Hi Jerilyn and Friends
This forum about the homeless kitties got my curiousity roused a bit so I did a little research. I was totally shocked by what I found. I would have never guessed how complex this problem is. Desparate measures are being taken in some places to try to controll populations of homeless cats. Some of these methods are not very effective and even less humane.
Here is some of what I found. I am amazed by the impact of adopting even a single kitty might have on the kitty population as well as the impact on other animal species.
"MANAGED" CAT COLONIES:
THE WRONG SOLUTION TO A TRAGIC PROBLEM
THE PROBLEM
How many homeless domestic cats are there in the U.S.? No one knows, but estimates range from 40 to 60 million! Stray (abandoned or lost) or feral (descendants of stray cats and shunning all human contact), these non-native predators often lead short, miserable lives, and can wreak havoc for populations of birds and other wildlife already under siege from many other threats.
Unchecked, cat populations can skyrocket. A female cat can have up to three litters per year, with four to six kittens per litter. Unaltered, free-roaming pet cats also contribute to the problem. Animal welfare groups work diligently to encourage people to adopt their pets from shelters, keep them indoors, spay or neuter their cats, and never abandon them. However, pet overpopulation remains a serious problem, and animal shelters must euthanize millions of homeless cats each year.
While domestic cats are solitary animals, aggregations or "colonies" often form around an artificial feeding source, such as garbage dumps or places where people deliberately leave food for them. Even well-fed cats are highly efficient predators. For example, exploding populations of stray cats and raccoons fed by humans reportedly have decimated a world famous heron and egret rookery of several thousand birds in Greynolds Park in Dade County, Florida. Songbird populations have also plummeted. People can no longer enjoy this park because of the defecation and spraying by cats.
TTVAR: THE WRONG SOLUTION
While many humane groups, conservation organizations, and local authorities agree that homeless cats should be humanely removed from the wild, some people advocate "managing" colonies of stray cats through a practice called TTVAR which stands for:
http://www.wildspirit.org/managed.htm
Sincerely, Billdaddy