To the editor:
After reading a few editorials regarding free roaming cats written by Carroll Knox, I am a bit confused. Although I understand Mr. Knox’s frustration with regard to cats killing birds which most people will agree is a problem, his anger toward Halfway Home Pet Rescue is inexplicable to me.
It is true, recent studies by the Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute and the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service estimate that cats in the U.S .kill about 10 percent of the 15-20 billion land birds in the U.S. each year. Another 400,000 birds in the U.S. die in wind turbines and about one billion die annually after colliding into glass. And, of course, we lose untold numbers of birds each year due to loss of habitat in the U.S. and in other countries. All of these deaths of birds can be laid at the doorstep of our species.
Although Norma and the other hardworking volunteers at Halfway Home Pet Rescue are not addressing the problem of birds being killed by wind turbines, large buildings and habitat loss, they are doing everything possible to reduce the number of cats who are left outside by pet owners and the number that have formed colonies because they were abandoned and must now fend for themselves. They are doing this by making sure that the cats they take off the streets do not continue to breed and by trying to adopt them to homeowners who will keep the cats inside. The feral cats that must remain outside because it is too late to socialize them are prevented from breeding and are given vaccinations that prevent them for spreading diseases to other cats. Also, any kittens are taken out of the colony, socialized and adopted into homes which results in an immediate reduction in the size of the colony.
HHPR spayed/neutered 192 stray domestic and feral cats in 2012 with 152 of these same cats directly within the Caribou area. If half of the 152 Caribou cats were female and the other half were male (76 couples), the Caribou stray and feral cats population would have increased by another additional 912 stray and feral cats in just one year. These statistics are based on a survival rate of 2.8 kittens per litter (most litters have 5 to 8 kittens per litter). According to the statistics of SPAY USA www.spayusa.org in the four years of HHPR has existed, each feline couple of the first year could have provided Caribou with an additional 2,107 cats. HHPR has demonstrated that a policy of spay/neuter is the only safe and humane program to downsize the already high cat overpopulation.
The fact is that HHPR is not the problem; indeed, they are a significant part of the solution. Perhaps Mr. Knox’s time and energy would be better spent educating pet owners with regard to the problems cats’ create when they are allowed to go outside and/or are abandoned or in supporting an organization that is working to preserve our natural habitats for birds and other wildlife.
Jean M. Cobb
St. Agatha
