lifestyle

NPO provides unusual solution to Japan’s feral cat problem

50 Comments
By Jessica Ocheltree

It used to be that the only two options for dealing with stray cats was putting them to sleep or finding an adoptive home. Obviously, euthanasia is not an ideal solution—even if you don’t oppose it on the grounds of cruelty, the cost of trapping and killing animals is high. Adoption offers more hope, but local shelters often don’t have the funds to support adoption programs, and many feral cats are too wild or fearful to be good candidates.

Recently, however, a third option has emerged that’s more effective both in terms of cost and results. Known as trap-neuter-return (TNR), it is being championed locally by a nonprofit group called Japan Cat Network (JCN).

The Shiga-based JCN was started 15 years ago by two English teachers, Susan Roberts and David Wybenga, who looked around their community in Hikone City and noticed many wild cats that were sick or dying. After the pair started a TNR program, the local feline population became smaller, healthier and less of a problem for the residents.

TNR involves capturing strays, bringing them in to a vet to be spayed or neutered, and then releasing them after they’ve recovered; tame cats deemed suitable for domestication are placed up for adoption. If a cat is found to have a serious health problem, it may be euthanized.

At first glance, TNR might seem like a counterintuitive method of dealing with a population of stray or feral cats—after all, many end up right back where they started. In fact, Wybenga says one of the biggest challenges they face is convincing local people that TNR not only works, but is better than just removing the cats. “The cats need to go back for TNR to work. If we simply remove them, new cats will move into the area and the cycle will start all over again. People have two choices: sick and dying cats having kittens, making noise, and marking around the neighborhood; or healthy, quieter, non-reproducing cats, which will slowly decrease in number until there are few or none. ‘No cats’ is not on the menu.”

Many studies on the efficacy of TNR back this up. An oft-cited article in the Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association details a study done over a period of 10 years which saw a 66 percent reduction in a stray cat population. TNR proponents argue that, over time, the lack of kittens will keep the population at a stable minimum or see it fade away entirely.

JCN expanded to Tokyo this year, where it is hoping to open a rehoming center to support local efforts. “The sheltering that we do is completely in support of those actively doing TNR,” Wybenga says. “We think that by putting our support and resources behind those working to stop reproduction, we can have a much bigger impact on the situation as a whole.”

The biggest problem faced by JCN is a lack of resources. With no national animal welfare organization to turn to, the group must get all of its funds, supplies and manpower at a grassroots level. “We have to negotiate with veterinarians, and many are unwilling to adjust the cost of spaying/neutering for strays,” says Wybenga. “Right now, there are several projects where we could easily be out trapping in low-income areas—if we had funds and low-cost operations.”

Wybenga admits the feral cat problem in Japan is still large, but he’s convinced that there are a lot of compassionate people out there who just need some help and guidance. “We’d like people to know that even though they can’t do everything, they can always do something, and they don’t have to even do that alone.”

For more information about the Japan Cat Network, see www.japancatnet.com or contact Tracey Tanaka at tracey.tanaka@japancatnet.com.

This story originally appeared in Metropolis magazine (www.metropolis.co.jp).

© Japan Today

©2024 GPlusMedia Inc.


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I saw a TNR program in the Florida Keys work very well. While the cat was anesthesized for the procedure, it's ear was marked so that if it turned up in a trap again, it would be immediately released Pity the feral cats aren't effective in holding down the runaway crow population.

-3 ( +0 / -3 )

1 good reason to own a gun in Japan, all those dam cats.

My neighbor has a whole colony. In the morning my parking garage is filled with little gifts from these monsters. And my clean car has cat prints all over the hood. I know my neighbor feeds them on their balcony. I put up spikes and wala they disappeared. Seemed not to like nails in their feet.

2 ( +3 / -1 )

Ways to get rid of cats:

1) Mandatory Jail for feeding them.

2) Cash for Dead Cats program.

3) Release millions of poison mice.

4) Ship them to North Korea as food.

5) Increase the feral dog population

2 ( +3 / -1 )

Can´t somebody do something like that with crows?

I don´t have a problem with the wild cats running around in our neighbourhood; the aggressive flying rats are a different story.

Moderator: Crows are not relevant to this discussion. If you wish to discuss crows, please visit the relevant Picture of the Day thread.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

Why not cook them, here's an easy recipe; Beer Roasted Cat 1 cat cut into roast 1 can of Cream of Mushroom soup 1 cube of beef bouillon 1 clove of garlic 1 Fine Irish Stout, like Guinness

0 ( +0 / -0 )

My neighborhood's veterinarian back in my country and home city, has run a similar program for years, and it is effective. However cats migrate, new cats keep on coming in, so there is never been a point where there's been no cats at all. It's important to know too, that a spayed male cat is not aggressively territorial. Younger male cats looking for territory move in more easily. My male cat is spayed and he was harassed by one huge male trying to evict him from our yard. Solution? We borrowed the vet's cat trap, captured the intruder and sent him to be spayed. The vet released him in the same area. He never came back.

There is always the risk that a trapped cat actually has an (irresponsible) owner who may protest or not for unauthorized spaying, but our vet leaves the scrotum in place (just a cosmetic effect though) so visually there is no change.

Oddly, this paragraph reminded me of Japan's shrinking population, too. Kittens: children; new cats moving in: foreigners; non-reproducing cats: Japanese (non hafu or nissei or any of the denominations considered by Japanese society to need a prefix or special name of any sort for being "mixed"). It's... disturbing, but it might be the same in the end.

“The cats need to go back for TNR to work. If we simply remove them, new cats will move into the area and the cycle will start all over again. People have two choices: sick and dying cats having kittens, making noise, and marking around the neighborhood; or healthy, quieter, non-reproducing cats, which will slowly decrease in number until there are few or none. ‘No cats’ is not on the menu.”

-2 ( +0 / -2 )

I forgot to mention that (well, obviously) spayed female cats don't have any marks left, except a couple of stitches that fall off in time. Females may or may not turn aggressive after spaying.

-1 ( +0 / -1 )

I happen to be a cat lover. I've rescued cats as kittens, had them fixed, kept them and given them to worthy people. The fishermen I've given cats to are extremely grateful. Cats kill rats and mice, which are a problem to fish stocks.

Cats are better than rats.

Cat killers ought to know they are more than not killing someone's beloved pet. They are the sort of people who deserve rats in their house, rats that leave dropping in their rice, gnaw on any exposed food and bite them in the middle of the night.

-2 ( +1 / -3 )

There is a savagery in some people that seems to surface whenever cats, especially wild cats, are mentioned. Shooting them is seen as just fine, putting nails out so as to cripple them is fine too. Nobody is asking anybody to actually like cats, but try to remember that in a civilised world we don’t go out killing without a very good reason & foot prints on the bonnet of your car doesn’t constitute a good reason for killing or crippling an animal. Maybe if people who want the wild cat population reduced gave money to groups like JCN they might then be able to provide you with what you want. Maybe the fact that JT published this story could be taken as an hint. I am not going to be so subtle, GIVE JCN MONEY. And in the mean time try to remember that we, the human race brought about this cat problem by making wild cats domesticated cats & then not looking after them. Maybe we should adopt this shoot them on sight principle on the homeless people too. They are even more of a nuisance aren’t they?

And before anybody asks, yes I do give money to help stray animals.

-3 ( +0 / -3 )

I meant to ask, is this really a real word? “it may be euthanized.”

“euthanized”

No way is that right..

-1 ( +0 / -1 )

What grafton said.

-1 ( +0 / -1 )

I meant to ask, is this really a real word? “it may be euthanized.”

“euthanized”

No way is that right..

eu⋅tha⋅nize   /ˈyuθəˌnaɪz/ Show Spelled Pronunciation [yoo-thuh-nahyz] Show IPA –verb (used with object), -nized, -niz⋅ing. to subject to euthanasia: to euthanize injured animals.

from dictionary.com

Yes it is correct

0 ( +0 / -0 )

Cats are excellent at reducing the population of rodents such as rats and mice. They are a natural part of the environment. The problem is so many people mistreat them and teach them to fear humans or even be aggressive. If they are treated with kindness, they will respond with friendliness.

A large cause of the problem is the reluctance of many people to neuter their cats (and dogs, for that matter) as doing so is expensive in Japan. Their cats have kittens. The kittens are then dumped near a school or playground.

I have had several cats in Japan which had been dumped.

What is really needed is action against people who mistreat or dump animals. It is mistreatment that makes dogs and cats aggressive or fearful of humans.

-2 ( +0 / -2 )

Oh, amazing plan. RELEASE the FERAL cats back into the environment where they can continue killing the NATIVE songbirds? The government ought to make it illegal to release these cats, and I'd bet you a thousand yen that it is, indeed, as illegal as dumping a snapping turtle in a park pond.

Cats are a serious threat to fledglings, birds roosting at night and birds on a nest. Research shows that de-clawing cats and bell collars do not prevent them from killing birds and other small animals.

2 ( +3 / -1 )

For those who decide to own cats, it should be a requirement to have them neutered. And for those who want to raise cats, they should have a special permit to do so.

3 ( +3 / -0 )

I have also a cat whom I rescued as a small kitten from the street. I think the work these two English teachers do is really valuable.

1 ( +1 / -0 )

Not a real cat person (I hate them). That being said, however, I am not in favor of giving yokels guns so they can go out and blow kitty away. Actually, before passing judgement on feral cats, wouldn't it be better to go to the root of the problem and consider society's warped ideas regarding the ownership of pet's and the ease with which people dump pets when they become too much trouble.

-2 ( +0 / -2 )

This isn't an easy win-win situation. Cats do kill birds. Not all cats, but most. But they also kill rats and mice. When you live in a port town, you need something that's going to kill rats especially. They're disease spreaders. Mice can be, too. If you've ever had a clever mouse move into your dwelling and he's avoided all traps and poisons and is using your kitchen counter as a toilet, your cat becomes your best friend and furry assassin. I'm for the trap/neuter/release program. We have it where I live. But like I said, it isn't a win-win situation because cats have a tendency to kill birds. I keep my cats indoors. But the ferals don't want to be indoors - it's a conundrum!

-2 ( +0 / -2 )

I just can't support this. In a time when liberal principles are demonstrably failing across the world and we are ready to user in a new era of conservativism, this seems a bit out of touch with the times.

3 ( +3 / -0 )

yeah what Grafton said!

I see the old cats vs. birds red herring has appeared. For those interested in the truth follow the link http://www.alleycat.org/NetCommunity/Page.aspx?pid=325

the short version, the number one cause of declining bird populations is habitat destruction. In other words humans.

"Considering the vast scale of human destruction of bird habitat, arguing about “cats-versus-birds” trivializes the critical issues facing bird populations today. Cat lovers and bird lovers can agree: the real danger to birds is humans. "

-2 ( +0 / -2 )

Yeah and usually it is Aussies of the younger generation who go on about birds and the cats that attack them. Yet none of those people probably spend much time doing anything with animals. I dont think any of you realize about cats. Wild cats kill offspring that isnt their own. So the intervention of humans is only breaking down their natural instincts. Of course it doesnt mean that it would totally kill off all the cats, but then neither does this programme. And as many have mentioned the cats are a natural necessity of the environment in dealing with rats. Breaking down the natural instincts of the animals cause much more damage in the long run.

And beside all that, why should/do NPO fork out money for cats? I thought they were a human thing.

-3 ( +0 / -3 )

"stray cats"

I like cats, but if I ever catch the cat that's been peeing on my futon, he's toast.

1 ( +1 / -0 )

I like cats, but if I ever catch the cat that's been peeing on my futon, he's toast.

you should have never given him a key Sarge.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

Oh, amazing plan. RELEASE the FERAL cats back into the environment where they can continue killing the NATIVE songbirds?

That would be a fair comment if cats are not native as would be the case in Australia but are cats native to Japan?

-1 ( +0 / -1 )

**

That would be a fair comment if cats are not native as would be the case in Australia but are cats native to Japan?

Nope. They're all ex-domestic cats. That's what feral means. Anyhow, it seems that a lot of posters here are in favour of wiping them out. I disagree. Send them to North Korea instead.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

I'd be happier with the cats if they weren't scared of the crows.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

They're all ex-domestic cats. That's what feral means

Feral means having reverted to the wild, but the offspring of such cats are feral but not ex-domestic. They were never domestic.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

I just can't support this. In a time when liberal principles are demonstrably failing across the world and we are ready to user in a new era of conservativism, this seems a bit out of touch with the times.

what on earth are you talking about?

0 ( +0 / -0 )

Feral cats make great hats and that is all they are good for. Releasing them back into the wild? That is the most absurd thing I have ever heard! It's also disgusting to consider the cost of trapping and killing to be too high. However, with Japan's environmental track record it should be no surprise. Have you seen all the native birds in Japan? They are those big black things raiding your garbage!

3 ( +3 / -0 )

I just can't support this. In a time when liberal principles are demonstrably failing across the world and we are ready to user in a new era of conservativism, this seems a bit out of touch with the times

Ok, off-topic, but I think that you're living in a Bizarro world where everything is its exact opposite in the real world...

0 ( +0 / -0 )

Have you seen all the native birds in Japan? They are those big black things raiding your garbage!

and what's your point Disillusioned? Feral cats ate all the native birds? Red herring, there I said it again. One more time just for you Disillusioned follow the link and get a clue...

http://www.alleycat.org/NetCommunity/Page.aspx?pid=325

-2 ( +0 / -2 )

Don't, for even one moment, fall for the song and dance about cat-lovers being animal-lovers, they are anything but that. They don't have ONE concern about any other animals nor even other humans. Cat-lovers are just like cats, the only thing they care about are themselves.

Their TNR (trap, neuter, release) programs are a dismal failure too. A smokescreen and time and money waster. Don't let anyone try to convince you otherwise. Do a search online for the truth about all TNR failures. Cats are an invasive species. Bred by man for man’s purposes through selective-breeding, a form of genetic engineering. They are NOT an indigenous species anywhere on the planet today and have NO PLACE in nature. They have NO natural predators due to their bold patterns in their coats. Bold stripes and patterns are a universal symbol to all wildlife EVERYWHERE, from insects, to all life in the ocean, to all life on land, that that animal is toxic or uses other hidden defense mechanisms. Wildlife won't go near them, even if starving. Cats have no more right to be out in the natural world than some genetically engineered insect that, if released out into nature, would destroy all wildlife. JUST AS CATS DO. A cat destroying wildlife is NO MORE NATURAL than if someone was raising piranha for pets and then dumping a tank of them into your bath with you in it, or in local swimming areas, or in your backyard pools. Piranha as pets deserve the same freedoms as cats, don't they? In fact, this would be even more natural than putting cats everywhere--the piranha haven't been genetically engineered through selective breeding to make them unique from all other fishes.

These invasive-species cats that are released outdoors will still be decimating the food-chain for all native wildlife. If you feed a TNR cat-colony they kill even more wildlife. A well-fed cat kills more animals than a starving one. They don't stop killing other animals just because they're no longer hungry. The healthier they are the more they kill. It's what they do, it's what they are. Lousy little killing machines, nothing more.

It's not just the loss of bird populations either. Feral cats and farmers that let theirs roam free have decimated the natural food-chain in my woods. The resident foxes, owls, and other predator animals no longer had a food source. The feral cats maimed and mauled all the smaller animals for use as live play-toys, all dying a slow agonizing death, senselessly destroying all animals that other native wildlife depended on as a food source. The native species all starved to death. That's what cats do to ALL native animals.

There has also been research done to prove that cats are now spreading their potentially deadly Toxoplasma gondii parasite-disease to wildlife even in remote areas.

http://www.labspaces.net/view_news_comments.php?newsID=110760

When disposing of cat carcasses now, be sure to bury them deeply enough or incinerate them so no other wildlife can become infected by them from eating the cat-meat. Wear gloves while doing so to protect yourself as well. Women who are pregnant can have their child born with severe neural birth defects (microcephaly or hydrocephaly) or miscarry or be still-born; or those with compromised immune systems (taking anti-rejection medication for transplants and skin-grafts at ANY time during your lifetime) can be deadly if you have contracted this disease. People with HIV may not be able to be kept alive by drugs if they contract this cats' disease.

I live where it is perfectly legal to defend your property and animals from destruction by others' animals. I lost count after dispatching the first 20 vermin with a good .22, outfitted with laser-sight and zoom rifle-scope. I didn't have to waste even one bullet, making this solution highly economical as well. 5000 rounds of .22's on sale for $15, that's 3 dead cats per penny! No further costs, ever. Think of how many dollars and hours of your lives that you have spent trapping, transporting, calling, complaining, restoring damaged property, et.al. ... and still all the problems that these useless cat-lovers have caused remains. If your aim is good this is far more humane than methods that "humane" societies use. Instead of dying a slow death by animal-shelter methods they don't even know they've been shot. It is now the preferred method for disposing of feral cats in many states. (In fact, shooting is too good for them. By all rights, to make things perfectly even, they should be made to starve a slow death, just like they caused to all the predator wildlife. Or maimed with entrails hanging out to die a slow death, just like they did to all the prey they destroyed and never ate. But I'm not as inhumane as cat-lovers and their cats are.)

It's time to give cats and cat-lovers the same consideration and respect that they have for all humans and all wildlife--that means NONE. Don't waste your time arguing with disrespectful, inconsiderate, and ignorant cat-lovers either, as I stupidly tried to do for years. Just do what needs to be done and there'll be nothing to argue about.

This year owls and foxes have returned to my woods. Through a large effort of my own, including raising and releasing native mice and voles to help repopulate some of the species that their useless cats destroyed. Their lousy cats are finally gone. But I'll shoot again on first-sight the first chance I get. The rewards for ridding one's land of ALL cats and restoring the native wildlife population are far too great.

2 ( +3 / -1 )

If you don't have approval from your local law enforcement to shoot them like I did to fix the myriad problems that all "cat-lovers" have created for all of humanity and the world, then you might be interested in a far more effective cat management program than TNR. It's called SSS -- for Shoot, Shovel, and Shut-up. It's now popular worldwide and "legal" everywhere. It may be the only thing that saves us from this ecological disaster that all the spineless and ecologically-ignorant law-makers have created. The drastic problems that cat-lovers have created by their blatant disrespect and lack of consideration for their environment, all other humans, and all animals now requires drastic actions by all those who actually care. It takes real strength of heart to do the right thing.

Here's a little insight to help you further understand the root-cause of the problem. Now you'll know EXACTLY why cat-lovers do what they do. It really has nothing at all to do with their concern for cats, nor even the lives of anyone nor anything else, quite the opposite.

Human Territorial Behavior By Expendable Proxy

I have come to the inexorable conclusion that the vast majority of cat-lovers and cat-owners that let their destructive invasive-species roam free, and especially those that defend the rights of feral cats to overtake public property and wildlife areas, are only (cowardly) using cats as a proxy for their own territorial behavior. Not unlike uneducated inner-city youth that will disrespectfully and inconsiderately use loud music to stake-out a territory for themselves. As long as they can have one of their possessions defecate in another's yard or destroy their property, animals, and wildlife, and the yard-owner not have any recourse; the cat-owner owns that territory. It's time to put a stop to them using their "cute kitty" excuse for usurping and stealing others' property. If they want territory they can buy it just like anyone else. Instead they're using underhanded, disrespectful, and manipulative means. By putting (and sacrificing) live animals in the path of their envy and greed. Again proving why they don't care about cats nor anyone else at all. Cat-lovers only really want your lawn, yard, or forest while making all others and all other animals suffer for what they can't have nor own. Bottom line--they want to control you and your property. That's ALL that "cat-lovers" are really after. It's why they don't care at all if their cat nor any other animals, nor even other humans, get harmed by their goals and (lack of) values in life.

2 ( +3 / -1 )

Don't, for even one moment, fall for the song and dance about cat-lovers being animal-lovers, they are anything but that. They don't have ONE concern about any other animals nor even other humans. Cat-lovers are just like cats, the only thing they care about are themselves.

Hey, don't try to tell me what kind of people cat-lovers are. I'm a cat lover and your description doesn't fit me at all. Always have been, always will be, primarily a dog lover. But cats are good, too. My kittykat does not roam free; she's strictly an indoors cat. When she's old enough, she'll be spayed and microchipped. She will never have any effect whatsoever on the local wild bird/rodent population. The only thing she'll ever get to kill is her toy green round-bottomed mousey thingy stuffed with catnip. Where I live most people adopting a kitten/cat from a shelter are obliged to sign an agreement to spay/neuter and vaccinate, and keep the animal indoors. Maybe it's different where you live, which appears to be the Old Wild West.

5000 rounds of .22's on sale for $15, that's 3 dead cats per penny! No further costs, ever.

Until the owner of one of those cats you so gleefully took pot-shots at tracks you down and sets his lawyers on you. Or decides to take the law into his/her own hands. (Never underestimate the rage of a bereaved pet-owner, especially if you live in a place where you think it's good that 5000 rounds of .22's are on sale for $15.)

-3 ( +1 / -4 )

Woodsman; I think your posts show you have some serious issue sna dirrational hatred towards peoplelike myself. I have always had cats, i do now. All cats were feral, neutered and are now indoor cats.

My mother in law is almost bed ridden and enjoys her favourite cat sitting on her lap and keeping her company. This was a cat that was dumped as a kitten by someone thoughtless.

You claim "cat lovers" only care about themselves". These type of blanket statement makes you look foolish. How about putting "some" or "many" if you feel that way. In fact i feel quite offended by your judsgement of mysalf and my family as you don't even know us.

Your hatred of cats and cat lovers/owners is obviously a big issue in your life, however it seems to have become an obsession. I suggest a new hobby may help you relax more and take your mind away from your "cat issues".

-4 ( +1 / -5 )

And yet, NEITHER of you said one word against Japan's TNR program that will ensure the devastation of wildlife and the spreading of more deadly diseases to all wildlife and even humans. Showing exactly how much you care about others. Yeah, figured as much. Your actions speak tomes more truth about you than your words. My statements still stand correct about all of you cat-lovers. Thanks for proving them true, again.

1 ( +3 / -2 )

Everyone take note too, that cat-lovers are more interested in helping cats than humans. Instead of involved with recovering from the earthquake and tsunami, here they are trying to find ways to spread their disease-ridden cats onto more land and have them destroy even more wildlife. Their anti-human and anti-all-other-life priorities are perfectly clear. Nowhere else on earth and at no other time in history could cat-lovers have revealed what they truly are to the whole world so clearly. Now that you see them for what they truly are, I hope that you are just as disgusted and appalled by their perverted values in life. Treat them with the same disrespectful and inconsiderate values in return. It's exactly what they deserve.

1 ( +3 / -2 )

If it's illegal worldwide to torture animals using any method (bullfighters seem exempt), then why are cat-owners allowed to torture ALL wildlife with their cats? Cats don't just kill wildlife humanely (like one can kill a feral cat with a well-aimed bullet), cats torture any animal to play with it while it's still alive and twitching with its entrails hanging out. It seems that the longer they can keep an animal alive the more enjoyment that cats get out of it. Shouldn't outdoor-cat owners and all TNR groups be charged with this crime of animal-cruelty, fined heavily, and all of them serving severe jail sentences? There seems to be a drastic double-standard going on. They may not be torturing other animals with baseball-bats or other weapons in their hands, but their cats are just as much a tool of theirs.

Would a dog owner be fined with the crime of animal-cruelty if he continually let his dog attack other animals? Of course, and it's already happened, many times. Fined and convicted. It's in the news often.

This drastic double-standard needs to be corrected. With the fines that all cat-owners and TNR groups would have to pay we'd have the money to clean up this ecological disaster they created. Think of all the new jails that would have to be built to house them all too, all the new jobs. We could turn this ecological disaster into an economic recovery by finally making some use of useless cat-lovers.

1 ( +3 / -2 )

Woodsman

Maybe sometime in the past you lost a treasured pet canary to a feral cat, and it's left you traumatised. If that's the case, I feel for you, but your reaction is way over the top. Just because other people adopt a different solution to the problem of feral cats, don't mean that they're wrong or uncaring. The TNR programmes keep the number of feral cats down. That's a good thing, surely.

And bear in mind, it is not cat-lovers who created these packs of feral cats in the first place. People who truly love their cats do not let them roam about unfixed, or abandon them and their kittens when the inevitable happens.

-4 ( +0 / -4 )

There's a simpler, more cost-effective way to deal with the problem. And it WON'T involve putting any other wildlife or humans at risk from the cats' behavior or all the deadly diseases that they carry. I would think that with Japan's economy the way it is they wouldn't even consider a TNR program. It only costs about 1-cent per bullet. 5,000 cats can be rid of for $50, permanently, with no other costs nor damages to anyone or anything ever again.

You're not too bright, are you. Go ahead, keep proving what I have already stated and confirmed thousands of times about all cat-lovers.

If using a TNR method is the way that the people of Japan believe, a method which has been proven THOUSANDS OF TIMES TO BE A WASTE OF MONEY AND THE FURTHER DESTRUCTION AND SUFFERING OF COUNTLESS WILD ANIMALS' LIVES, I and millions of others like me have lost ALL respect for everyone in Japan. Maybe they actually deserved that tsunami and earthquake. It sure seems that way if they're this disrespectful to all wildlife and all other humans by promoting TNR nonsense.

2 ( +3 / -1 )

I and millions of others like me have lost ALL respect for everyone in Japan.

Then I imagine you also have no respect for everyone in New York, Texas, Oregon, Utah, New Jersey, California, Virginia, Illinois, Arizona, Massachusetts, Kentucky, Hawaii, North Carolina, Florida, Italy, South Africa, Great Britain and all the other countries that have successful TNR programmes. But please, just speak for yourself, not for 'millions of others'. I don't see any great uprising of millions of wildlife-lovers all out to exterminate the cat.

Maybe they actually deserved that tsunami and earthquake

I have nothing more to say to you. You are either sick or evil, maybe both.

-4 ( +0 / -4 )

You call me evil, yet YOU'RE the one that wants to release hundreds of non-native destructive animals into wildlife areas to torture, maim and destroy all the wildlife in those areas. Not to mention encouraging the spread of deadly illnesses that cats carry to all wildlife and even humans.

If you want to know what "evil" is then you need look no further than the nearest mirror.

You people need psychological treatment.

1 ( +3 / -2 )

A little more info to help the rest of you understand the gravity of this worldwide cat-infestation and ecological disaster that we now all face.

Why TNR (trap, neuter, release) and Cat Advocates Even Exist ...

Toxoplasmosis: Behavioral changes http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toxoplasmosis#Behavioral_changes

It has been found that Toxoplasma gondii parasite is capable of changing the brains of whatever organism it infests. In mice, they lose the fear of cats and are even attracted to cat-urine. Making the asexual portion of the Toxoplasma gondii parasite's life-cycle faster to complete in order to replicate more quickly into its sexual reproduction phase in all host cats. This loss of fear and apprehension manifesting itself in humans in a similar manner, even when common-sense tells them they should depend on that sense of fear or doubt for their own survival.

Here are other ways that this parasite have been known to alter the thinking patterns of humans: http://wildlifeprofessional.org/blog/?p=3929

I strongly suspect that it might even be responsible for all cat-lovers' wholly contradictory behavior of putting cats, all other animals, and even all humans in harm's-way through their adamant insistence of promoting TNR programs, just to ensure the survival and spread of more Toxoplasma gondii parasites throughout the food-chain and in more humans. They are, in effect, being controlled against all reason and common-sense by the very parasite that is reproducing in their cats.

Get tested for T. gondii if you are defending these invasive-species cats' lives. You're actually obeying parasites in your brain. You no longer think and reason like a human, ignoring all common-sense.

The stuff that sci-fi used to be made of comes to reality. Real-life "pod-people". They can't think nor reason beyond the need of ensuring the survival and proliferation of Toxoplasma gondii. It won't let them.

Some further reading on the subject, "Toxoplasmosis and psychology: A game of cat and mouse" http://www.economist.com/node/16271339?story_id=16271339&fsrc=nlw|hig|06-03-2010|editors_highlights

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Here is an interesting post from someone who believed in all the lies she was told about TNR programs, found at http://blogs.smithsonianmag.com/science/2011/05/the-secret-lives-of-feral-cats/

*"I have been battling a feral cat population explosion on my farmette for 7 years. TNR does not work, as the trapped and neutered cats do not keep new cats from moving in and adding kittens. I have trapped over 25 kittens, tamed them, and found homes for them, but every spring there are dozens more. I have spent countless dollars neutering females and males, but they just keep coming! I have few wild birds now, fewer snakes, and there are bunny parts all over my property (cats must not particularly like the back feet). I wish there was a birth-control feed available, since many of these feral cats don’t come near the traps even when hungry. I wish every pet owner would neuter their cats so that these colonies weren’t added to. These are not happy feral cats, they frequently have infected eyes, worms, and are skinny and mangey. I don’t know what the answer is, but even in the country, a feral cat doesn’t live a secure, comfortable life.

Comment by Dawn Hawes — June 21, 2011 @ 9:38 am"*

And YOU TOO can have a financially-distressed, ruled-by-cats, life like this if you also believe in all their TNR LIES.

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Trapping and/or sterilizing and testing as a solution is a failed concept from Day-One.

For example: There are now about 150M feral-cats just in the USA, and 86M pet-cats (60M of which are still allowed to kill all wildlife), this means the population is already oversaturated for a long time. Nobody wants more than 86M cats for pets. There's only 311M people in the USA. 2 cats exist for every 3 people, from infant to senior. Thanks to those who outlawed destroying them in a more efficient, often more-humane, and more cost-effective manner by shooting them. While they also promoted their slow, random-chance, inefficient, and failed trapping programs. TNR people claim trap and kill is also a failure, and they'd be right. The problem has always been the trapping, slowing things down far below cats' breeding-rates.

Keep in mind their exponential growth-rate. An average litter of 5 cats every 5-6 months (some say 3X's a year), breeding as early as 6-months of age. 2 can become 42 (up to 252) cats in only 1 year. No amount of trapping them (if you could even get them all to enter traps), nor valuable resources (transport and vet costs, etc.), man-hours, nor money will ever catch-up to their growth rate. You have an ecological, human-health, animal-welfare, and financial disaster on your hands, ALL thanks to cat-lovers and TNR-advocates. The faster that cats are destroyed the better. Even using guns and having all stray and feral cats shot-on-sight we might not be able to catch-up to their exponential growth. Not even until every last land animal (including humans) is gone from this earth, due to cats destroying the whole food-chain, with nothing but cannibalistic cats left walking the land. No exaggeration. Do the math. Ask any TNR group how many cats they've trapped. They haven't begun to scratch the surface of the problem THEY CAUSED and are only exacerbating with lies. Using the birth-rate, guess how many feral-cats alone will be born just this year? Even when underestimating by 1/2 to be safe -- 1 BILLION 575 MILLION CATS. Got enough traps? Got enough centuries to trap them all while they're still breeding at exponential rates and decimating all wildlife? Trap-advocates cost you to lose the feral-cat-explosion race long ago.

I alone was able to completely rid my land of all these INVASIVE-SPECIES feral-cats by shooting. Cats had completely decimated the native food-chain for ALL native wildlife, destroying not only all the prey that their cats disemboweled for play-toys, but all the predators that depended on that prey, starving all native predators to death as well. (Now there's REAL animal cruelty for you, caused by cat-lovers. They should all be in prisons for life.) Shooting cats is perfectly legal where I live, and is even a more humane method when done right than terrorizing trapping and animal-shelter methods. One moment they are happily stalking helpless animals to cruelly torture again, the next they are dead and don't even know what happened. Making your land 100% cat-free is something that cat advocates haven't been able to solve nation-wide for 30-40 years. On my land only 1 person in only 2 seasons was able to accomplish what they couldn't in decades. Why is that? It's time for you all to grow a spine and get enough strength-of-heart to do what needs to be done. If it's not legal where you live then use the "SSS Cat Management Program", for Shoot, Shovel, and Shut-Up. That's legal everywhere in the world. It may be the only thing that saves us from this ecological disaster caused by spineless and ignorant lawmakers, as well as all the heartless and disrespectful cat-advocates that they defend. Don't waste your time arguing with ignorant cat-lovers, as I stupidly tried to do for 15 years. Just do what needs to be done FIRST. Only later, after you've made your land 100% cat-free should you take your time to try to educate the ineducable, as I am attempting to do now.

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Here's another Fun-Fact that trap-advocates fail to realize, in their infinite ignorance of how animal-behavior and evolution works.

Those cats that have learned to avoid and evade all trapping methods are the next generation to survive. Ever hear the old adage, "If you invent a better mousetrap nature will just invent a better mouse."?

So now, thanks to the supreme stupidity and ignorance of trap-advocates, we have a race of freely roaming cats in all countrysides of every continent which are passing on their "how to survive" behavior to all their offspring, both genetically and behaviorally. Now the next phase of millions of feral-cats won't even be able to be trapped. This is just how amazingly stupid trap-advocates are. You thought 150,000,000 feral cats was bad? In colloquial terms, "You ain't seen nuthin' yet!"

There's a reason the phrase "hunted to extinction" is so well-known in all cultures across all lands. It is the ONLY method that is faster than a species can breed and adapt to.

Stick that in your TNR-pipe of deceptive and deceitful ignorance and smoke it. You might as well, because you all have obviously been smoking something.

By the way, look up the term these TNR advocates just LOVE to use on how they reduce their feral-cat numbers, their candy-coating feel-good term of "Death by Attrition". This means that the cat will die from disease, cat-attacks, animal-attacks, exposure to the elements, being road-kill, starvation, and any other means that drastically shortens the life of those cats. ALL their cats suffering for how many months or years it takes to die that way. In many parts of this country and the world this clearly falls under the guidelines for cruelty to animals, animal-abuse, and animal-abandonment laws.

If you want to raise revenue for your towns and cities in order to deal with this invasive-species ecological-disaster properly, start charging all these TNR advocates with severe fines and imprisonment for CRUELTY TO ANIMALS. Not only are they cruelly torturing cats, but also all the wildlife that they inflict their cats upon.

They're not doing this out of any goodness of their hearts. THEY DON'T HAVE HEARTS. Proved, 100%.

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It seems Woodman is posting his drivel on multiple sites. I tried googling 'death by attrition', this so-called feel-good term that cat lovers apparently 'love' to use, and the only sites where it appeared were --- lengthy ranting posts by someone called Woodman, more or less word-for-word what he's posted here. Well, well.

What TNR advocates do talk about is natural attrition of feral cat populations that occurs because neutered cats don't produce kittens. It is not true that neutered feral cats will die any younger or any more horribly than any other feral animal. They certainly have a good chance of living longer than the hapless cats who stray within range of Woodman's itchy trigger-finger. Maybe Woodsman would advocate humanely killing all wildlife in a generous attempt to save it from disease, animal-attacks, exposure to the elements, being road-kill, starvation, and anything else that drastically shortens the lives of most wildlife.

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