Are cats our society’s least protected animals?

For this post I am letting the animal rights lawyer Noelia Amador from Córdoba speak, or rather write, on my behalf.

Noelia trained with me at DeAnimals and since then, thanks to her professionalism and proactive nature, she has achieved many successes, for example getting her town hall to adopt the CER method (TNR for trap, neuter and return in English), legalising several stray cat colonies, training police and cat colony managers, and above all defending the interests of animal welfare organisations in cases of abused animals whose owners want to get them back.

Also she is a cat person like me, who does not hesitate to take off her lawyer’s cap to take a feral cat to a vet, either to be sterilised or because it needs medical attention. Only she knows the exact number of cats she has saved, but it is not small.

So here is the post from my dear friend Noelia:

“How many times have you seen a dog in the street and thought, ‘Wow, it must have been abandoned, poor thing’? Nevertheless, have you ever seen a cat and said, ‘They know how to look after themselves in the street’, or simply not paid it any attention?

Those of us who dedicate much of our day to rescuing these largely forgotten animals know the answer to these questions, but we do not know why.

One of the biggest problems with cats in our society is the cloak of invisibility they always have about them.

Lack of population control and their colonies being located in urban areas mean that often local authorities, which are supposed to be responsible for their protection and wellbeing, make wrong decisions that do not protect them in the slightest.

The quickest decision usually consists of evicting a feline colony from its location by catching them and moving them (in the best of cases). This generates the so called vacuum effect, implying that this space will be occupied by other cats instead.

The most effective method to control them is the CER (TNR) method, which as well as reducing their numbers naturally, also controls how the feral cats are fed - one of the issues that causes the most conflicts between residents and these colonies.

Moreover, the act of legalising a feline colony, by a town hall, and signposting it drastically reduces abandonment of cats in that area.

To get an idea of how feline colonies work, they are basically hierarchical, closed groups that very rarely accept members from outside.

A cat that was accustomed to being in a home that finds itself in an unknown place with other cats, which do not accept it into their colony, will be out of place and afraid – this is a death sentence for a cat.

But there are also legal consequences for abandoning a cat with a feline colony.

This offence is regulated by article 337 bis of the penal code and is punishable with up to six monthly fines, and possibly being banned from working with, selling or owning animals.

It is also possible to be charged with a separate count of animal abandonment for every cat that has been abandoned, as the offence specifies that it applies to each individual. Therefore when there is more than one animal, it is understood to be an attack on the welfare of all of them as individuals rather than as a group.

For example, abandoning a litter of five kittens would be considered five counts of the offence, and the punishments would also be considerably harsher.

There are also regional administrative laws and municipal bylaws that protect animals and punish offences with fines and possible bans like those mentioned above.

We need commitment from society, and for this we encompass the local associations that are indispensable to keep making progress towards comprehensive animal protection and welfare.”

Thank-you Noelia, keep up the good work.

If you would like to follow in Noelia’s footsteps, you can train yourself at DeAnimals. For more information see www.deanimals.com and the Facebook page.

More information about Raquel's work is available on her website, www.deanimals.com, and Facebook page: DeAnimals.