Agencies differ over feral cat program
A dispute has developed between two agencies dedicated to treating felines with compassion and whether the town’s trap, neuter and release program is a humane solution to stray animals.
The dispute comes as the Ulster County SPCA has been working with the town to deal with feral cats colonies in two neighborhoods. The New York State Humane Association has objected to the method.
Ulster town officials have hired the SPCA to trap the cats where permission has been obtained from property owners, keeping the cats deemed adoptable and returning the rest after neutering and providing shots that prevent illness.
“I would not say that trap/neuter is a solution. It’s management,” Ulster County SPCA board President Gina Carbonari said. “If you’re saying that trap, neuter, return does not work, then what is your proposed solution to feral cats? Generally, the answer to that is euthanasia.”
Hiring the Ulster County SPCA, a no-kill shelter, was considered by town officials as an alternative to passing a law that would penalize cat owners whose pets go onto neighboring properties. Carbonari said there is one area of agreement with her counterparts at the New York State Humane Association.
“Nobody’s arguing the fact that this is an issue that has been created because of a lack of responsibility by humans for not spaying and neutering your cats and not keeping your cats indoors,” she said.
The practice is troubling to the state Humane Association, with legislative committee member Susan McDonough saying it represents a failure of communities to pass laws requiring cats to be subject to the same licensing requirements that are imposed on dog owners.
“Those in favor of trap neuter and release apparently accept the annual killing of wildlife by the billions and the disease risk to people because they think maintaining a feral colony is somehow kinder to the cats,” she said.
“Feral cats do not die of old age,” McDonough added. “Many are poisoned, shot, tortured by cruel people, attacked by other animals or hit by cars. Others die of exposure, starvation or highly contagious fatal diseases, such as rabies, feline AIDS, feline leukemia and feline infectious peritonitis.”
Carbonari said the SPCA can’t keep animals that are not eligible for adoption and it is cruel to keep feral cats in long-term confinement because they were born outside of human domiciles.
“It’s going to be very, very few (cats) from a truly feral colony who could be adopted,” she said. “Because they haven’t been socialized properly, they can’t come into a home.
“There are a few stories you’ll hear of some cats where they’ve had the same caretaker for so long that caretaker can touch them and may even be able to get them into their house,” she added. “Those are few and far between and those are great happy endings for that cat ... but, in general, when you have a group of cats that are homeless and not socialized, it comes back to what are we going to be able to do for those cats.”
McDonough also contends returning cats to the properties where they were trapped is a violation of state Agriculture and Markets Law, which states that “no person shall release any dog or cat from the custody or control of any pound, shelter, society for the prevention of cruelty to animals, humane society, dog protective association, dog control officer, peace officer or any agent thereof, for any purpose except adoption or redemption by its owner.”
McDonough said the law was referenced as part of a veto notice from Gov. Andrew Cuomo in 2015 when turning down legislation that would have funded trapping programs through the state budget.
Carbonari said the law would have to be reviewed further, but contends cats being returned to locations where a property owner was already providing food for feral cats amounts to returning them to their caretaker.
“A guardian is a person 18 years or older who keeps, harbors or has custody, care or control of an animal,” she said, “so when you’re talking about a feral cat colony that has a person caring for that colony, providing food, providing whatever limit shelter they might be able to provide, has spayed or neutered them, that person there is the guardian of that colony.”