Need for education never greater...

Ms. Kuruziak's (Niagara Wildlife Haven) letters to the Editor in the Welland Tribune on Feb 20 and March 4 are an indicator that there has never been a greater need for community outreach and education on the issue of the feral and homeless cat crisis sweeping the Niagara region and beyond.

Ms. Kuruziak’s comment that the proposed PC community-wide TNR program is 'a poorly thought out plan to spend taxpayers money on just 20 feral cats’ is both puzzling and erroneous. As Ms. Kuruziak was never present during any of the meetings with city staff, the Welland and District Humane Society or the three presentations made to Mayor Badawey and members of council, she does not possess any first hand knowledge of the various components of our proposal. Any funding granted will be used to help pay for the sterilization of as many feral and homeless cats as possible. Depending on the price that we are able to negotiate with sympathetic veterinarians this could be upwards of 50 cats in year one of the plan from these funds alone. Based on our research this proposal will in fact result in savings to the taxpayer over the long term, as well as being a humane and ethical solution.

Ms. Kuruziak seems to be unaware that our proposed community wide TNR program, and all that it entails with respect to the dedicated year round care, assessment of cats/kittens for potential adoption, carefully monitored feeding and seasonally appropriate shelter is only one component of the ultimate strategy to stop the flow of unwanted cats and kittens being abandoned outdoors or relinquished to a shelter. We, along with NAfA and CAAN are actively working towards implementation of all of the various components required to create a ‘No Kill’ community, a model that will over time eliminate the use of euthanasia as a primary method of animal control.

Ms. Kuruziak’s statement that these cats are not indigenous wildlife and should therefore not be afforded any protection smacks of nativism, a theory which purports that an animal’s value stems from its lineage and that a species worth is determined from being at a particular location first. We disagree and feel that all living creatures deserve both respect and protection.

This tragic situation has been created by human neglect. It is a public problem demanding a public solution. All the stakeholders within a community must collaborate to create long term solutions, including implementation of programs that will address the root causes of the problem itself. No matter what biases we all bring to the table, the continued destruction of unwanted and abandoned companion animals is never going to accomplish this.

chilling reality...

There's a bone chilling air swirling around the Niagara region. It's got nothing to do with winter but everything to do with numbers. It is estimated that 5,000 cats and kittens are displaced each year in our region alone. Frightened felines that for whatever reason are no longer wanted by their caregivers are relinquished at a shelter or worse, abandoned outdoors to fend for themselves. A small percentage of these cats find another home to call their own. Tragically most do not and they end up being destroyed. Many do not realize that there is a hefty price tag attached to this activity. The cost to society is conservatively placed at $100.00 per cat. This would include the administrative costs of intake, housing and food, destroying and disposing of the body. This means that our region alone is spending upwards of $500,000.00 per annum to destroy unwanted cats. Tragically the number is far, far higher when one factors in all the other unwanted companion animals that are destroyed in the same fashion. Utter madness does not even come close to putting a label on this. As a 'civilized' society, can we not implement more proactive methods to deal with this crisis and resolve it over the long term? We are working together with our fellow animal welfare groups to make this happen in the Niagara region. Community wide TNR would be a positive first step in stabilizing the feral and homeless cat population.

a new dawn...

It seems like ages since the initial dialogue commenced between us and a member of city council. In only 8 short weeks we have made contact with so many wonderful, caring people from around the region of Niagara and even further afield. A nationally renowned rescue group from the U.S., the Merrimack River Feline Rescue Society, cheered us on with advice and moral support, even pledging to send us all the Canadian coin that they receive in their donation boxes. Closer to home, NAfA and CAAN have been with us every step of the way. The Welland and District Humane Society has been so very generous with their time. Saying thank you to these people simply doesn't seem to be enough. It's clear that those who care passionately about this issue don't need much - it is reward enough to see their many years of hard work paying off in the form of helping another group that just might be able to make a difference.

After meetings with city staff, a member of council and the Welland Humane Society in early January, we made two presentations to Mayor and members of council at budget meetings. After our second presentation it was voted unanimously by the council budget committee to receive draft approval for the 2009 budget. Nothing is final yet, however we remain optimistic that the Mayor and city council will realize that a community wide TNR project is the only fiscally responsible and humane method of solving the feral and abandoned cat crisis over the long term. A new day is dawning when animal welfare will take the place it so justly deserves in our society.