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Our Support and Recognition
A feature article quoted HSHV's Cruelty Investigator Julie Curtis
that "Cats are 50% more likely to die than dogs if left in the cold."
and in a follow-on Letter to the Editor
HSHV's Executive Director Tanya Hilgendorf added:
"Dogs are pack animals and are happiest, healthiest
and pose the least danger to the community when living indoors
with their families.
The same holds true for cats."
Well-intended as these statements may be,
they are in denial of the thousands of cats
who live outdoors year-round (with no other options),
are needlessly discouraging to the many caregivers
in our community who care for them --
and are simply not true.
Unlike feral dogs, outdoor cats pose no danger to the community. They are timid and fearful of people and maintain a very low profile. Most people have never seen a feral cat, despite the thousands living among us. They handle winter weather as well as other Michigan wildlife -- growing thick winter coats and huddling together to share body warmth. Terms like barn cats, yard cats, alley cats depict their long-standing outdoor life styles.
Yes, companion cats are safest and happiest living indoors with their families -- because they were socialized to people when they were kittens -- but they represent only half of our cat population. For the other half -- those who have lived all or most of their lives outdoors -- this is not the case. They view people as scary and prefer to keep their distance. |
Yet many of these outdoor cats have committed caregivers too.
They provide these homeless outdoor cats with food, water and shelter --
and see that they are sterilized --
sometimes with our or others' financial assistance,
sometimes on their own --
to ensure that the cats in their area are no longer reproducing.
Sweeping statements about how cats "should" live ignore the reality of how so many "do" live -- do nothing toward improving the situation -- and denigrate the efforts of the many committed caregivers in our community who are actually working toward a solution. We all wish that every cat could live indoors with a caring family. But that cannot happen while unsterilized cats keep flooding our adoption pool with many more kittens than there are homes for. Since over 80% of these kittens are the offspring of these homeless outdoor cats, it's clear where the problem lies. What is apparently not so clear is that the only way this can happen is through the grass-root efforts of these caregivers. Only they -- using the routine feeding schedule of managed TNR -- can find, identify, trap and sterilize the homeless outdoor cats around them. We should be praising their efforts -- not demeaning them.
To Increase Pet Spay/Neuter Rates... What works Best? A Carrot or a Stick?
About 75% of pet dogs and 85% of pet cats are now sterilized.
This success was achieved voluntarily by convincing pet guardians
that spay/neuter is advantageous to themselves,
their animals, their community and the environment.
Some believe that mandatory pet licensing
is the best way to get the remaining cats and dogs sterilized --
but since in areas where licensing is already in place,
less than 25% of the community complies --
that's very unlikely to increase the number of spay/neuters.
The least likely groups to sterilize their pets are the very old,
the very young, and those with the least income.
What has worked to increase compliance with these groups
are free or subsidized spay/neuter programs.
In our opinion, this would be a better investment of community funds
than the costs of developing and administering mandatory license programs.
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Each winter -- when temperatures nosedive --
well-meaning animal welfare advocates present the media
with educational tips to keep cats and dogs protected from the elements.
In February, the Ann Arbor News ran two pieces
from the Humane Society of Huron Valley: