Free Roaming Cat Task Force Draft Report

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DRAFT Testimony from several members of the veterinary community cited that many families have one or more inside cats that they claim as their pet but also sometimes feed and provide less substantial shelter for one or more outside cats that they do not claim as their pets. (Appendix meeting notes from partners meeting) THIS PROBLEM impacts each and every person in our county. There are too many cats and many of the cats that are lucky enough to have owners aren’t being cared for in a way that protects our community health, our wildlife and the cats themselves. Shelter statistics can’t even begin to identify how many cats are out there and cats don’t understand boundaries between communities and counties. We would never tolerate dogs roaming the streets yet we turn our head to cats and shrug them off as okay outside. And although cats may be able to survive on the streets, the survival isn’t always good survival. Cats currently stay in the shelter system two times longer than dogs adding to the cost of sheltering. Cats are less likely to be returned to their original owner adding to the cost of sheltering. Cats are 4 times more likely to be exposed to rabies (in 2013 there were 20 cats and 5 dogs in North Carolina that tested positive for rabies- this does not represent the number of cats that died from rabies virus that were not tested). Cats are currently a large burden on the resources that we have and they don’t have to be. The independence of the free roaming cat and it’s loose association with a caretaker or family make it a more complex issue requiring a multimodal approach if we are to decrease the overall number of cats. We will focus on public education, community partners, targeted spay/neuter programs and identification as the main targets in our plan. The free roaming cat task force (FRCTF) was established in December 2013 and has held 13 public meetings with special focus on partners in the community, cat caregivers, wildlife experts and concerns, and general public comments. We’ve learned about community programs in Asheville, Charleston, Gainesville, Spartanburg, Wake County and Miami that align with Orange County demographics and general community concerns. Although each of these communities took a different approach to controlling their cat population, they all had common themes that we wish to incorporate into our plan- education of the community, community participation, and partnerships with community groups to allow more cats to be spayed/neutered, vaccinated and identified. Each of these communities was incredibly proud of their accomplishments and their ability to work together and help end unnecessary euthanasia (appendix meeting notes). From these meetings, we feel we have been able to identify ways to reduce cat euthanasia today and tomorrow even further by reducing the intake of cats into the shelter system. With decreased numbers of cats in a community, the overall health and welfare of the cat improves as does the public health of the citizens in the community. In addition, the overall cost for sheltering cats and cat nuisance calls decreases dramatically leading to less tax dollars spent on sheltering. 2. Goals 2