Can you put pen to paper

CookieCat

Posted with Jan's permision
Dear Rescue/ Cat welfare groups and concerned individuals.
Cats, cats every where.And where is there for the public to go?Dublin is over run with Feral cats. The cats are suffering and the public are getting NO HELP.

It's no Joke to find 35 cats living in your garden, it causes unnecessary suffering to the animal as it is left to forage for food,out in all elements and left to breed year after year.
What the public need is direct action.The situation has gone way beyond animal rights and animal welfare it is now a human responsibility issue. These cats exist because irresponsible owners did not neuter/spay their pets and left them to their own devices.
Many of these cats can be neutered/spayed to halt the problem off over breeding, some may have to be euthanased due to illness and malnutrition. But one thing that is certain for the cats and the public alike something needs to be done at GOVERNMENT LEVEL.This problem has gone ignored for to long. Solution a GOVERNMENT FUNDED MASS TRAP NEUTER AND RETURN SCHEME.
I run kitten adoption, I like many other groups do what I can when I can, it's a joke we cannot possibly keep up with the level of breeding in Dublin alone.
Below is a brief out line of ONE situation in Blackrock. It typify's the calls that I am receiving daily, with the public desperate for help. The bigger organizations choosing to ignore the problem thus adding to the over breeding.And adding to the publics frustration,causing not only a pandemic over breeding of cats, but adding to social and mental health problems within these communities who have to find a solution to the problem.
Is it any wonder that the public are taking matters into their own hands and disposing of these cats in inhumane ways or contacting pest control.
Something needs to be done.Money needs to be made available to the public for continuos neutering/spaying projects.It works in other countries and it can work here. We have the volunteers, we have the will....All we need now is a government funded project.

It's time to lobby your TD's and ask questions. Please send a letter of concern to your own local TD.Uk members can lobby. The dept of tourism...The Lord Mayor of Dublin and any other Gov body.
(Shall come back and post contacts for these bodies)

Below is the letter I sent out to 32 Individual groups Gov bodies who may be in a position to listen.




......................................................................................................................
My Name is Dr Jan ****** and I run kitten adoption. To save outlining what we do the link to our web site is WWW.kittenadoption.ie.
I would like to talk "in person" to yourself and or to a member of your party who can give me some information and direction on the publics problem with "FERAL CATS".
And outline what your party/ the government of this county is doing and what is in place to address the problem?And what is your party's mandate on the welfare of animals in Ireland?

Daily I am receiving recycled calls from members of the public looking for help with cat problems. The calls are being re cycled as many other feline welfare organizations have answering machines and do not return call, the frustrated public keep trying till they find a human to talk too, most of the time they are being informed that there is NO HELP available from said organizations.Hence "recycled calls.I cannot ignore these calls. The public have a right to help and advice.

I have found myself dealing with a situation in the Vincent's Park area of Blackrock.
Kitten adoption was contacted by a Miss *** ******* regarding a colony of cats in her garden. She has 35 cats/kittens "using" her and her neighbours property.
Ann first contacted a welfare group back in 2002 (This can be corroborated by her vets) The advice given back then was keep feeding them and someone will be out. No one ever came despite numerous calls made over the years. *** is trying to be responsible and did neuter/spay as many cats as she could out of her own pocket. This woman is a care'r for her elderly mother and was for her disabled father before he passed away, so money was short.So cats were left behind and continued to breed. I was out to see first hand the situation and I saw over 35 cats and kittens on this property. This is scandalous. Not only were some of the cats/kittens beyond health recovery.
The enormity of this situation has taken it's toll and has now become a SOCIAL and MENTAL HEALTH ISSUE with *** and her elderly mother.Her Dr can verify this also. As can the vet who has tried to help her as much as he could.
Her neighbours are (rightly) up in arms, threatening all sorts to *** for feeding these cats, and the problem will not go away without immediate and proper intervention.???Poison/substance was thrown over her wall and glass, her mother and her have been threatened. As stated to me....Quote>>>The Police were not interested a Cats Aid and Cats Protection were also contacted and told me to keep feeding the cats and some one would be out.no one came The DSPCA did listen to me and asked me to bring the cats to them...All 30 odd cats. I can't drive and did not have any way of getting these cats to MountVenus and could not afford to spay over 30 cats out my own pocket. I have done what I could but i feel NO ONE is listening or helping me.<<<Un Quote.

Please note this is not to apportion blame to any other organization, but to find a solution to Dublin's feral/stray cat issues.

I/kitten adoption have now got involved, and will work towards solving this out of MY OWN POCKET.(I have also contacted the DSPCA see copy of e-mail below)
And may I stress that Miss ****** problem is not an isolated case, we get many calls per week and every cat that is not neutered or spayed only goes to add to the serious over population problem, which affect both cats and the public alike.

Now I get NO Gov grant from the Dept of Agriculture, I depend on public donations and good will.
To sort this situation alone will run into hundreds. Kitten adoptions expenditure is already well over 500E and there is still many cats to be trapped and spayed and either relocated or euthanased.

I would like to request a meeting and see if any help is forth coming from any government body to positively address the issue of Dublin's feral cats.
We need a "Public Pot" to help welfare organizations fund TNR Projects..On going...One cat left to breed will only un do any good work done by any organization...This does Not include the one off payment from the Dept of Agriculture....That IMO is like trying to solve world hunger with a packet of M and M's, it is NOT enough and is not aiming at the heart of the problem.A proper plan of action needs to be directed to the core, which is Trap Neuter return/relocation, or at least a dignified end for these cats....Euthanasia by a designated vet not PEST CONTROL COMPANIES, which is the practice at the moment.

The situation in BLACKROCK could have been avoided if the "BIGGER" cat welfare organizations had offered a solution back in 2002. Now it has landed on my doorstep and I cannot ignore. The Feral cat problem in Ireland is not one of animal welfare, animal rights, but human responsibility and a Governmental issue which needs to be brought to each political offices attention.

Yours Dr Jan L****** (Dr of Psychology)

Jan L *******
*********** Rd
********
Co Dublin.
01-4580855.

I shall also forwards a written letter to your department/society.

Nala

That situation that lady is in sounds horrendous. There is an awful problem with feral cats in Dublin at the moment, there is the same amount of feral cats in Dublin as there are people. (1-1.5 million). A few years ago there was a dreadful problem in our neighbourhood, there were loads of feral cats with no owners. It didn't help that most of them were females, and most of the kittens were female too! (nearly all torties). An elderly neighbour of mine rounded up a load of them and had them neutered, as did my family. The thing that annoyed me was that, even though our elderly neighbour was a widowed pensioner, the vet didn't give her a discount, even though she was getting several cats neutered and the vet knew the situation behind it all. Neutering is getting more and more expensive, vets need to lower their prices. It's neutering, for fúck's sake.
It's a simple, short, routine operation. A multiple cat discount wouldn't go amiss either. A vet is not going to go bankrupt for neutering 3 cats for the price of two (or something like that) every once in a while, given the ridiculous state of affairs that is Dublin's feral cat population.

doctor evil

Not trying to be funny but why are cats being returned or relocated if they are pests in much the same way as rats?. Granted some can become good pets but so can rats. Would it not be cheaper to run just a euthanesia policy as opposed to trap/neuter/return/relocate since they are not owned by any one and Dublin is over populated by them. I am a cat owner my self so I`m not anti-cat.

hadook

First of all - how do you tell the difference between a feral and a tame cat who's terrified cos it's been trapped? A friend of mine works as a vet nurse & has been handed "ferals" in traps to be pts by pest removal companies that are microchipped. If a mass cull of feral cats in any area occured then a lot of people would be missing a pet cat...

Secondly (and most importantly)- if you remove all the ferals in an area then more will move in. And the problem starts again. If you trap-neuter-return then the healthy adult cats will stick around & chase off most of the newcomers. No kittens means a stable healthy adult population.

If more people neutered their own pet cats & ferals were TNR'd then feral cats wouldn't be a big problem.

I have 2 of the cats from Blackrock here in my house. 2 days ago they were terrified of me - today they're asleep on a dog bed in front of the fire. If I move they'll run to a safe spot to watch me but will come back after a few mins & settle down again.

Tabitharose

well put Hadook I transported two of the Blackrock kittens, one of whom sadly was not health recoverable, and had to be pts, and met several others in Kitten Adoption over the Bank Holiday. Beautiful cats & kittens all of them who deserve a second chance

CookieCat

As this is a human responsibility problem.It's because of un educated humans that DUBLIN has such a problem. Cats are not native to Ireland, they are not a "wild creature" Each one of the feral cats in Dublin is the product of the public not N/S their cats. Even with a mass cull ( Which studies from other countries show inadequate) Without education and N/S. In 2 years we could be back to Pandemic numbers

The lives of these cats can be a miserable one . A feral cats life expectancy is on average 6 years.The ones we have in monitored colonies do live a retaliative, happy well fed and monitored life.
I have no problem with PTS un health recoverable kittens/cats or if they cannot be returned or offered as safe alternative location, yes it is kinder to PTS.

Every one in Ireland could soon become affected by stray cats in their garden, many on this board have been already.

Should the government not put in place adequate measures to resolve the problem.

We have the volunteers, we have the means and the will to do this, we don't like many other welfare groups have the MONEY.

I have never seen Jan so angry, yesterday Robinson lost his fight for life, despite the best vet care, she had to take him and hold him while his life was extinguished.
Other orginisations were called way before the Blackrock situation got so bad.
Why was nothing done.:(
Claire

Capall86

Nala wrote:

. The thing that annoyed me was that, even though our elderly neighbour was a widowed pensioner, the vet didn't give her a discount, even though she was getting several cats neutered and the vet knew the situation behind it all. Neutering is getting more and more expensive, vets need to lower their prices. It's neutering, for fúck's sake.
It's a simple, short, routine operation. A multiple cat discount wouldn't go amiss either. A vet is not going to go bankrupt for neutering 3 cats for the price of two (or something like that) every once in a while, given the ridiculous state of affairs that is Dublin's feral cat population.

I think you have a very small minded view on vet's prices, not all vets are like that and i think your commetns there cast the profession on a whole as a bunch of rip off artists. Do you understand completely the whole cost involved in neutering an animal? If you don't go find out, i know what it is and it ain't much, and many vets do give discounts. You just had a bad experience, but i think you should take back your general statement, and not paint every vet with same brush.:mad:

Also there will never be a mass capture and neuter programme, the cheapest thing is to dispose of the cats in a humane manner, as it is the only conciuevable method of reducing the numbers of cats and then indtrodicing a compulsory neutering programme invloving fines and government subsidation of neutering costs to pet owners, wioth fines for people who do not have their pet neutered.


(awaiting attack)

CookieCat

A mass trap/neuter and spay drive is needed to contain the problem. It is the only proven method to work. Eradicating (killing) stray and feral cats will not solve the problem -- it will create a "vacuum effect" and new cats will move in and start the breeding process all over again. As people continue to abandon their "unaltered" cats, there will be feral cats. Hudson has proven that the only solution is TNR (Trap/Neuter/Return) . I direct you to American TNR drive in Hudson.
For the first time ever Hudson has no feral cat problem and the existing feral managed colonies are stable, healthy and well cared for. The Columbia Greene Humane Society expressed a noticable difference in cat intake and decrease in "problem calls" since the TNR was implemented in Hudson.

Advantages of TNR (Trap/Neuter/Return):

-Decreases the overall population of feral cats and stop the birth of more kittens
-Decreases citizen complaints about "nuisance" cats
-Eliminates behavior like territorial spraying (odor) and mating (yowling/fighting)
-Improves health of the feral cats in managed colonies
-Decreases the intake of stray and homeless cats, freeing up valuable shelter space
-Decreases the number of euthanasia at substantial cost savings
-Increases cooperation of Citizens who care about cats
-Fosters compassion, responsibility and tolerance in communities

Gordon Gekko

Not sure whether this idea is a runner, and maybe someone with the relevant contacts could check it out, but how about involving some of the veterinary schools in a TNR drive?

It could provide valuable 'real-life' experience for veterinary students to perfect what will surely be one of the most common operations they will perform during their careers, while enabling large numbers of TNR's to take place.

What do people think?

CookieCat

Gordon spooky you should say that we are indeed "Sussing" this out. Keeo the ideas positive ones coming.
Claire.

Capall86

Gordon Gekko wrote:

, but how about involving some of the veterinary schools in a TNR drive?

Only one veterinary college in ireland, and to be honest it is a joke at this stage....

If you beleive the government will fork out for a TNR you are living in a dream world.....

Plus you still have cats everywhere, if you return them, so the eaisest thing is just to dispose of them humanely. Youi have to be cruel to be kind.

morgana

No you don't. Yes you still have cats. But a managed colony. This is different as they are fed and checked regularly. They will not reproduce and keep rat and mice populations down. It has been seen over and over again, if you completely remove one species from an area others will move in and create an even worse problem

Lauragoesmad

My brother just moved into a house about 5 months ago in marino and when they moved in there were 7 adult wild cats that they knew about living in the garden, now there are about 15 and loads of kittens. He want to get them all neutered and spade but its so expensive. Does anyone know if the blue cross will neuter cats at a cheaper rate as my brother and his neighbours are willing to pay for it themselves but 25 or 30 cats will probably cost a bomb. I think one of the main problems is owners of male cats not getting them neutered because they know its not them that will be stuck with the kittens.

CookieCat

My my what a defeatist attitude to have Capall... a FYI. There has been more progress done within the last few months regarding the feral cat phenomena than has ever been done before and it's all mainly down to one person who keeps chipping away.

Never say never, that attitude gets nothing achieved. Have you written to any political parties asking what their policy is. And another FYI a question on animal welfare was brought up at question time on the 27th of Oct....Now that's a first.
From small acorns and all that.
Claire.