SAVING COMMUNITY CATS: Case studies from the real world Julie Levy, Maddie s Shelter Medicine Program Shaye Olmstead, Operation Catnip
Felis catus Cats may be the only species to domesticate themselves Have been living successfully outdoors alongside human society for 10,000 years
Neuter-Return programs Trap-Neuter-Return Shelter-Neuter-Return AKA Feral Freedom Back to neighborhoods
Operation Catnip Alachua County, Florida
Catnip TNR: How it works Non-profit organization County-wide free program founded in 1998 Once monthly mass spay/neuter clinics UF vet school Volunteer vets and staff 200+ cats at each clinic Residents borrow program traps and bring cats to clinic, recover cats over night and then return to field Funded by small grants and donations
By the numbers Catnip s free county-wide litter prevention TNR program spayed and neutered >38,000 cats via TNR since 1998
Cat euthanasia plummets: 81% 42%
Then something happened... Frequent conversations with animal control officers and the shelter director to solve citizen reports about cats unearthed more concerns: How come you only care about cats in the field? Why can t you do something about the cats here in the shelter? These cats are going to die today.
One day s euthanasia list
Catnip SNR begins: How it works County shelter sends the euthanasia list to Catnip and rescue groups daily Catnip selects cats from the list eligible for SNR Came in to shelter as strays No immediate threat in neighborhood Healthy or can be treated back to health 3 months an older Catnip transfers cats to its spay/neuter clinic then returns cats to their neighborhoods
It started with just a few cats from the euthanasia list... 911 cats saved in 2012
Catnip becomes the biggest life saver in the county
Saving cats in Alachua County 87% live release rate for cats
Next up... A better way Working from the euthanasia list results in more wasted animal care days, cost, stress, and disease Change to proactively transfer cats from ACAS to SNR program to reduce shelter stay and crowding On first day available (current stray hold is 3 days) Better yet, on day of impound directly from the field Or better yet, spay/neuter at the shelter Continue cat nuisance complaint mitigation = happy neighbors! Continue litter-prevention TNR of cats in field
Feral Freedom First Coast No More Homeless Pets Jacksonville, Florida
2007: An experiment in life-saving Duval County = City of Jacksonville Largest land-mass county in US 857,000 people ~143,000 community cats Jacksonville Animal Care and Control Impounded 13,365 cats Average population of 200-300 cats in the shelter Adopted out 521cats URI rate >80% Live release rate <10%
Timeline of the Jacksonville decision to accept a feral cat program Rick DuCharme asks if ear-tipped cats from the city shelter could be given to FCNMHP and returned as part of managed populations Ebenezer Gujjarlapudi, Director of the Environmental & Compliance Department for Jacksonville, contemplates the request and determines if it s good for some why not for all and offers FCNMHP all feral cats
The Year of Big Solutions Feral Freedom, August 2008 Partnership between a nonprofit TNR group and the county municipal shelter to reduce cat intake and euthanasia Funding from Best Friends Animal Society All feral, community, and outdoor stray cats that come into JACPS are turned over to FCNMHP for TNR Targets nuisance cats in the community
How it works Citizens borrow traps from the municipal shelter Animal control officers pick up trapped cats from citizens or citizens bring them to the shelter FCNMHP picks up trapped cats twice daily for transfer to FCNMHP Spay/Neuter clinic for TNR
How it works Cats have surgery, ear tip, vaccinations, parasite treatment if needed Cats housed overnight for recovery
How it works Cats returned to trapping site the next day Educational material left at houses near trapping/release site
By the numbers 19,800 cats 1,369 sent to rescue 217 euthanized 1,021 trapped more than once
Shelter crowd control
Saving lives
Saving lives
2 years later... municipal code updated The City of Jacksonville recognizes the need for innovation in addressing the issues presented by feral, free-roaming and other community cats. To that end it recognizes that there are community care givers of cats, and acknowledges that properly managed community cats may be part of the solution to the continuing euthanasia of cats...
Community cats Community Cat means any free-roaming cat that may be cared for by one or more residents of the immediate area who is/are known or unknown; a community cat may or may not be feral. Community cats shall be distinguished from other cats by being sterilized and ear tipped; qualified community cats are exempt from licensing, stray and at-large provisions of this ordinance and may be exempt from other provisions directed toward owned animals.
Community cat management program Required Sterilization Vaccination against rabies Ear tipping If a person is providing care, cats must be fed daily and cats must not be allowed to suffer Caregiver certification program may be implemented by the city
Other progressive code updates Adding options for moving pets out of shelters sooner Litters of puppies and kittens less than 6 months old without a nursing mother have no required hold period No hold period for feral animals Due to the low reclaim rate and high euthanasia rate for cats, all cats that do not have positive, traceable identification... may be sterilized immediately upon intake and placed in the adoption area as soon as 2 days after impound (but still have 6-day required hold)
Charleston Animal Society Charleston, South Carolina
Charleston Animal Society CAS founded in 1874, new shelter and spay/neuter clinic in 2008 Non-profit open-admission shelter for Charleston County with >8,000 annual cat intake >60% cats euthanized in 2009 Community cat TNR/SNR program started in 2010 following revision of county ordinance Funded by ASPCA and Petsmart Charities
How it works 1. ACO receives the complaint and responds and obtains a history on the cat 2. ACO then educates the complainant on the benefits of free roaming cats 3. Animal Control makes the determination if the cat will be a TNR, DNR, or ENR 4. Animal Control traps the cats and transports them to the shelter clinic for spay/neuter
How it works 5. Vet clears cat for surgery 6. Surgery performed on day of intake 7. Cats recover overnight 8. Cats released by CAS or ACO next day At location if TNR 300 yards away if DNR
By the numbers 2011 Goal: 1% decrease in kitten intake over 2010 Actual: 11% reduction in kitten intake 2012 Goal: 3% decrease in kitten intake over 2011 Actual: 12% reduction in kitten intake 2013 Goal: 7% decrease in kitten intake over 2012 2015 Goal: All healthy and treatable kittens saved! 2010-2012 Actual: Euthanasia rate 61% 26%
Albuquerque Animal Welfare Department San Antonio Animal Services Albuquerque, New Mexico; San Antonio, Texas
Albuquerque Animal Welfare Department Open admission shelters 2012 started program to TNR impounded cats $1 million grant from Best Friends Animal Society & Petsmart Charities
Albuquerque goals 3,500 surgeries/year for 3 years 10% reduction in intake by end of year 2 25% reduction in euthanasia by end of year 2 30% increase in live release by end of year 3 90% of cats in program colonies are neutered At least 3-5% of trapped colony kittens are adopted
How it works ACOs or residents bring cats to shelter Best Friends transports eligible cats to spay/neuter clinics daily Cats are sterilized, vaccinated, ear-tipped then returned to trapping location Door hangers left at surrounding homes Community engagement Neighborhood surveys and trapping plan Block walking and mass trapping days for awareness Monitor 311 calls to find cat hot spots
San Antonio http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z2km0iqwznq
Hardest thing getting started? Shelter staff were more comfortable euthanizing cats than explaining the return to field program Field officers felt they were violating citizen s rights by returning cats ACOs and intake staff had a real hard time grasping the program and were very resistant Start-up funding
Hardest thing today? Getting the groups to work on sustainability and to be as productive as possible Excessive requests for cat relocation Resources to expand project to surrounding counties they are ready but funding is not Working on sustainability in each city to help local groups be more effective and targeted
Biggest surprise? That so many people who turn in cats to the shelter want them back they even get mad if the shelter adopts them out Closet feeders started calling the day after the ordinance passed never trusted us before Lack of complaints from the public How quickly the public embraced the program How many other communities are calling to find our how to do similar programs
Maddie s Institute Webinars A paradigm shift in how we handle community cats Dr. Kate Hurley June 27 Dr. Kate Hurley, Dr. Julie Levy, Jon Cicerelli Q&A July 11 www.maddiesinstitute.org
Community Cat Management course July 29 August 2, 2013 University of Florida From high-quality, highvolume feline surgery to legal & public health issues, this is the course for veterinarians with a passion for cat welfare. Learn more at www.sheltermedicine.vetmed.ufl.edu
Face-to-Face with Feral Freedom October 9 th, 2013 Jacksonville, Florida (Seminar held prior to Best Friends Animal Society s No More Homeless Pets Conference) Feral Freedom is an innovative program that has decreased feline shelter euthanasia between 25% and 50% in every shelter where it has been fully implemented This day-long workshop will bring all attendees face to face with the nation s top programs Learn more at www.sheltermedicine.vetmed.ufl.edu
levyjk@ufl.edu Maddie s Shelter Medicine Program is underwritten by a grant from Maddie s Fund, The Pet Rescue Foundation (www.maddiesfund.org), helping to fund the creation of a no-kill nation.