[ Follow Ups ] [ Post Followup ] [ TAS BirdBoard ] [ FAQ ]
Posted by Angel & Mariel on 15:42:41 05/07/08
Hi everbody I just wanted to remind everyone who is able to attend the meeting @ Barnes tonight at 7:00pm it would be of great help. TCN will most probably be there in full force, and I have heard that they get what they want cause of their presence. If we fail to fix this problem now that it is in limelight who knows what will happen to Barnes. There is scientific evidence that TNR is not working and the population of cats has risen over the years @ Barnes instead of dropping off like the TCN promised members of the parks dept. when they got permission to use the parks as housing for their cats.
Like RJ said don't cry if the nature center gets turned into low income housing for the CATS.
Here is the abstract to a paper that was written by an FIU researcher about TNR being ineffective.
Trap/Neuter/Release Methods Ineffective in Controlling Domestic Cat "Colonies" on Public Lands
Castillo, D | Clarke, AL
Natural Areas Journal [Nat. Areas J.]. Vol. 23, no. 3, pp. 247-253. Jul 2003.
Domestic cat (Felis catus L.) advocates have formed coalitions whose goals are to promote the welfare of cats through the use of a specific nonlethal population control method. This method consists of trapping, neutering, and releasing cats into supervised cat colonies located on private and public lands, including state and county parks and natural areas. Advocates believe that this method will help reduce the number of unwanted cats and stabilize the population of unwanted cats over time. Furthermore, advocates claim that established colonies are temporary in nature and will decrease in size over time through death and adoption. This claim was tested through photographic and observational capture-recapture techniques in Miami-Dade County, Florida, USA, in two Metro-Dade County parks (A. D. Barnes Park and Crandon Marina). Although the number of original colony members decreased over time, illegal dumping of unwanted cats and the attraction of stray cats to provisioned food offset reductions in cat numbers caused by death and adoption. Furthermore, overall population size of the colony at A. D. Barnes Park increased over time, and at Crandon Marina neither decreased nor increased over time. Our study suggests that this method is not an effective means to control the population of unwanted cats and confirms that the establishment of cat colonies on public lands encourages illegal dumping and creates an attractive nuisance. We recommend that advocates of cat colonies seek a long-term solution to the pet overpopulation issue by redirecting their efforts toward the underlying problem of managing irresponsible pet owners.
If anyone wants a copy of the study @ Barnes and Crandon feel free to email us. Hope this gets some of you to show up, if not we will be disappointed. The native & migratory birds, reptiles, and rodents need our help! Cats hunt for fun even when they are well fed and cared for.
Angel & Mariel
[ Follow Ups ] [ Post Followup ] [ TAS BirdBoard ] [ FAQ ]