Seeking information/studies on feral cat colony management/TNR

[addiebee]

Hi, Guys. I haven't been on TCS in quite some time. Have had my hands full and sigh... yeah... spending a lot of time on Facebook.

Started researching content for a news release on TNR and feral cat colony mgt. I have already sent an email to Alley Cat Allies and looked at some of the articles on here, but I was wondering if anyone knows of any studies that were done that tracked colony population(s) showing that old catch n kill didn't work but TNR did...

I recall seeing SOMETHING like that out there, but cannot find it now.

Thanks!!!

AddieBee

 

[ldg]

Adrien, PM me your email address. Only the abstract is available online. I can send you several things.

The one you're thinking of is Anderson et al. 2004. Use of matrix population models to estimate the efficacy of euthanasia versus trap-neuter-return for management of free-roaming cats; JAVMA Vol. 225(12), 1871-1876. http://avmajournals.avma.org/doi/abs/10.2460/javma.2004.225.1871

I can email the full study. Basically, it says that via mathematical modeling, they found that with euthanasia you need to kill 50% of the cats for effective impact; for TNR, you need to sterilize 75% of cats. BUT... this is mathematical modeling. It doesn't account for TNR practices, which are remove strays and kittens for adoption. This doesn't account for any removal of cats from colonies.


If you want a more detailed discussion of the 75% number, Felicia Nutter's thesis may be helpful: http://www.carnivoreconservation.org/files/thesis/nutter_2005_phd.pdf I'm sorry - I don't remember if kittens were removed from these colonies. Here is the JAVMA summary of the work: http://www.avma.org/avmacollections/feral_cats/javma_225_9_1361.pdf



Of course, Julie Levy led the way:

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16342526 and http://www.avma.org/avmacollections/feral_cats/javma_222_1_42.pdf

There's also Robertson 2008. A review of feral cat control; J Feline Med Surg. 2008 Aug;10(4):366-75. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17913531


Ed Boks has a summary of successful TNR programs: http://www.edboks.com/uploads/Analysis_of_Feral_Cat_Solutions.pdf

ACR (Alley Cat Rescue) JUST released the results of a nationwide survey of TNR groups: http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/alley-cat-rescues-national-feral-cat-survey-157263395.html


Best Friends conducted an analysis of the COST of TNR vs the cost of catch-and-kill: http://www.guerrillaeconomics.biz/communitycats/methodology.pdf

Personally, I take issue with the number of feral cats used for the estimate in the comparison. Merritt Clifton of ANIMAL PEOPLE has the best feral cat population estimates out there, IMO, and if you want that information, I'm happy to provide it.


Now - this is a large PDF document. It is the Board of Commissioner's (of the County of Oscoda, MI) Agenda and meeting minutes. Download it, and then search the PDF for "Kumpf." What you're looking for is this quote by the former director of the National Animal Control Association, in a piece by Alley Cat Allies included in this package of stuff (I don't have the Alley Cat Allies piece otherwise):

%e National Animal Control Association amended its feral cat policy in 2008 to be more supportive of Trap-Neuter-Return, in part because, as then president Mark Kumpf put it, “t’s recognizing that in some cases, certain jurisdictions and communities are more interested in maintaining a stable cat population than they are in simply bailing the ocean with a thimble.”

He continues: “What we’re saying is the old standard isn’t good enough anymore. As we’ve seen before, there’s no department that I’m aware of that has enough money in their budget to simply practice the old capture and euthanize policy; nature just keeps having more kittens.” (9)

Bold, italics - my emphasis. This is the then President of the National Animal Control Association - calling trap-and-kill "bailing the ocean with a thimble," and declaring that it is simply not cost-effective.

The citation: 9 “Taking a Broader View of Cats in the Community,” Animal Sheltering, September/October 2008, http://www.animalsheltering.
org/resource_library/magazine_articles/sep_oct_2008/broader_view_of_cats.pdf (accessed February 10, 2011).

The citation is a broken link. BUT :lol3: in searching it, I found the Alley Cat Allies piece used above. http://www.alleycat.org/document.doc?id=534

Oh - I checked my files. I have the PDF of the Animal Sheltering Magazine interview with Mark Kump - so I have the source article in PDF if you want that.

There are more TNR studies.... But I think this covers what you're looking for? I suspect you'll need the full articles though. Again, just provide your email address via PM, and I'll send up a package.

 

[feralvr]

YAY for Laurie!! Great, great post above! :sun: