Nation's Largest Animal Protection Group Proposes Joint Cooperative Program to Accomplish objectives through a Non-Lethal Spay-Neuter Program
The Humane Society of the United States urges U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to abandon its proposal to shoot feral cats and cruelly trap them in attempts to save seabirds and native fauna on San Nicolas Island, off the coast of California. The HSUS hopes the FWS will join them in a truly cooperative, non-lethal program to accomplish its objectives.
As part of the public comment period on the environmental assessment required by law whenever a major federal action significantly affects the quality of the environment, Nancy Peterson, The HSUS' feral cat program manager, sent a letter to the FWS asking it to seriously consider the more effective and humane alternatives to what the agency is proposing as its "Preferred Alternative." The comment period ended Tuesday.
Briefly summarized, The HSUS contends that environmental assessment is faulty because:
- it doesn't sufficiently consider humaneness;
- it doesn't consider a full range of methods for capturing the feral cats, including Trap-Neuter-Return (TNR);
- it fails to fully analyze alternatives to eradicating the feral cat population.
- it omits important information, such as previous unsuccessful attempts at feral cat eradications;
- the agencies involved failed to consult with animal welfare and feral cat groups.
To see the complete letter sent to the FWS, please click here .
Instead, The HSUS proposes that the FWS implement a plan of trapping the cats humanely with box traps as opposed to cruel leg-hold traps; behavioral screening for adoption of young and moderately tame cats; surgical sterilization of all cats and management of sterilized cats who cannot be adopted either in an enclosure on San Nicolas Island or at another site.
The HSUS, a mainstream voice for the welfare of all animals, has a long history of involvement with inter-species conflict resolution actively promoting effective non-lethal strategies. To that end, The HSUS is offering the services of Jane Garrison, an acknowledged expert on feral cats, and The HSUS' Rural Area Veterinary Services, which has more than five years of experience setting up mass spay/neuter clinics around the world. RAVS could help set up a TNR type project on San Nicolas Island to accomplish the FWS objectives through non-lethal techniques.
RAVS could offer, at no cost to federal taxpayers, experienced veterinarians and students who could sterilize about 90 cats per day. The HSUS' Emergency Services division and regional office staff would help with humane trapping and construction of an enclosure to protect the cats, the birds and other wildlife including the island foxes.
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The Humane Society of the United States is the nation's largest animal protection organization — backed by 10.5 million Americans, or one of every 30. For more than a half-century, The HSUS has been fighting for the protection of all animals through advocacy, education and hands-on programs. Celebrating animals and confronting cruelty — On the web at humanesociety.org.
