As early as Wednesday, February 5, in the state legislature in Richmond, the House Agriculture, Chesapeake and Natural Resources Committee will vote on HB 1727, a bill that would exempt volunteers and sponsors of trap, neuter and return (TNR) programs from current laws barring animal cruelty and abandonment. It also would exempt feral cats released in trap, neuter and release programs from any local licensing requirements.
The Audubon Society of Northern Virginia opposes releasing cats into the environment for several reasons. Outdoor or unowned cats can deplete native bird and wildlife populations and releasing cats into the environment is inhumane to cats. Read our fact sheet below.
Delegate David A. Reid (D-Ashburn), the patron of House Bill 1727 (introduced January 17, 2020), at [email protected] and Pocahontas Building, 900 E. Main St., Richmond, VA 23219.
Use these facts:
Oppose House Bill 1727, Del. Reid’s bill that encourages the release of feral cats Audubon Society Northern Virginia www.audubonva.org
Oppose HB 1727: The bill would exempt volunteers and sponsors of trap, neuter and return (TNR) programs that promote feral cat colonies from current laws barring animal cruelty and abandonment. It also would exempt feral cats released in TNR programs from any local licensing requirements. Under TNR programs, people release unowned cats into the environment. The cats do not have owners, homes, veterinary care or consistent food. Releasing unowned cats into the environment promotes feral cat colonies.
Why defeat HB 1727:
Feral cats are bad for human health. The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) warns that feral cat colonies harbor diseases, including those that can be transmitted to humans.[1] These include bartonellosis, toxoplasmosis, plague, endo-and ectoparasites, feline immunodeficiency virus, feline leukemia virus, and rickettsial diseases. TNR programs typically vaccinate feral cats against rabies, but do not recapture and revaccinate after their initial trapping. According to CDC, “Maintaining adequate rabies vaccination coverage in feral cat populations is impractical, if not impossible.” Cats can spread toxoplasmosis, a parasitic disease of special risk to pregnant women, who may transmit it to their unborn children. An outdoor Toxoplasma-infected cat that is shedding the parasite in its feces contaminates the soil or water, transmitting the parasite to other animals and to humans.
Feral cats kill billions of birds and other wildlife. Legalizing TNR programs results in large feral cat colonies that kill native birds and small mammals. Cats are a leading cause of declines in bird populations, second only to habitat loss. An estimated 2.4 billion birds and 12.3 billion small mammals are killed by cats annually in the United States[2]. Feral cats are responsible for two thirds of those deaths. Cats have contributed to at least 63 vertebrate extinctions worldwide[3]. Cats are an invasive exotic species that did not evolve in Virginia and do not belong in the wild. Free-roaming cats are the number one source of direct, human-caused mortality for birds according to the Department of Interior’s State of the Birds report (2014). Even well-fed cats continue to hunt wildlife because their instincts program them to do it.
Living outdoors is bad for cats. Even if they are fed, outdoor, unowned cats do not receive regular veterinary care, consistent food or other care. Encouraging feral cat colonies is inhumane. Indoor cats live longer and healthier lives safe from the dangers of automobiles, predators and diseases.
Trap-Neuter-Release does not reduce feral cat populations. Scientific studies show that TNR for the most part does not, and cannot, reduce feral cat populations.[4] Between 71% and 94% of cats in a population would have to be neutered to stabilize or bring about a decline, which is not possible unless the population is small.
The Audubon Society of Northern Virginia (http://www.audubonva.org) 703-438-6008) opposes HB 1727 because trap, neuter and release programs are not good for cats, wildlife or people and are not scientifically based.
[1] A.D.Roebling, D. Johnson, J.D. Blanton, M. Levin, D. Slate, G. Fenwick, and C. E. Rupprecht. 2014. “Rabies prevention and management of cats in the context of trap, neuter, vaccinate, release programs” Zoonoses Public Health 61(4): 290-296.
[2] S. Loss, T. Will, and P. P. Marra. 2015. “Direct mortality of birds from anthropogenic causes.” Annual Review of Ecology, Evolution, and Systematics 46:99-120.
[3] S. Loss and P. P. Marra. 2017. “Population impacts of free-ranging domestic cats on mainland vertebrates.” Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment 15(9): 502-509.
[4] P. Foley, J. Foley, J. Levy, and T. Paik. 2005. “Analysis of the impact of trap-neuter-return programs on populations of feral cats,” Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association 227(11):1775-1781.
