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Clearing 500k feral cats from New York’s streets

nytimes.com

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Re: Clearing 500k feral cats from New York’s streets

#151

Post by rcpt »

rendang wrote: post #115
romwell wrote: post #53

Earlier quoted context omitted.

NYT seems to be running an anti-cat agenda. This article calls trap-neuter-release (TNR) a "controversial" practice, whereas it's well established and proven to be effective (something even this article says). A few years back, they ran a full-blown frontal assault[1] on Google's volunteer-ran TNR program, gCat, blaming the TNR program (and only the TNR program) for the decline of the local burrowing owl population.…

Of course TNR is better than doing nothing, but if you trap the cats anyway why not just kill them then?

100% agree that euthanasia is the effective way to deal with the problem.

But, someone in this thread made the very strong point that people will trap and collect cats for free if you're going to neuter and release them.

Granted TNR hasn't worked at all, but at least it's possible to stay elected while the program exists.

Re: Clearing 500k feral cats from New York’s streets

#152

Post by oefrha »

yabatopia wrote: post #122
rcpt wrote: post #54

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm sorry but you're dreaming of you think that feral cats aren't destroying local bird populations.

Humans kill far more birds than feral cats. Agriculture, pesticides, deforestation, destruction of fields and grasslands, the use of mice and rat poison, car traffic, wind turbines, ... it all adds up. It makes feral cats look like amateurs showing up on a gun fight with a pencil. In the EU, a 2021 study of 378 bird species estimated that bird numbers fell by as much as 19 percent from 1980 to 2017. And that's not be…

The good ol’ “there are many contributing factors, so how dare you try to solve one of them” argument.

Re: Clearing 500k feral cats from New York’s streets

#153

Post by AlbertCory »

romwell wrote: post #53
morley wrote: post #20

The article is making it seem like trap-neuter-release is a completely new strategy, but groups in NYC and elsewhere have been employing it for a long time. What's new is that Flatbush Cats is building a new vet clinic to provide more spaying / neutering capacity.

NYT seems to be running an anti-cat agenda. This article calls trap-neuter-release (TNR) a "controversial" practice, whereas it's well established and proven to be effective (something even this article says). A few years back, they ran a full-blown frontal assault[1] on Google's volunteer-ran TNR program, gCat, blaming the TNR program (and only the TNR program) for the decline of the local burrowing owl population.…

I have some personal knowledge of this. I worked at Google 2005-2017, and in 2006 I quite often walked through the hills across Amphitheatre from Google. I would often see burrowing owls then.

South of there is Shoreline Amphitheatre, north is the golf course, and east is more park, plus a restaurant. None of that changed at all, as of 2017. The owls were gone long before that. Unfortunately I don't recall exactly when I stopped seeing them.

Often they would just sit and stare at me, even though I was only 15 or so feet away. So I can easily believe that predators got them, maybe even cats; it seems being more skittish would be more adaptive. I've also seen snakes in there.

[3] says "Humans can also be a big nuisance for the owls. City parks staffers have installed signs and fencing to cordon off sensitive areas, but hikers sometimes go trailblazing. Shoreline Park prohibits dogs except in an off-leash zone near the entrance, yet some people still untether their canines in other parts of the park."

This is completely unsubstantiated and just plain wrong, from my experience. People do not go "trailblazing" and off-leash dogs are just not a thing.

"a certain Mountain View company rapidly expanding its campus circa 2018" -- you have outed yourself here. Google did not expand into the habitat area at all.

Re: Clearing 500k feral cats from New York’s streets

#154

Post by 29athrowaway »

romwell wrote: post #53
morley wrote: post #20

The article is making it seem like trap-neuter-release is a completely new strategy, but groups in NYC and elsewhere have been employing it for a long time. What's new is that Flatbush Cats is building a new vet clinic to provide more spaying / neutering capacity.

NYT seems to be running an anti-cat agenda. This article calls trap-neuter-release (TNR) a "controversial" practice, whereas it's well established and proven to be effective (something even this article says). A few years back, they ran a full-blown frontal assault[1] on Google's volunteer-ran TNR program, gCat, blaming the TNR program (and only the TNR program) for the decline of the local burrowing owl population.…

NYT has always been pro-rat.

Re: Clearing 500k feral cats from New York’s streets

#155

Post by e40 »

Tiktaalik wrote: post #127

Flatbush cats and other organizations like them are real heroes, stepping in to help fix an important issue that is completely and utterly ignored by the government, and if anything exacerbated by some of their rental policies. As rental scarcity has only become more severe, and no pet clauses have become more restrictive, the amount of pets unfortunately abandoned on the streets has increased. The government has shr…

Been donating to Flatbush Cats for years and I will continue to do so, even though I am 3000 miles from Brooklyn. They are truly angels.

Re: Clearing 500k feral cats from New York’s streets

#156

Post by patmcc »

rendang wrote: post #115
romwell wrote: post #53

Earlier quoted context omitted.

NYT seems to be running an anti-cat agenda. This article calls trap-neuter-release (TNR) a "controversial" practice, whereas it's well established and proven to be effective (something even this article says). A few years back, they ran a full-blown frontal assault[1] on Google's volunteer-ran TNR program, gCat, blaming the TNR program (and only the TNR program) for the decline of the local burrowing owl population.…

Of course TNR is better than doing nothing, but if you trap the cats anyway why not just kill them then?

Because cat lovers will help if you do TNR, but not if you catch and kill.

People (not me) love their "friendly neighborhood" cats, but most of them recognize that allowing them to breed isn't ideal. Maybe you can convince them to nab them, bring them in, and have them neutered.

Re: Clearing 500k feral cats from New York’s streets

#159

Post by midoridensha »

clairity wrote: post #71
k2enemy wrote: post #8

Given that the article is also kind of a PSA for New Yorkers, I'm surprised that it didn't mention ear clipping. If a feral cat has already been spayed or neutered, its left ear is clipped so that people know to leave it alone and not trap it again.

here, they now give neutered cats a tattoo on the belly (~1cm green line) instead of clipping. this is a bit more humane and becoming more the standard nowadays i believe.

I think that's pretty normal for pet cats: mine are like this.

However, I don't see how it's useful for stray cats. You can't just pick up a stray cat to look at its belly. A clipped ear you can see from a distance.

Re: Clearing 500k feral cats from New York’s streets

#160

Post by midoridensha »

lambdasquirrel wrote: post #90
ajaimk wrote: post #88

Don’t we have a rat problem too? I live in Manhattan, send us some of these cats!

Having had (pet) rats as well as a cat (briefly), I don’t think that cats are generally sufficient for rats. Fully grown adult rats are too big for cats to handle and they only take 10 weeks to reach a size that will make them troublesome for average cat. Remember that a feral cat does not have access to health services. If they are injured trying to take down prey, they will probably be dead shortly after. That havi…

It's simple: NYC just needs to introduce lots of mountain lions or panthers to deal with the rat problem.
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