That Iowa Town Lifts "Bounty" For Feral Cats Thanks to Protesting Animal Groups

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As you know I did a discussion about how one town in Iowa (Randolph) was going to place a $5.00 bounty to round up the many feral/stray cats that were roaming around... Can see that discussion here http://www.mylot.com/w/discussions/1433925.aspx?p=2#2_16777106 Thanks to a fellow mylotter, she alerted me about a link to the Best Friends organization that because there was so much nationwide protest by leading animal groups, like Best Friends, ASPCA and so forth, that the now the Mayor, whose "brilliant" idea it was to do this bounty thing is lifting the bounty hunt for the feral cats. According to the Best Friends website article: (Quote) ..."An Iowa town has conditionally backed off on its plan to pay a $5 bounty for feral cats and instead will consider a proposal offered by a coalition of animal welfare groups, including Best Friends, Alley Cat Allies and Friends to Felines. Vance Trively, mayor of Randolph, agreed to meet with coalition representatives after mounting protests by animal welfare groups across the country, including Best Friends. Our Animal Help team, through the Best Friends Network, began marshalling volunteers and resources, and coordinating with local groups. For more details, read the full story of the effort. The coalition will meet March 17 in Omaha to draft the proposal, which will be discussed with the mayor, then presented at a special town council meeting in Randolph three days later. The plan is expected to include a trap/neuter/return/maintain component using a mobile clinic and Best Friends volunteers to trap the cats, perform spay/neuter surgeries and relocate any feral cats to safe, free-roaming colonies. Adoptable cats will be placed with rescue groups. Local organizations have come forward with offers of help, including Fry’s Country Bargains, the Animal Protection and Education Charity, and a local veterinarian who has committed to performing the surgeries. Town officials approved the bounty after receiving numerous complaints, ranging from a cat attacking a small dog to a dozen cats showing up at the food bowl when a resident tried to feed his own cat. There are dozens of stray cats around the small southwest Iowa town, which has a population of about 200. Under the bounty policy, stray cats without collars would be taken to a veterinarian in the nearby town of Sidney (Randolph has no vet clinic), where they’d be kept “for a time for people to claim them,” Trively told the Associated Press. Unclaimed cats would be euthanized and buried. “You can't just let them keep multiplying in town,” the mayor said. “One guy threatened to shoot all of them. I told him he couldn’t do that in town. Other people talk about poisoning them, but you can’t do that in town.” A representative for the Humane Society of the United States told the AP that the organization doesn’t have a problem with euthanizing stray cats, but in Best Friends’ experience, there are better ways to manage them. “Removing and euthanizing the cats is an ineffective way of controlling the feral cat population,” according to our Animal Help department. “It often results in what is known as the ‘vacuum effect’ – more cats show up within a few months and start breeding. This effect has been documented by several studies on feral cats and wildlife.” Since the bounty went into effect March 1, two cats have been turned in. One died from poisoning, but the other was adopted by Friends to Felines. It has been reported that the mayor canceled the bounty on the cats! Best Friends is collaborating with the mayor of Randolph to devise and institute humane alternatives to controlling the feral cat population. We are excited to work with the city to devise a solution that the citizens of Randolph can be proud of. Feral cat advocate organizations plan to make a presentation at a special City Council meeting next Thursday. The three main entities creating the plan are Best Friends Animal Society, Alley Cat Allies, and Friend to Felines. Best Friends Volunteer Manager Tiffani Hill was able to orchestrate some extraordinary volunteers to go to last night's meeting. The outpouring of concerned citizens and volunteers are making this possible. Holly Sizemore of No More Homeless Pets Utah has a PowerPoint presentation ready for next week's meeting. Please stay tuned! The Background Animal welfare organizations from across the country are mobilizing to help fight this short-sighted and barbaric proposal, which would put a $5 price tag on each cat brought in! This smacks of the ill-fated Wisconsin proposal to allow cat killing - start spreading the news and get everyone you know to get active against this proposal...." There are several links about this http://news.bestfriends.org/index.cfm?page=news&fps=1&mode=entry&entry=AF03F717-19B9-B9D5-9D77FDE589A869DA http://network.bestfriends.org/iowa/news/23641.html http://www.omaha.com/index.php?u_page=2798&u_sid=10282948 I can't agree more with this move that there ARE better alternatives...such as the TNR method (trap, neuter, release method) of dealing with stray or feral cats...and it looks like organizations like Best Friends and Alley Cat Allies are going to help out with this situation--thank goodness!