Port Colborne, like virtually every city in North America and beyond, is facing a cat over-population crisis. Each year in the Niagara region upwards of 5,000 healthy cats are destroyed in the shelter system alone. Simply put this is unacceptable. It merely continues to perpetuate the mindset that cats are a disposable commodity.
Ted Bettle of the Welland Humane Society has told us that the situation is of epidemic proportion. Kevin Strooband was quoted last week as saying 7 out of 10 cats relinquished at the Lincoln County Humane Society in St. Catharines are destroyed. There is a real cost to the taxpayer associated with destroying these cats which is very conservatively placed at $100 per cat. This means that within the Niagara region alone we as a society are spending upwards of half a million dollars per annum to destroy unwanted cats. Whether you love cats or not, paying to destroy them does not make for good fiscal responsibility nor does it do anything towards resolving the issue. Any way you spin it, it's a pretty dismal return on investment. People are no longer willing to sit back and accept the killing of unwanted pets as an approved or condoned method of animal control.
Two years ago a small group of like-minded residents of Port Colborne got together to investigate this issue and look for more humane and fiscally responsible solutions to this problem affecting our community. We found it in a concept called Trap, Neuter, Vaccinate, Return.
A well organized community TNVR program works immediately to resolve a number of concerns associated with these cats. Once they are sterilized the breeding stops, thereby immediately stabilizing the population. The cats are also vaccinated for rabies and ear tipped in order to readily identify them as a sterilized, free roaming cat living in a managed colony as part of the program. Post surgery the cats are released back into their home territory. Their colony caretaker provides them with appropriate shelter, daily food and water. TNVR also drastically reduces the so-called nuisance behaviours so upsetting to our neighbourhoods, such noisy fighting, injuries, sick and dying kittens and the noxious odour from the urine. It assists in reducing the strain on an already overburdened shelter system by decreasing the influx of kittens. The cats in the colonies eventually die off through natural attrition.
TNVR has become widely accepted throughout the United States over the past decade as the only humane and fiscally responsible solution to this problem and is starting to gain recognition in Canada. Shelter kill rates continue to decline in cities where TNVR is practiced and associated costs are reduced. The alternative of trap and kill, practiced for decades by cities, has done absolutely nothing to remedy the situation as evidenced by the continued problem.
When we last reported to you in March 2010 87 cats had been put through the program. Thanks to the tireless efforts of our volunteers who contribute countless hours of free labour, including the many kind and compassionate people throughout Port Colborne who are the caretakers for these colonies, we have reached the milestone of 225 cats being put through the program to date.
The implications of 225 less cats reproducing throughout our community is significant. Let's use the very conservative formula of 1 female cat and all of her female offspring being capable of producing 3200 cats over a 12 year period. This formula takes into consideration the shortened lifespan of a feral or unowned cat and the high morbidity rate of their kittens without human intervention. Based on 126 out of the 225 cats being female, we're talking about a potential of upwards of 400,000 additional, free-roaming, reproducing cats over a 12 year period that we have avoided as a direct result of this program.
This is a significant achievement in less than two years since program inception. It is a testimonial to what a small, grass roots group, along with the support of their fellow residents and their city, can do to benefit the community. This cutting edge program, unique in the Niagara region, does have something for everyone. It is available and accessible to any PC resident or business feeding these cats, whether it is in their backyard or on their business property. The program has a broad appeal. It is going to continue to significantly impact and decrease the population of the unowned, free-roaming, reproducing cat - something that everyone wants.
2010 was another productive year for the organization. In addition to the cats spayed and neutered through the program, we became incorporated as a not-for-profit. We have applied to the CRA to receive our registered charitable status. Through the continued generous outpouring of support from private individuals as well as businesses, our fundraising committee raised $10,700.00. This amount is above and beyond the city grant of $4,000.00.
We received a fantastic donation of over 100 kgs of cat food and a cash donation from the kind staff and their wonderful clients at Community Living on McCrae Ave in PC. Each December the program coordinator asks the clients to pick a group to donate to as a way of giving back to the community. We were honoured when they picked us.
We were selected by the Brock University 4th year marketing students program to have a new brochure designed for the organization.
We developed a new program that will be launched this year to offered subsidized spay/neuter to cats whose owners are on a fixed income. Limited start up funds for this program have been obtained through a grant from the Port Colborne Hydro Fund. This program will be operated in conjunction with Port Cares who will screen applicants for eligibility.
This is a very exciting development as it will allow us to broaden our outreach and begin to work towards stabilizing the population growth that occurs as a direct result of pet owners not being able to afford to have their cat sterilized, thus adding to the problem. To reflect this end we have officially changed the name of the organization to Port Colborne Feline Initiative.
TNVR really is the only program that makes good business sense when it comes to the issue of unowned, reproducing cats. You recognized this fact in 2009 when you first gave us the opportunity to show you what a small fledgling group could do. Your support sent a very strong message to our community and beyond: Port Colborne does not condone killing unwanted, unowned cats and instead chooses to be humane, pro-active and fiscally responsible when it comes to this matter.
Now a year later and 225 less cats reproducing on the streets of Port Colborne we ask that you continue to support this worthwhile program. Port Colborne has an enviable record of being a visionary, especially when it comes to innovative programs. This is an ideal scenario of a community coming together - residents, businesses and the city - to tackle a very real program. It doesn't get much better than this.
We know we can continue to make positive inroads in this matter and we want to do it together with all the stakeholders and that includes the city. It is a community problem that requires a community solution.
We strongly believe that financial support from the city for our TNVR program, along with our fundraising events and countless volunteer hours is time and money well spent in our community, now and for the future.
