No More Homeless Pets News Read more news from the week
of October 24, 2004
Pictured above: Bryan Kortis,
executive director of
Neighborhood
Cats, speaks at the First National
Feral Cat Summit.
Photo by Rick Edwards.
First National Feral Cat Summit
New York City - The first annual National Feral Cat Summit was a sold-out affair, attracting feral colony caretakers and representatives from shelters, animal control and rescue groups from 25 states -- as well as Canada and the Galapagos Islands.
Held October 16 in New York City, the event was hosted by Neighborhood Cats, In Defense of Animals (IDA), and the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA).
The one-day conference focused on the practical application of trap/neuter/return (TNR), which involves trapping cats in a colony, getting them spayed and neutered, returning them to their territory, and then providing food and shelter. TNR is the only method proven to reduce street cat populations over the long-term, thus lowering euthanasia rates.
The summit consisted of TNR-related lectures and workshops presented by people like Bryan Kortis, executive director of Neighborhood Cats; Ed Boks, executive director of Animal Care & Control of New York City; Gail Buchwald, vice-president of ASPCA Cares; and Valerie Sicignano, director of Companion Animal Outreach, NYC In Defense of Animals.
"The National Feral Cat Summit will yield successful, cost-effective and humane results in hundreds of communities across the country," said Sicignano.
During one of the seminars, Kortis addressed the wildlife concerns related to TNR, explaining that TNR benefits both cats and wildlife because it is the only known method that effectively lowers feral cat populations on a long-term basis. Fewer cats means less predation, so TNR is good news for birds and other wildlife. Kortis also cautioned against trying to maintain feral colonies in sensitive areas where the cats might threaten endangered species or other similarly challenged wildlife, emphasizing that relocation is preferred in those circumstances.
The Neighborhood Cats TNR Kit, which was provided to attendees, contains a TNR handbook, a video on how to perform mass trapping, a sample pro-TNR policy presentation, a guide to implementing a community-wide TNR program and a sample TNR workshop outline. All materials are available to the public and may be obtained by e-mailing headcat@neighborhoodcats.org.
The sponsors of the National Feral Cat Summit included PETsMART, PETCO Foundation, Maricopa County Animal Care & Control, the Mayor's Alliance for NYC's Animals, Animal Care & Control of New York City, and the Humane Society of New York.
