Prepping has begun to lower our expectations heading into ‘cat season’;
Managing director of Cranbourne’s Lost Dogs Home and Cat Shelter, which services the area, Dr Graeme Smith, said stray cat numbers could be expected to increase soon with the new breeding season.
“Collection of strays is something people need to discuss with Cardinia Council, but it’s generally thought not to be a good idea to feed them as it will cause further breeding,” he said.
Council spokesman Paul Dunlop said the council had traps available for hire.
“Once trapped, we will collect the cat and have it assessed by a vet to determine its future,” Mr Dunlop said.
Like ‘dog dumping season’, by setting everyones expectations low ‘this is going to happen, there’s nothing we can do to stop it’ the Lost Dogs Home is able to shrug, get busy killing and blame us all later when again, they kill more animals than any other pound in Australia.
But is this really true? Is an organisation who takes in over $8 million each year and has over half of that left after expenses, truly ‘powerless’ to help?
Here are five things the Lost Dogs Home could do tomorrow to avoid the ‘cat catastrophe’ set to hit Victoria in the next two months;
1. Release 20,000 free vet desexing vouchers to any person with a health care card or semi-owned cat, ‘no questions asked’.
So far the desexing contribution made has been, 73 cats in 2008, and 110 cats desexed in 2009 in conjunction with the ‘Whos for Cats’ campaign. Obviously this isn’t even close to enough to bring about any measurable change in cat populations.
However, larger numbers do work. For example, the Humane Alliance in Asheville, North Carolina performs 22,000 sterilizations annually. Since the Alliance was formed, the area’s euthanasia rate has been reduced by seventy-two percent, and the area’s shelters have saved thousands of dollars.
Cats are generally able to be desexed by vets for less than $100, making the cost for 20,000 vouchers approximately $2 million (well within the LDH’s $4 million ‘profit’ each year).
Vets who’d like to be involved could associate their contact details with the vouchers, or they could be redeemable at any vet willing to accept them. They would be happy with the extra work and client contact, and cat numbers could be brought down exponentially if this was as an ongoing program.
2. Direct money out of luxuries and into proven programs
The Lost Dogs Home plan is;
to spend about $8 million in the next five years on a new cat shelter, a training and education centre to teach responsible pet ownership, a sick animals’ facility and a veterinary clinic
While these things are nice luxuries, that $8 million could go an awfully long way to setting up adoption centers in retail pet outlets in compassionate pet shops around the metropolitan area. PetSmart US has just celebrated its 3 million in-store adoption making in-store promotions a proven tool for saving lives.
While the ‘centralised’ approach is favoured by big shelters as it allows them to build big shiny assets and property, it has proven to be a failure for homeless animals as people buy pets from their local pet shop because its more convenient.
The North Melbourne site has proven to be a failure in promoting adoption. Expanding a failed model is simply throwing money donated to help pets into the proverbial toilet. The key to increasing cat adoptions in convenience, so every pet store in Melbourne who wants them, should have a display full of Lost Dog Home cats.
3. Stop chasing failed programs
The ‘Who’s for Cats’ campaign was a nice ego boost for the Carol Webb’s of the state as they were given a public forum to call everyone ‘irresponsible’ and promote their catch and kill idealologies; but it drove up cat impounds by 40% in two years, increased complaint calls about cats by 50%, filled shelters and saw record numbers of cats killed. In cat welfare terms we call that a FAIL.
This year the Who’s for Cats campaign should be disbanded and everyone involved in driving the campaign removed from strategic positions. At the very least, any future ‘great’ ideas they have should be met with the sceptisism deserved; anyone can call themselves an ‘expert’, but if their history is one of failure then take their input with care.
4. Start following successful programs
The RSPCA NZ have not only improved welfare outcomes for unowned cats, they’re now running programs which are set to eliminate the cat problem suburb by suburb.
There is no need for us to kill cats into the future. Our neighbours have worked it out, so the fact we still haven’t is testament to the Australian tendency to work harder not smarter.
5. Stop championing killing
Catching and killing. Killing and blaming the public. Its the cycle that cat groups in Victoria are stuck in – calling for stricter and stricter laws on cat owners, that only see impoundment rates increase as free-roaming cats become the undeserving targets.
It’s time that the cat owners of Victoria rejected the notion they are to blame for the current situation and start pressuring government and wealthy animal welfare groups, for services and outreach that protect cats and support semi-owned and feral cat carers. It’s no longer acceptable that in 2010, our animal ‘welfare’ groups are still championing killing.
The Lost Dogs Home can contribute by taking a compassionate and lead role in rejecting killing as a tool for population control and start rolling out support for programs which have been proven to save lives.
There is a lot of money being banked, while a lot of animals are being killed in Victoria. If The Lost Dogs Home was truly interested in animal welfare it would make itself bankrupt trying new things in the fight againt the killing of companion animals.
The good news is, groups who do support lifesaving iniatives make MORE money, not less, recieve MORE community support and are MORE likely to be considered to be offering a vital service by donors. They can become stronger and more effective by doing good.
They can have their money and save lives too.
