community cat struggling on ice over a pond, and continuing to fall through, 21-year old Wabash College wrestler Darden Schurg took matters into his own hands. He jumped into the icy water, and swam 30 to 40 yards to the cat. He scooped up the cat and likely saved a life. While it…
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Cats have not always had it so great In Mexico, considered by some historically to be vermin or just an annoyance. “Indeed, many people in Mexico and have historically treated cats like the very vermin they help to control,” says Janice Chatterton, founder of the SPCA Puerto Vallarta. Cats weren’t spay/neutered, much less taken indoors. However, that’s changing through much of the country, particularly in urban areas. One way to tell is simply to walk into a pet store in Mexico City or Leon – two larger Mexican Cities. Or area where lots of Americans and Canadians visit and live, such as Cancun or Puerto Vallarta. These pet stores are selling lots of cat litter. Obviously, you only require litter if cats are indoors. Dr. Cesar Morales, director Veterinary Congress de Leon adds, “And people are being educated to offer behavior remedies, which in the past were only available for dogs.” Of course, most truly indoor only cats are spay/neutered. The secret to population control is spay/neuter – and that remains a challenge, both for cultural reasons and costs. Increasingly, there are no cost and low cost options available And culture is changing, though that doesn’t occur overnight. Trap-Neuter-Vaccinate-Return (TNVR) has been shown around the world to be the right thing to do. By “fixing” and vaccinating cats, humane population control occurs. The cats are fed and often looked after by caretakers. Feral or community cats live around the world, often thriving at resorts – including many resorts in Mexico. At the El Dorado Royale resort in the Riviera Maya region of Mexico’s Gulf Coast has taken TNVR to a new level. El Dorado Royale got ahead of the game, proactively doing the right thing for cats.. General Manager Clay Sawyer explains that they call their concept the Cat Café: “Coco’s Animal Welfare is a nonprofit organization focused on promoting animal care through awareness and hard work. They have their clinic at Playa del Carmen, and they work on a daily basis to spay/neuter street cats and dogs and promote adoption and good practices. They were invited to establish a cat café at El Dorado Royale, so the feral cats in the area do not reproduce and are well cared for.” This began by humanely rounding up all the cats living at the resort. They were spay/neutered, vaccinated for rabies, and even de-wormed. Next, Coco’s Animal Welfare came up with a novel idea: allowing cats to stay in first-class accommodations. Bungalows were designed and built to mimic the buildings where visitors stay. Clearly, visitors are enthralled that the cats have such cool digs. Signage explains the Cat Café cat village, which is easy to find, located pretty much dead center at the resort (albeit on a back road). Their cool digs are also practical. Cats are provided cat food, which is kept out of the elements, and the bungalows offer cats a dry place off the ground and shelter from storms. Do the cats use their cool digs? “Of course,” says Sawyer. “Cats are smart, aren’t they?” Today, there are about 15 adult cats on the sprawling property. The cats take advantage of their meals, so native wildlife—like lizards and birds—are more likely to be left alone. Ricardo Pimentel toils in the trenches. Tourists see a part of Cancun, but not typically the outskirts where Pimentel operates a sanctuary called Tierra de Animales, where aside from dogs and cats he even saves turtles, goats, sheep or whatever comes along. “There’s lots of ignorance about cats,” says Pimentel. “People get them as kittens, they never spay or neuter them. There are thousands of cats on the street, most of them are feral, and most of those cats have FIV or (feline) leukemia, and they spread it to other cats.” In Puerto Vallarta cats over-populate in lots of places, including a popular park near the River Cuale. Local store owners and restaurateurs around the park reportedly pay kids about ten pesos a piece to kill as many cats as they can, however they can Nancy and David Goldstein are retired snowbirds in Puerto Vallarta, wintering from the Minneapolis/St.Paul area for three months at a time. Nancy says, “Not only do these cats (killed in the park) die a horrible death, but I’m worried about the not-so-humane education these children are being taught. They’re encouraged to kill.” However, Mexicans aren’t alone. Cats are arguably – in some ways second class citizens in the U.S, notes Puerto Vallarta resident is Suzanna Persa, who some call “the crazy kitten lady.” Persa bottle-feeds the kitties, gets them spay/neutered – usually paying a low cost from her own pocket, as a local veterinarian offers her a discount. And she eventually sends the cats on their way to friends or friends of friends back in the U.S. or adopts them locally. “Good work is being done throughout Mexico,” Persa says. David and Nancy Goldstein were all in when their daughter Jill founded Pause4Paws a few years in Puerto Vallarta, a non-profit welfare group with a feline focus. They’re an umbrella group which helps to fund local financially strapped non-profits. Pause4Paws helps to fund spay/neuter, emergency surgeries and vaccinations. The result of their organized funding has made a difference in thousands of cat lives. Pause4Paws has also delivered well over 100 cats from Puerto Vallarta to America. They insure the cats are spay/neutered and checked for potential infectious disease and/or parasites. And the cats are indeed adopted. “Education is changing this (in Mexico), particularly with younger people,” adds Lola Cortina of San Miguel de Allende, where she founded a sanctuary for cats, Sancuario Feline Rey Ashoka, a no-kill facility. She regularly appears on local radio informing cat owners about needed veterinary care, behavior issues and busting myths along the way. Morales adds that in Leon for every three cats seeing a veterinarian, there are seven dogs These numbers aren’t all too different that the U.S. However, Morales adds that cat caretakers in Leon actually are willing to spend far more on felines compared to canine, and that’s not typically the case in the U.S. Morales adds, “For many young couples, cats are the new dog.” Persa adds, “In the end Mexico is a large country with a lot of people who simply have little education or resources – but the good news is that cat welfare is gradually changing. If cats can be considered real members of the family, they will be cared for – because in this culture family is where it’s at.”

Cats In Mexico: Times Are Changing

Cat Cafe,  cats,  Featured,  TNR - trap, neuter, return,  Uncategorized,  veterinary health
Cats have not always had it so great In Mexico, considered by some historically to be vermin or just an annoyance. “Indeed, many people in Mexico and have historically treated cats like the very vermin they help to control,” says Janice Chatterton, founder of the SPCA Puerto Vallarta. Cats in Mexico weren’t spay/neutered, much less taken…
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U of I Springfield Mandates End to TNRV Community Cat Program

cat behavior,  cats,  Featured,  feral cats,  parasites,  TNR - trap, neuter, return
I’m unsure I was aware of the University of Illinois at Springfield even existing.  I certainly wasn’t aware of their community cat program. Now, according to a report in the Springfield State Journal Register, no one will any longer be allowed to feed or tend to the cats, which had been trapped and spay/neutered, vaccinated…
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Mexico's El Dorado Royale Resort Treats Cats Right

cats,  Featured,  feral cats,  kitten,  Spay/Neuter,  Steve Dale,  TNR - trap, neuter, return,  veterinary health
Trap-Neuter-Vaccinate-Return (TNVR) is the right thing to do. By “fixing” and vaccinating cats, humane population control occurs. The cats are fed and often looked after by caretakers. Attempting to adopt cats that are truly feral isn’t a fair proposition. Because they’re terrified in shelter settings, they are less adoptable and more susceptible to illness. Feral…
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Cats In Mexico, No Fiesta, But It's Changing

animal shelters,  cat behavior,  cats,  Featured,  Steve Dale,  TNR - trap, neuter, return,  toxoplasmosis,  veterinary health
Sometimes assumptions are made, and an issue appears black and white – when it’s really a complicated calico, a mix of hues and colors. Cats have not always had an easy time in Mexico, though in many parts of the country their welfare has improved and continues to evolve for the better – in other…
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TNR Attacked Again, Without a Solution

animal shelters,  cat behavior,  cats,  Featured,  Steve Dale,  TNR - trap, neuter, return,  veterinary health
The  National Geographic Society supports such excellent work, so I don’t understand how they can print a blog in their Cat Watch section called “TNR is Dangerous to Cats and Other Animals.” The blog was authored by Daphna Nachminovitch, senior vice president of cruelty investigations for the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA), which makes what…
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Supporting Trap-Neuter-Vaccinate-Return

Best Friends,  cat behavior,  cats,  Featured,  Steve Dale,  TNR - trap, neuter, return,  WGN Radio
Illinois State Senator Linda Holmes is sponsoring Senate Bill 641, Amendment 1, which will allow counties, if they choose, to use their existing pet population control funds to humanely reduce the outdoor cat population through trap-neuter-vaccinate-return (TNVR) programs and to sterilize the pets of county residents who are eligible for Social Security disability benefits. This…
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Trap-Neuter-Vaccinate-Return Testimony in Illinois

cats,  Featured,  TNR - trap, neuter, return
Trap-Neuter-Vaccinate-Return is increasingly the terminology and the practice to deal with community cats. In Illinois, after some outlandish allegations from Illinois Department of Natural Resources a special fact-finding task force was created to suggest some realistic options. My testimony is below, followed by Anne Beall, researcher and author Community Cats: A Journey into the World of Feral…
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Speaking Out on Kristen Lindsey Case

animal cruelty,  cats,  Featured,  feral cats,  TNR - trap, neuter, return,  veterinary health
Dr. William Folger speaks out about regarding his expert testimony in the trial of Dr. Kristin Lindsey, offering a better understanding of what really did happen. Lindsey is the veterinarian who posted on her Facebook page an image of cat impaled by the shaft of the arrow which she shot April 17, 2015. In the…
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Steve Dale is a certified animal behavior specialist who has been a trusted voice in the world of pet health for over 20 years. You have likely heard him on the radio, read him in print and online, and seen him speaking at events all over the world. His contributions to advancing pet wellness have earned him many an award and recognition around the globe.

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