L.A.'s Love-Hate Relationship with Cats

by Stephanie Feldstein · 2009-12-11 08:00:00 UTC
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In November, the Los Angeles, California, City Council banned cat declawing. As one council member accurately explained: "It is not clipping nails. It is actually amputation, sometimes leaving cats crippled and in pain for the rest of their lives."

In not-so-good news, earlier this week, a Los Angeles judge banned shelters from encouraging feral cat colonies by promoting "trap-neuter-return" (TNR) programs until an environmental review is conducted. Municipal funded spay/neuter vouchers can't be used to sterilize feral cats and city-funded animal shelters can't provide any support or education to private groups or the general public for TNR programs.

So, while animal advocates are encouraged to educate people about the cruelty of declawing, and how to save both your furniture and your cat's claws, they're forced to sit back and keep quiet about the welfare of feral cats.

The decision to place a temporary ban on TNR was prompted by a complaint from conservation groups that feral cats threatened wildlife, human health, and water quality. As Alley Cat Allies points out, the death toll of birds caused by feral cats is negligible compared to deaths caused by humans. The same goes for public health and water quality issues.

The environmental impact of TNR shouldn't be ignored, but the full impact of the alternatives needs to be considered, too. A number of communities support TNR because they've found that it's more effective and less costly than "catch and kill" (not to mention more humane). That means, with TNR, L.A. can control its cat population and have money leftover to address the bigger threats to birds and water.

The other option is the "do nothing" route, where no resources go toward population control and veterinary attention for feral cats, which is where Los Angeles is left while the environmental review is being conducted.

Hopefully the city will agree to Alley Cat Allies' appeal to lift the temporary ban. If this review gets tied up in the holiday season and politics, L.A. may have a much larger feral cat population to study than if they'd allowed TNR to continue in the interim.

Photo credit: lincoln-log

Stephanie Feldstein is a Change.org Editor who has been part of the animal welfare and rescue community for over a decade, and most recently worked for an environmental organization.
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