Last night an informal meeting was held in the borough of Bernville concerning the feral cat population that exists in its parameters. This meeting happened because of a local woman, Cindy Wise, being cited for feeding feral cats in the borough.
During last night’s meeting, council member, Randy Copenhaver invited Martha Kahan, president of No Nonsense Neutering and Cindy Wise to an informal but educational session about TNR (trap, neuter, return) in the hopes of explaining the benefits of this no-kill philosophy. As a reminder, TNR involves spaying/neutering, vaccinations, left, ear-tipped (provides immediate visual ID of a cat in a feral colony), green tattoo on female bellies and then the release back to their familiar environment.
After Martha explicated TNR information to Randy, a decision to allow TNR in Bernville has been agreed upon “with the understanding if complaints arise, the caretakers will be held accountable.” Each caretaker of a colony is responsible for their cats. But, it was made clear that any resident can trap cats on their property, if unwanted. What happens to those cats is not clear. Thus far, 30 free-roaming cats have been trapped, removed and taken to the Animal Rescue League to be destroyed by local citizens and the Sheriff as stated by Mr. Copenhaver.
At January’s hearing, a feeding ban ordinance was to be decided. As of now, there is no further talk about a ban, but Mr. Copenhaver made it clear that if problems arise, the caretakers will be cited.
Cindy Wise has been a feral cat colony caretaker for a long time. And as such, many have felt it was okay to dump more cats on her property because “she will take care of them.” Yes, she has come to be known as your friendly “cat lady”. But this is a misnomer. Because someone decides to be responsible for taking care of a colony does not give others a right to dump any unwanted cat on her property resulting in Cindy being forced to clean up others’ messes. Nevertheless, Cindy and others will be and are responsible for any colony on their property.
Martha, an avid supporter of saving the lives of feral cats, is grateful that Bernville has reached out to resolve this pervasive issue. In an email to me, she states that it is important for ALL cats to get fixed and ear tipped, keeping feeding stations in discreet areas, clean and clutter-free, feeding ONLY during daylight to prevent other critters from eating there, providing sand for a litterbox on their property, acknowledging and addressing neighbor complaints about the cats so that this borough musn’t be involved with future feral cat disputes.
While this is great news for TNR advocates, another matter has arisen with TNR cats. These feral cats that have been through this process have their left ear, ear tipped. This shows immediate ID of a feral cat belonging to a colony. Unfortunately, not everyone understands this method of identification.
Ear tipping is the universal sign of a spayed/neutered feral cat. The procedure involves removing approximately a quarter-inch off the tip of the cat’s left ear in a straight line cut. The cat is anesthetized (during the spaying/neutering surgery) when this is done. It appears all other types of feral cat ID programs failed until ear tipping was utilized. Ear tipping clearly shows that this cat “belongs” to a managed TNR colony.
Residents who trap these cats are most likely not educated on this identification process nor probably care. Martha has relayed to me that some ear tipped cats have been taken to the Animal Rescue League without the workers realizing these cats belong to a colony and need to be returned. With a bit of education, the ARL now understands and have already returned a feral cat to its caretaker.
It seems that not only does the public at large need to educated about TNR but local shelters as well. Martha says she has contacted the Humane Society of Berks County to help educate them on ear tipped cats. They do plan to return these cats back to their colonies.
Martha is determined, in alliance with the Fairchild Foundation, to see all boroughs and townships in Berks County endorsing TNR as the preferred method of cat control. Martha says that TNR is an effective, humane, non-lethal cat control approach, volunteer-driven program that involves no taxpayer money to fund it.
Whether you agree or disagree, I tip my hat to Martha and all TNR advocates for being bold to have a solution to saving cats’ lives instead of destroying the majority of them. It is a fact that animal shelters kill more cats than dogs because the ratio of cats to dogs is that much higher.
You must remember it is NOT the shelters’ fault for being forced to kill at least 75% of the cats that come through their doors. The fault lies squarely on the irrresponsible owners and forcing others to clean up this mess. Because you decide you no longer want your cat, you allow him/her to roam free and procreate, there will always be a high volume of unwanted cats.
There is a solution. TNR. If you want to learn more, check out No Nonsense Neutering or Fairchild Foundation’s websites.