Feral Cats--A Continuing Dilemma

Feral cats are domesticated housecats that have reverted back to their wild state. Typically cats revert back to a wild condition due to abandonment or other irresponsible human behavior, such as failure to spade or neuter owned cats. As can be expected, feral cats pose serious threats to native fauna. It is true that habitat loss causes the greatest negative impact on wildlife, the presence of feral cats provides additional stresses.

Feral cats are a particular problem due to the lack of legal clarity regarding their status. For instance, are feral cats, wildlife? domestic animals, invasive species or something else? Since one cannot identify a feral cat simply by sight, anyone who tries to control feral cats is at legal risk because animal control officers may deem control of the cats as cruelty. Throw in the problem of free-range cats (which are cats that are owned but whose owners allow them to roam free) and things get more complicated because killing a cat runs the risk of damaging someone's property.

So what should one who is suffering from damage by cats do to resolve the problem? Unfortunately, there are no easy answers. Strike that. There are no easy legal answers.

Fortunately, a new publication is available that will help, and I emphasize help, with some of the complexities. If for nothing else, the publication "Managing Feral Cats" will provide some guidance about the problem and provide some solutions that might work for you.

We hope you will agree. As always, let us know what you think.

Stephen M. Vantassel, CWCP, ACP