The SPCA Steps up to the plate for the Harbourville Cats

The following email has been posted here with permission from its author:
To: Councillors of the Municipality of Kings County
From: The Nova Scotia SPCA
The Nova Scotia SPCA was disappointed to learn this week of a decision by Animal Control Services for the Municipality of the County of Kings to euthanize a feral cat colony in Harbourville, NS, part of District 4 represented by Warden Fred Whalen.
The Nova Scotia SPCA advocates the humane treatment of all cats including those that are stray and those that have become feral. The Nova Scotia SPCA supports public and private humane efforts in controlling feral cat colonies and their population. The Nova Scotia SPCA believes that successful management of the feral cat population can be done through Trap-Neuter-Return (TNR) population control programs. The objective of Trap-Neuter-Return is to gradually eliminate colonies by a process of “aging out." Feral cats are humanely trapped, tested for infectious disease, vaccinated, neutered and then returned to their colony. Returning the sterilized cat to its colony is crucial to reducing the colony size as new members will not join a feral cat colony with a stable number of neutered cats. Trap-Neuter-Return programs maintain the colony in a healthy and secure state leading up to the eventual attrition of members.
Euthanizing feral cats has been solidly proven as an ineffective means of controlling feral cat colonies; indeed, it can exasperate the problem by allowing more cats to move into the area once occupied by the colony.
The Nova Scotia SPCA strongly urges the Municipality of the County of Kings to reverse the decision of Animal Control Services to euthanize the cats at the Harbourville wharf, or at the very least, extend by several weeks or months the "deadline" given to local animal welfare volunteers to relocate the colony. The Society's recommendation to councillors is to implement a municipality-supported TNR program to provide an effective means of controlling the population and to support the humane treatment of animals in Kings county.
The Society encourages councillors and Animal Control Services staff to become educated about TNR to facilitate informed and evidence-based decision-making. We suggest the following resources:
The No-Kill Advocate: Special Issue on Feral Cats - http://www.nokilladvocacycenter.org/pdf/enews_017.pdf
Cat Rescue Maritimes: The Solution, Part 1 - http://www.ca-r-ma.org/s1.html
Best Friends Animal Society: Feral Cat Resources - http://www.bestfriends.org/nomorehomelesspets/resourcelibrary/feralindex.cfm
Alley Cat Allies - http://www.alleycat.org
Regards,Mary Hill***
Mary Hill
Nova Scotia SPCA
Secretary, Board of Directors
Chair, Education Committee
secretary@spcans.ca
www.spcans.ca