Sent: Wednesday, August 29, 2007 3:54 PM
To: 'Mike.T.Dannenbaum@nhmccd.edu'
Subject: Feral Cats

Mike,

We are so sorry the college has made such a remarkable decision. Can you help me understand the situation?

Can provide any statistics about how many cats have actually entered a building? A feral cat would be unlikely to approach people or a moving door. If a cat enters a building, Cypress Creek or the college facilities department could very likely trap that cat quickly. This risk factor would need to be evaluated in light of the number of past complaints in the last year.

Would you tell me your concern about adults and children attempting to pet the cats? It would seem that either the cat will allow the petting or it won’t. Cats generally do not attack unless they are rabid. Rabid cats are very rare, and in a managed colony, all cats are vaccinated for rabies. There is no zootic disease that I know of that is transmitted by petting a cat. If the cat is able to be petted, it is likely strayed from the neighborhood near the college, so perhaps the college should open a discussion with its neighbors about the proliferation of neighborhood cats on campus. Maybe the neighbors could be convinced to spay or neuter their animals to keep them from roaming, or actually confine them, as the law dictates. If a cat is able to be petted, it's likely that a staffer could pick it up and put it in a carrier for Animal Control to get involved.

On the UofH campus, students and faculty relax on benches and feed the large squirrel population. Some of the squirrels are tame enough to pet. There is more likelihood of a squirrel biting someone than a cat doing so, and somehow this college addresses that possibility. If Tomball College wants to present a compassionate front to the community, you might consider interfacing with UofH to find out how they manage their risk.

You mentioned two dangers to the cats, getting caught in machinery and seriously injured and drowning in storm drains. Again, your risk assessment would need to include how many cats are caught in machinery, whether or not the machinery can easily be made cat-proof, and what plan could be made in the event this happens. It would seem to me that should a cat become seriously injured, you would want to euthanize it at that time. Cypress Creek could then be called in to get the cat, or if it was as badly injured as you intimate, it could be picked up in a blanket, put in a carrier, and taken to the vet tech department for euthanasia. Has the machinery been damaged by cats being caught? I would think that there might also be a danger that wildlife could do the same, and the college risk assessment might include the possibiliy of protecting the machinery from invasion.

As for the storm drain issue, feral cats face many dangers, and this is one. I'm not sure which is worse: living a few years, neutered, free of disease, fed daily, and one day being drowned in a few terrifying minutes, or being trapped, left in the trap for literally hours, taken to new surroundings along with predator animals, all in fear, left for more hours in the trap, transported to a shelter where strange noises and smells abound, including the sight and smell of humans, which feral cats avoid, and then held down and euthanized when still healthy. Tough choice. I believe you were trying to make me (and perhaps yourself) feel that the decision to trap and remove the cats is actually for their benefit. It’s not.

There are many colleges in Texas that have programs to manage their feral cat colonies with the cooperation of the community.

University of North Texas - http://orgs.unt.edu/feralcat/
Texas A & M is - http://www.cvm.tamu.edu/afcat/
Texas Tech University - http://media.www.dailytoreador.com/media/storage/paper870/news/2007/05/01/News/Volunteers.Aid.In.Controlling.Feral.Cat.Population.Around.Tech.Campus-2889151.shtml
University of Texas at Austin - http://www.ae.utexas.edu/cats/

I’d like to specifically point out a couple of quotes from the UoTA page. The highlights are mine.

“Feral cats have long been an issue on the UT-Austin campus. In the past, the administration periodically had the cats trapped and destroyed in an effort to eradicate them. It was only a quick fix and never really solved the problem. Eventually more cats showed up.”

“The system we use to control the campus cat population is commonly referred to as "TNRM" (trap, neuter, return, manage). It's innovative, it's non-lethal and we have eleven years worth of statistics to prove that it really does work! We catch adult cats in cage traps and transport them to local veterinarians where they're examined, spayed/neutered, vaccinated, ear tipped (for identification), and microchipped. After a few days of recovery time they're brought back to campus and released into their home territory. We then feed and monitor them daily. Feral kittens are caught, socialized, and placed up for adoption. The purpose of our program is to decrease the number of cats on campus. We do not add feral cats to our colonies from other locations. We are not a shelter.”

“Currently there are only 30-40 remaining sterilized adult cats living on campus in small colonies. This number has gradually decreased over the years through natural attrition. No new litters of kittens have been born here for the past 6 years! Those numbers show that the program is working and working very well! With these results, we're happy, the administration is happy, and most important of all, the CATS are happy!”

Alley Cat Allies (http://www.alleycat.org/) has done extensive research into feral cat colonies, and their conclusion is that removing all the cats will provide an open door for a new colony of cats to move in. Until the public spays and neuters their own cats and keeps them indoors, the real result of removing all the cats in a colony is to open the door to a new colony. Instead, managing the colony keeps new cats from coming in and reproducing quickly.

Nathan Winograd founded the no-kill advocacy program. Please see their solutions page: http://www.nokilladvocacycenter.org/

When we talked to Cypress Creek about what happened to the cats, they said that although the wildlife was relocated, the cats were taken to the SPCA. Here's the kicker: the SPCA cannot adopt out feral cats. Also, their policy is to make an appointment for a cat to be received into their program—an appointment at which a physical and behavioral evaluation is completed. Because Cypress Creek does not own the cats, nor do they know how many cats they would have on a particular day, it’s doubtful they made an appointment . I made a two-minute call to the SPCA to ask what happens when a feral cat is brought in, and their spokesperson told me the SPCA euthanizes immediately. Whitewashing this fact by saying “the cats were taken to a shelter” does not mask the fact that the Tomball College cats are dead. Shelters in Houston euthanize between 300-500 cats and kittens a day during the summer. The staff at shelters does not have the time to socialize feral cats.

A maintained colony means that the cats are fixed, vaccinated (so they cannot transmit rabies), and treated for parasites. They are like owned outdoor cats except that they fear people. In this way, the cats can live in peace side by side with students, faculty, and library visitors. The college gets good publicity, and the cats get to live. But the best benefit for the college is that the existing managed colony will decrease over time due to natural causes since they do not reproduce and they keep most other cats out.

We believe the plan we outlined to you (and that you passed on to the administration) was innovative, but would involve little cost to the college. Volunteers could be recruited to feed the cats and maintain the cat feeders. Donations of cat food are available. The feeders could not only serve as protection for the cats from the elements and predators, but would eliminate the feeding of cats where wildlife can get to the food. The feeders are also excellent "billboards" which can hold brochure holders to increase public awareness of spay/neuter and of the college feral cat program, and display a warning not to feed the cats after dark and to clean up leftover food when you leave the area.

I cannot understand the administration's stance that the cats should be killed, that the cats are a safety hazard to the public, and in particular, I cannot understand the willingness of the college to expose itself to such negative publicity, especially in the light of the Michael Vick media circus.

Is there a possibility of you or the administration reconsidering this decision?

Thanks,
Harold
Tomball SOS

Links and Information:

Fact Sheet
Email to Buddy
Response from Mike
Email to Mike




Home How we work Why we do it Do we feed near you? How you can help Adopt a rescued kitty About feral cats and barn cats Police Information Contact us & Friends Blog Tomball College	Crisis at Tomball College Sent: Wednesday, August 29, 2007 3:54 PM To: 'Mike.T.Dannenbaum@nhmccd.edu' Subject: Feral Cats Mike, We are so sorry the college has made such a remarkable decision. Can you help me understand the situation? Can provide any statistics about how many cats have actually entered a building? A feral cat would be unlikely to approach people or a moving door. If a cat enters a building, Cypress Creek or the college facilities department could very likely trap that cat quickly. This risk factor would need to be evaluated in light of the number of past complaints in the last year. Would you tell me your concern about adults and children attempting to pet the cats? It would seem that either the cat will allow the petting or it won’t. Cats generally do not attack unless they are rabid. Rabid cats are very rare, and in a managed colony, all cats are vaccinated for rabies. There is no zootic disease that I know of that is transmitted by petting a cat. If the cat is able to be petted, it is likely strayed from the neighborhood near the college, so perhaps the college should open a discussion with its neighbors about the proliferation of neighborhood cats on campus. Maybe the neighbors could be convinced to spay or neuter their animals to keep them from roaming, or actually confine them, as the law dictates. If a cat is able to be petted, it's likely that a staffer could pick it up and put it in a carrier for Animal Control to get involved. On the UofH campus, students and faculty relax on benches and feed the large squirrel population. Some of the squirrels are tame enough to pet. There is more likelihood of a squirrel biting someone than a cat doing so, and somehow this college addresses that possibility. If Tomball College wants to present a compassionate front to the community, you might consider interfacing with UofH to find out how they manage their risk. You mentioned two dangers to the cats, getting caught in machinery and seriously injured and drowning in storm drains. Again, your risk assessment would need to include how many cats are caught in machinery, whether or not the machinery can easily be made cat-proof, and what plan could be made in the event this happens. It would seem to me that should a cat become seriously injured, you would want to euthanize it at that time. Cypress Creek could then be called in to get the cat, or if it was as badly injured as you intimate, it could be picked up in a blanket, put in a carrier, and taken to the vet tech department for euthanasia. Has the machinery been damaged by cats being caught? I would think that there might also be a danger that wildlife could do the same, and the college risk assessment might include the possibiliy of protecting the machinery from invasion. As for the storm drain issue, feral cats face many dangers, and this is one. I'm not sure which is worse: living a few years, neutered, free of disease, fed daily, and one day being drowned in a few terrifying minutes, or being trapped, left in the trap for literally hours, taken to new surroundings along with predator animals, all in fear, left for more hours in the trap, transported to a shelter where strange noises and smells abound, including the sight and smell of humans, which feral cats avoid, and then held down and euthanized when still healthy. Tough choice. I believe you were trying to make me (and perhaps yourself) feel that the decision to trap and remove the cats is actually for their benefit. It’s not. There are many colleges in Texas that have programs to manage their feral cat colonies with the cooperation of the community. University of North Texas - http://orgs.unt.edu/feralcat/ Texas A & M is - http://www.cvm.tamu.edu/afcat/ Texas Tech University - http://media.www.dailytoreador.com/media/storage/paper870/news/2007/05/01/News/Volunteers.Aid.In.Controlling.Feral.Cat.Population.Around.Tech.Campus-2889151.shtml University of Texas at Austin - http://www.ae.utexas.edu/cats/ I’d like to specifically point out a couple of quotes from the UoTA page. The highlights are mine. “Feral cats have long been an issue on the UT-Austin campus. In the past, the administration periodically had the cats trapped and destroyed in an effort to eradicate them. It was only a quick fix and never really solved the problem. Eventually more cats showed up.” “The system we use to control the campus cat population is commonly referred to as "TNRM" (trap, neuter, return, manage). It's innovative, it's non-lethal and we have eleven years worth of statistics to prove that it really does work! We catch adult cats in cage traps and transport them to local veterinarians where they're examined, spayed/neutered, vaccinated, ear tipped (for identification), and microchipped. After a few days of recovery time they're brought back to campus and released into their home territory. We then feed and monitor them daily. Feral kittens are caught, socialized, and placed up for adoption. The purpose of our program is to decrease the number of cats on campus. We do not add feral cats to our colonies from other locations. We are not a shelter.” “Currently there are only 30-40 remaining sterilized adult cats living on campus in small colonies. This number has gradually decreased over the years through natural attrition. No new litters of kittens have been born here for the past 6 years! Those numbers show that the program is working and working very well! With these results, we're happy, the administration is happy, and most important of all, the CATS are happy!” Alley Cat Allies (http://www.alleycat.org/) has done extensive research into feral cat colonies, and their conclusion is that removing all the cats will provide an open door for a new colony of cats to move in. Until the public spays and neuters their own cats and keeps them indoors, the real result of removing all the cats in a colony is to open the door to a new colony. Instead, managing the colony keeps new cats from coming in and reproducing quickly. Nathan Winograd founded the no-kill advocacy program. Please see their solutions page: http://www.nokilladvocacycenter.org/ When we talked to Cypress Creek about what happened to the cats, they said that although the wildlife was relocated, the cats were taken to the SPCA. Here's the kicker: the SPCA cannot adopt out feral cats. Also, their policy is to make an appointment for a cat to be received into their program—an appointment at which a physical and behavioral evaluation is completed. Because Cypress Creek does not own the cats, nor do they know how many cats they would have on a particular day, it’s doubtful they made an appointment . I made a two-minute call to the SPCA to ask what happens when a feral cat is brought in, and their spokesperson told me the SPCA euthanizes immediately. Whitewashing this fact by saying “the cats were taken to a shelter” does not mask the fact that the Tomball College cats are dead. Shelters in Houston euthanize between 300-500 cats and kittens a day during the summer. The staff at shelters does not have the time to socialize feral cats. A maintained colony means that the cats are fixed, vaccinated (so they cannot transmit rabies), and treated for parasites. They are like owned outdoor cats except that they fear people. In this way, the cats can live in peace side by side with students, faculty, and library visitors. The college gets good publicity, and the cats get to live. But the best benefit for the college is that the existing managed colony will decrease over time due to natural causes since they do not reproduce and they keep most other cats out. We believe the plan we outlined to you (and that you passed on to the administration) was innovative, but would involve little cost to the college. Volunteers could be recruited to feed the cats and maintain the cat feeders. Donations of cat food are available. The feeders could not only serve as protection for the cats from the elements and predators, but would eliminate the feeding of cats where wildlife can get to the food. The feeders are also excellent "billboards" which can hold brochure holders to increase public awareness of spay/neuter and of the college feral cat program, and display a warning not to feed the cats after dark and to clean up leftover food when you leave the area. I cannot understand the administration's stance that the cats should be killed, that the cats are a safety hazard to the public, and in particular, I cannot understand the willingness of the college to expose itself to such negative publicity, especially in the light of the Michael Vick media circus. Is there a possibility of you or the administration reconsidering this decision? Thanks, Harold Tomball SOS Links and Information: Fact Sheet Email to Buddy Response from Mike Email to Mike

Crisis at Tomball College

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