04 April 2010
On Feb 20th, I was already resigned to the fact that there would be little celebrating for me. Between trapping the previous night, teaching the TNR class and trapping that night for the monthly feral clinic, I knew I wouldn't have time for a usual birthday celebration. Sleeping late on Sat seemed to be a good compromise to having a full-on party and doing nothing at all. Around 0930 my phone rang and I decided I had better see who was expecting me to be out of bed. It turned out to be Tricia to report and seek advice for how to deal with a sticky situation. At the location where they were trapping, they had discovered three tiny 2-4 day old kittens in a storage closet. The momma cat was around but Tricia wasn't sure of how to proceed. Should she scoop up the kittens? Should she leave them alone? Or attempt to use them as bait to trap momma?
Each decision seemed fraught with possible bad outcomes. If she took the kittens on, someone was going to be stuck nurse maiding them and they would have little hope for survival. If she let them be, there was no guarantee that we could trap momma or that momma would not move them to another location. If we moved them, momma might abandon them! Tricia's initial instinct was to leave everything alone and give the kittens a chance to grow. I called Bobbi K. and she advised using them as bait by placing them into on trap, and butting that trap up against a second trap so that momma would have to walk through the trap to get to them. I explained what to do and Tricia gamely moved the little ones into a small box and placed them into a trap. At the same time, she made a grisly discovery, a mummified kitten carcass!
As soon as I got off of the phone with her, I regretted having her move the kittens. What if we couldn't trap momma? What if she wouldn't nurse the kittens after being trapped? I called Trish back and told her of my plan to go teach the class while she and Trudi finished trapping at the site. She asked me if I would come by to help them out first and I said that I did not have the time. Hearing the disappoint in her voice, and I decided that it was unfair for me to expect them deal with this new and frightening situation without being involved . I started working the phones to see if I could find someone who was willing to foster the kittens. Darci from All Fur Love Society agreed to take on the huge responsibility of caring for momma and kittens. I called Bobbi to see if she could come down later and decided that I would go by the site on my way to the training class and help however I could.
I quickly packed up and headed out. When I arrived, Trudi and Trish we're staking out a number of traps in the front and back yard and anxiously looking for momma to see if she would enter the storage closet through the cat door that the caretaker had installed. They had trapped 6 or 7 cats already. Momma watched us warily and would not go into the closet. I decided to take a peak and make sure that the trap with the kittens was setup correctly. I entered the closet and noticed that two cats were hiding in the corner. I inspected the trap setup and found that it was incorrect. The small box containing the kittens was inside of the trap meant for momma. Had she entered this trap, the tiny kittens would be in danger if a panicked, trapped mother trampled them in an attempt to escape.
Moving as calmly and as quietly as possible so as not to disturb the cats who were hiding out ( I planned to wrangle them with a net or noose pole) I rearranged the trap setup. Trish made a commotion at the door and one of the cats ran out. I indicated for her to be quiet and continued setting up the trap. Once I was satisfied that the new setup would work, I retrieved the noose pole from the truck. Trudi used a trap to block the only escape route, and I used the noose pole to prod the cat into the trap. Once trapped we went back to waiting for momma.
I left to teach the class and later received a call that Bobbie was able to trap the mother by having Trudi block the cat door with a trap while Bobbi shooed her out. Bobbi delivered the kittens and momma to Darci who set them up in a large kennel. Hearing the news, I thought, "What a great present! Saving three kittens, and successfully capturing the mother."
Over the next few days, joy turned to disappointment as two of the three kittens died because momma had stopped caring for them. Darci took the final kitten away from momma and began bottle feeding it herself. Despite the heartache, Darci gamely continued to care for the little one she named "Miracle". Yesterday I got to see him play with him, and I thought, that despite the losses, it still turned out to be a good, if belated birthday present!
Each decision seemed fraught with possible bad outcomes. If she took the kittens on, someone was going to be stuck nurse maiding them and they would have little hope for survival. If she let them be, there was no guarantee that we could trap momma or that momma would not move them to another location. If we moved them, momma might abandon them! Tricia's initial instinct was to leave everything alone and give the kittens a chance to grow. I called Bobbi K. and she advised using them as bait by placing them into on trap, and butting that trap up against a second trap so that momma would have to walk through the trap to get to them. I explained what to do and Tricia gamely moved the little ones into a small box and placed them into a trap. At the same time, she made a grisly discovery, a mummified kitten carcass!As soon as I got off of the phone with her, I regretted having her move the kittens. What if we couldn't trap momma? What if she wouldn't nurse the kittens after being trapped? I called Trish back and told her of my plan to go teach the class while she and Trudi finished trapping at the site. She asked me if I would come by to help them out first and I said that I did not have the time. Hearing the disappoint in her voice, and I decided that it was unfair for me to expect them deal with this new and frightening situation without being involved . I started working the phones to see if I could find someone who was willing to foster the kittens. Darci from All Fur Love Society agreed to take on the huge responsibility of caring for momma and kittens. I called Bobbi to see if she could come down later and decided that I would go by the site on my way to the training class and help however I could.
I quickly packed up and headed out. When I arrived, Trudi and Trish we're staking out a number of traps in the front and back yard and anxiously looking for momma to see if she would enter the storage closet through the cat door that the caretaker had installed. They had trapped 6 or 7 cats already. Momma watched us warily and would not go into the closet. I decided to take a peak and make sure that the trap with the kittens was setup correctly. I entered the closet and noticed that two cats were hiding in the corner. I inspected the trap setup and found that it was incorrect. The small box containing the kittens was inside of the trap meant for momma. Had she entered this trap, the tiny kittens would be in danger if a panicked, trapped mother trampled them in an attempt to escape.
Moving as calmly and as quietly as possible so as not to disturb the cats who were hiding out ( I planned to wrangle them with a net or noose pole) I rearranged the trap setup. Trish made a commotion at the door and one of the cats ran out. I indicated for her to be quiet and continued setting up the trap. Once I was satisfied that the new setup would work, I retrieved the noose pole from the truck. Trudi used a trap to block the only escape route, and I used the noose pole to prod the cat into the trap. Once trapped we went back to waiting for momma.
I left to teach the class and later received a call that Bobbie was able to trap the mother by having Trudi block the cat door with a trap while Bobbi shooed her out. Bobbi delivered the kittens and momma to Darci who set them up in a large kennel. Hearing the news, I thought, "What a great present! Saving three kittens, and successfully capturing the mother."
Over the next few days, joy turned to disappointment as two of the three kittens died because momma had stopped caring for them. Darci took the final kitten away from momma and began bottle feeding it herself. Despite the heartache, Darci gamely continued to care for the little one she named "Miracle". Yesterday I got to see him play with him, and I thought, that despite the losses, it still turned out to be a good, if belated birthday present!
26 March 2010
In Nov 2008, I got bitten by a dog named Scratch. I usually joke that it's ironic, or maybe moronic! Here's the notes from my journal about that day.
Scratch-When I brought Ginny back in I noticed a little blood coming from her nose. Cindy was feeding the dogs on the row with the cart a couple of kennels down from Scratch. I tell her about Ginny ramming her nose into the gate and the blood and ask if she will have Karen look at it. She says OK and I go back to Scratch's kennel. He is very excited. I give him a sit command and hand signal but he ignores it. I wait for a minute to see if he will comply but he does not. I decide to go in and as soon as I open the door he rushes out in an attempt to get around me. Instinctively I reach down to prevent him from escaping. For some reason I do not cuff him as I probably should to maintain control of his head. I don't know if it's because I fear his strength and dominance or if I'm trying not to let this escalate. He has maneuvered now so that his head is facing towards the kennel. I am positioned over him and I use my left arm to cradle his butt to prevent him from moving. Something about being restrained in this position makes him very tense and he lets out a terrible sound like I've just stepped on his tail. I look to ensure that in fact I am not on stepping on him at all. He has now warned me that he is extremely agitated. Focused on the single minded goal of not letting him get out of my control I persist in attempting to restrain him using minimal force and get him back inside of the kennel.
I watch in the sort of detached way that only someone pumped on adrenaline can as he takes my forearm into his mouth and clamps down exactly like you'd imagine a dog that was bred over centuries to bite and hold things. I remember watching him shake his head back and forth while I vainly attempted to retrieve my arm and thinking, “Wow, that's really going to hurt later!” At some point he released the grip on my forearm leaving four major punctures and one minor one in my fore arm. You would think that any person with sense would ensure that they protected their limbs at this point, but the adrenaline and the single minded focus of not letting him escape made me stupid. He got a second bite with his teeth around my thumb causing a major puncture on my hand above my wrist, and a smaller puncture through the web of skin between the thumb and index finger. His finally bite causes three punctures on my hand with two to the base of the index finger and a third between the index and middle finger. As this scenario played out, Cindy observed intently from behind her cart but made no move to intervene. I was not disappointed by this as I saw no reason for someone else to get hurt. Even after watching my forearm and hand being chomped on I remained incredibly calm. When Scratch finally relinquished my hand, I backed into his kennel holding my bleeding arm high in the air. He turned to flee down the row but Cindy was quick with the cart and blocked his path. He looked back at me in confusion. Blood oozing out from several deep wounds I sat down low in the kennel and called Scratch back to me. He walked into the kennel and I stood up, exited and closed the gate behind me. Cindy looked at me and asked how bad it was. I held my arm up and showed her, blood dripping onto the floor. We made our way towards Karin's office and she said, “I'm sorry for not helping out back there, but...” She held up her forearms to show the scars from what looked like a devastating mauling she had received in the past. I replied, “No problem! You did exactly what needed to be done by blocking his escape! You saw how he came back to me, I should have just let him out and then called him back in!”
I look at the blood oozing from my hand and for a brief instance I feel woozy like I'm going to faint. The feeling passed and as we approached Kathy's kennel, she somehow managed to open her door and came barreling down the row. Fortuitously, for some reason, I still had the 6' black nylon lead in left hand. I thrust the lead out in front of me and Kathy, true to form, takes it into her mouth. I use her grip to force her back into her kennel, abandon the lead, and shut the door. Are the prisoners revolting?
In Karin's office I mix up some betadine and water. Cindy gets me some towels and I proceed to clean up. Still in shock and disbelief, I think to myself it's not that bad. Karin comes in and I let her know what happened claiming it to be my fault and not Scratch's. I think maybe I can get by with not going to the ER. Most of the wounds don't look too bad, but the one near my wrist is quite deep. It looks like it should get a closure. I show it to Karin and say I think I am going to the Quickcare. She says that if that is the case, I need to speak with Julie and a report with animal control must be filed and Scratch must go into quarantine. I hate for all of this to happen but I need to get medical attention.
Julie says she must look up what hospital I need to go to be covered by the shelter's insurance. I tell her that I have insurance and I could go to the Quickcare. She agrees that this would be helpful. We fill out an incident report and they take Scratch out of adoptions and put him in quarantine. On my way out I see Adam and Kay and show them my arm and relate the story. I reiterate how I think it is my fault and how it escalated out of control and how I should have backed off sooner. I show them my wound of concern and say I'd rather not go but I think it needs a stitch.
In the car I snap a couple of photos and shoot a short bit of video to commemorate the moment. On the way to the Quickcare, an officer from Animal Control calls and asks where I am going to be treated, and I tell her which UMC office I am going to. She tells me to have them contact Animal Control once I get seen. She asks if I have a pen but I say I have the number on my cell. At the Quickcare office I sign in using my left hand. Not noticing that the first line is for last names, I have scribbled my first. I write my last name on the next line and pass the sign in sheet back to the secretary.
“Sorry,” I quip, “It's kind of illegible. I had to write it with left hand because my right hand is like this!” I thrust my arm out and showed her my hand. Though I had cleaned it at the shelter, fresh blood had oozed from all of the wounds and covered my lower arm and my pants. “Oh God,” she said, “What happened to you.” She processed me pretty quickly but we had to wait a little while for the nurse to come and get me. Vitals were good (BP 119/78). She filled out the report for animal control. I told her about their request that they be contacted. She said she would not call, but would fax the report. A second nurse came who cleaned my wounds with a betadine solution and then had me soak my arm while I waited for the doctor. I voiced my opinion that I would need a stitch. She said dog bites were considered “dirty wounds” so they did not use sutures. She asked me about the level of pain and I said three. I had to wait for quite a while (30 minutes maybe?) but it was good cause I soaked in the betadine for all of this time. The doctor came in, we went over what happened and she explained that they did not cover or dress dog bites at all. I showed her my wrist and she said that they might put a steri-strip on it to close it. She asked me about pain and I again said three. She said I have a high tolerance to pain. She prescribed some pain pills (Lortab?) and Augmentin (amoxicillin antibiotic). I waited a little while and she returned with a male doctor. He looked at my hand and said yes to the steri strip. The nurse returned, closed the wound on my wrist with the strip and discharged me. I explained to her about the Animal Control officer wanting to speak to someone. She offered to if I could get them on the line. I called the number but it started me into voice menu hell. I waited on hold for a moment and then decided that they would get the faxed report.
I made my way to the pharmacy, my uncovered wounds oozing blood. I went home, called the shelter and left a message for Julie at the main number. I called Julie/Connie's number and Karin answered. I updated her about my condition. The next two days my hand was very sore and swollen. While post adrenaline pain scale was three, on the next day it was closer to six or seven! My forearm and hand felt like someone had taken a bat and struck it several times while it rested on a block of concrete. On Wed I mostly rested. Julie called me on Wed but I missed her call. I called Connie and updated her on my condition. She asked whether I would be able to take Bea to her last class. She offered to get someone else to do it, but I told her I would be OK by then. I did not want to miss that day for anything! She tells me Scratch is still in quarantine, but that the visit from AC was perfunctory and that no further action would be taken against Scratch! Good deal!
Typing or walking dogs is out of the question as my hand is swollen and oozing and I can barely use it for anything. Thursday it is a little better, but still too painful to type. Up early I buy into a $24 + 2 Knockout NLH tournament with 542 players at 6:00 AM using my left hand with the mouse. Hopped up on Lortabs, I show the requisite amount of aggressiveness to scoop up blinds when necessary to stay ahead of the curve. Unusually, I never end up having to make decisions that jeopardize my stack. At one point a couple of hours in I make a bad call, but it's not enough to cripple me. I manage to come back and after three hours I am solidly in the money and looking better all of the time. It gets down to the final 9 players and I have a pretty average chip stack. I am writing an email to Jayme to tell her what is going on since she is on the phone when two other players go all-in. I call and knock them both out. It is now 7-handed and I am the chip leader. I use my big stack to bash the other players into submission one by one. Heads up the lead slips away with one bad call, but I manage to come back and win. $2700 for first place plus 12 knockouts at $4 a pop. Yea! My first tournament win over three figures! Thanks Scratch!
Scratch POSTMORTEM – With a couple of weeks of reflection, I think I have now pieced together the many mistakes that have led to minor tragedy. The Saturday before this event occurred, I had been working with Scratch in the courtyard with sit-stays off leash. This was the first time I had ever used treats with Scratch and the transformation was incredible. The strongest and nearly most stubborn dog that I know who won't walk right, sit look when his name is called suddenly becomes the most obedient dog in the world. I would put him into a sit, (oftentimes right in front of the glass doors so he could see people coming and going through the lobby) drop the lead and walk away from him. He would hold his stay even with distraction, and when I released him (usually from a distance) he would bound excitedly towards me receive his tiny bit of chicken. We spent a good amount of time practicing this and he never seemed to tire of performing this act.
Fast forward to Tue. I go to his kennel and try to get him to sit. He ignores me. He's thinking, “Hey, here's the chicken guy! I loved that game we were playing! Run at the chicken guy and get the treat! Yeah! I love the chicken guy! OK, kennel door is open, run at the chicken guy!“ So here he is, running at me expecting to get treated, He was happy and excited ,but now he's being restrained in a way he does not like and the chicken man is showing anxiety and maybe a little fear. He lets out a whelp to show his dismay at being trapped. The chicken man momentarily relents, but then goes back to forcing him back into his kennel. The more the chicken man pushes, the more he resists. Finally, he has had enough. The other dogs are extremely upset and barking. The chicken man is also agitated. The woman with the food cart is also agitated. Cornered and frightened, he decides that if the chicken man will not release him, he will grab the chicken man. Instincts take over he bites down on the chicken man's forearm. The chicken man attempts to free his arm but his pathetic attempts at pulling are little match for the gripping power selected and bred for by generation after generation. He shakes the forearm violently and for a moment, the man is able to free his arm, but a quick bite secures the hand by the thumb. Less secure this grip is momentary but he is able to snap the man yet again on the index finger, before the man retreats back into his kennel holding his bleeding hand above his head. Standing on the row no longer gripping the man's arm, Scratch realizes that he is free. He starts down the row but the food woman shoves her cart rudely in his face. He backs away and hearing his name called he looks back at the kennel and sees the chicken man kneeling holding his left down to the ground invitingly and calling him. He races into the kennel and the man walks out. What the hell was all of that about? All I wanted was chicken treat. A few minutes later the vet tech comes and gets him using one of the nylon leads. He is moved from his kennel to a different one where no prospective adopters can see him. There is tension now whenever any of the staff comes around.
Should have never let him barrel out of kennel. (claiming territory).
Should have scruffed him to control head and body.
Should have backed off when he whelped.
Should have protected extremities to prevent bite.
When Scratch got released from quarantine, I felt terrible. The staff now feared him and his profile was updated to indicate that he had bitten someone. I told the dog manager Dwayne that I understood the mistakes I had made and that I wanted to continue working with Scratch. He told me as long as I wasn't afraid, he had no problem with me walking Scratch. He is still at the NSPCA, and he is still one of my favorite doggies! I would so much like to get him a forever home!
22 March 2010
Last Oct. I placed a left a trap in what I considered to be a secure area. Surrounded by a fence and a locked gate, I was sure that any trap I left there would be undisturbed. After about 45 minutes of trapping at other sites nearby, we checked the trap and I discovered a pissed-off soaking wet feral kitten. A nearby sprinkler had drenched him and the trap cover. We transferred him to a dry trap and Joe took him home to warm up. What might his fate have been had I decided to leave the trap out all night? At best he would have been sick, at worst he could have died from hypothermia!
I often use this as a cautionary tale about leaving traps unattended for long periods of time. Unfortunately, now I have an even more convincing story. A few months ago, I warned a trapper about leaving traps even in a "secure" area, as I told her we can never anticipate what might happen while we are away. She assured me that she had done it lots of times and that there was enough physical security to prevent the traps from being disturbed. On sun morning she checked her traps to discover a cat that had been killed by dogs. If you arm a trap and leave it somewhere, what happens to the cat is your responsibility! Helpless inside the trap, I can only imagine the terror the cat went through while being killed. Do yourself and the cats a favor and don't leave traps unattended!
11 March 2010
This is my story and I'm sticking to it!
I started volunteering at the NSPCA in the fall of 2008. There were a large number of feral cats living around the shelter and at several other colonies located between Decatur/Arville and Russell/Hacienda. In the spring of 2009, I saw an ever increasing number of kittens and juveniles roaming around. I quickly made the connection between these feral cats breeding out of control, the overburdened NSPCA shelter, and the high number of cats being surrendered and euthanized in Las Vegas annually. I learned about the county's 10.06 ordinance and another volunteer and I decided to Trap Neuter Return the cats ourselves. We methodically catalogued the cats, where they were being fed and made contacts with the caretakers and property owners. Between 4 different sites, nearly 90 cats roamed and fed from an ample supply of food! Borrowing traps we captured and sterilized 3 cats for the July 2009 HCWS feral clinic.
By Oct of 2009, we had trapped some sixty cats from around the area. A couple had been previously sterilized. Six were fostered, then sterilized and eventually adopted. The other 54 cats who were trapped and released pushed the local sterilization rate to what I estimate to be over 60%. Between Oct. and Feb, we sterilized an additional 20 cats in the area pushing the rate above 80%. I only know of 4 kittens in the areas colonies which survived since Oct. Three were trapped and sterilized and one was rescued by a person who works in the area. I believe this demonstrates why TNR is effective. Yes, there were two mothers left producing kittens, and newcomers move in from other areas, but they and their offspring have to compete with the existing 60 - 70 sterilized cats for food and habitat.
Had we removed more of these cats, but not removed the food sources, the remaining cats would have had less competition and would have breed more prolifically to close the gap. The cat population in the area is noticably less than it was last summer. I hope to see far less if not zero litters of kittens finding their way into the NSPCA or Lied from this area this spring and summer. I also hope that this demonstrates that a small group of people can have a large impact on the number of kittens being born in an area in a relatively short time through targeted Trap Neuter Return.
My goal as President of the newly formed group, Community Cat Coalition of Clark County, or 'C5', is to educate and inform and more people to help themselves with feral cat issues. We hold a biweekly Introduction to TNR class at the HCWS clinic on Sat, from 12-2 PM to inform people, mostly colony caretakers about local cat ordinances and how to humanely and safely, trap, stage and transport cats.
02 March 2010
A couple of days ago there was an accident at Keith's house. One of the cats got out of it's trap. It dashed out the door when Debbie opened the garage. I had one escape in my garage a couple of months ago. The poor cat leaped onto anything and everything, including a mounted boar head that belonged to my dad! My wife thought it was a great adventure wielding my net like she was on safari. Heart racing and me shrieking at my wife to watch out, I managed to wrangle her with my noose pole and get her back into the trap. Since that time, my loose policy has been to never open the garage door until I've verified that everyone one is there. Of course, it helps to make sure the traps are really latched shut in the first place :-0
Keith and I were discussing this today and he told me that he had ordered 200 carabiners from Tru Catch to put 2 on each trap. Securing both doors for every trap all of the time seemed excessive to me. That is until I got home from the clinic.I had a row of five traps towards the front and a row of three in the back. While traveling, I usually cover the whole thing with a large moving blanket since my back window doesn't roll up :-0 I opened the tail gate and pulled the moving blanket off. I grabbed the middle trap and it felt too light. I peeked under the trap cover and the trap was empty! I looked up and had to do a double take to actually believe what I was seeing. The big black and white male from one of my sites was sitting directly behind the trap! When he saw me he sprung into the driver cab area.
I figured he would try to hide up there but I worried because he could get out my back window. I draped the moving blanket over the back and ran inside to get my wife. I yelled that I needed her help and dashed back outside. The blanket had fallen down and I replaced it. Realizing she was not coming out, I went back inside and told her what was going on.
We both came out and formulated a plan. I entered the back while she held up the blanket to block the back window. The cat was hiding in front of the driver's seat. I retrieved my noose pole from the front seat and attempted to cover him with a blanket. He went wild and started running across the dash attempting to get out through the closed windows. The interior of the truck was becoming quite warm and he was panting. I managed to get the noose pole on his neck and secure him while Jayme unloaded the other cats. I got him into my net and then scruffed him through it. I managed to get a hold of him and release the net. He was rather limp until right before I attempted to push him into the trap. A sudden and powerful squirm and he almost got our of my control! I got him into the trap and shut the door.
I hate handling feral cats in any other manner than carrying them in a trap! The only time I want to touch a feral is when they are either unconscious from being sedated, or when they are waking up and still loopy. I'm told my friend the other day that I'm more comfortable handling a mastiff with a bad attitude than a feral kitten! She of course told me she rather handle a feral cat than a friendly dog!
I don't know how he got out of the trap. I suspect that when I put the trap in, the rings caught on another trap and were held up high enough for him to force his way out. Fortunately the blanket contained him, otherwise he might have gotten out while I was driving down the freeway! I poke fun at Joe H. because he always zip ties every trap shut. He does this because he lost a cat while driving once. I now understand his paranoia! Either bungees or carabiners seem in order for every trap, especially during transport and staging.
28 February 2010
Wendy showed up and helped talk to people and took some great photographs. The majority of people there had dogs, and most of the vendors were dog oriented but overwhelmingly people were sympathetic about the number of cats being euthanized annually. I got a few email addresses and chatted up the ordinance and the class, and chatted down trapping and euthanizing cats. A brief but intense rain shower drove most of the attendees and vendors away around 12:30. I decided to pack up call it a day. A few people donated a little cash and one of our patrons cut us a nice check which I appreciate immensely! I look forward to doing more events like this to spread the word about community cat overpopulation and to empower more people to help themselves!
26 February 2010
Someone recently commented on another posting that I wrote. Their comment and my response follow.
- Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.
"Most if not damn near all feral cat supports refuse to listen to reason much less acknowledge all the environmental damage feral cats do. They do spread all kinds of diseases and parasites, kill native wild life, push out native predators, dig in gardens and sandbox were kids play and leave behind cat crap that carries all kinds of pathogens.So what is the the solution? Solving the problem with mass eradication techniques like poisoning, trapping, using dogs, etc. would only be effective in a small isolated geographical area like an island. Trying the techniques anywhere in Las Vegas would be too expensive, politically unpopular, and for the most part illegal. Once you've cleared an area of cats, new ones will simply move in. So instead of any organized, concentrated effort to deal with the problem, we have citizens trapping nuisance cats all over the city and having them destroyed at taxpayer expense. Some 18,000 plus cats were euthanized in Clark County in 2008. Imagine if 12,000 of these animals were nuisance community cats. With a population of 200,000 community cats in the valley, how long does it take for the remaining 188,000 cats to replace those 12,000 through breeding? A couple of weeks?!?!? Show me the neighborhood, business or area in town that is free from feral cats because of trapping and having them removed.
Feral cats are pests, nuisances, and a danger to native wild life and feral cat colonies shouldn't be support. They need to be wiped out." - Anonymous
These are all valid concerns and should not be ignored, but when you say they need to be wiped out, you propose something that is clearly not possible! If you want to change the law so that it's legal to shoot or poison or do whatever it is you want to wipe the cats, go ahead! Until that time, we will continue to use the only legal and proven method to reduce the cat population.
Even if you could implement some fantasy solution it would not work. You could poison, shoot and trap them but you will never get them all. People will always find ways to feed cats and in a short period of time, you'll be back to being overrun by cats!
You can complain all you want or you can actually do something effective to control the population! Wishing for the cats to go away or bemoaning the fact that they kill wildlife will not help get rid of them. Trapping and killing them may reduce the population at one place temporarily, but as long as cats are reproducing in others it's like trying to empty a bathtub with a teaspoon while the faucet is running
What if instead of destroying these animals, we sterilized them and returned them to the streets? Combined with the 7000+ Trap Neuter Returns being done by local volunteers and non-profits, there would be 10% of the population that was sterilized. We'd start to reach the 20,000 to 25,000 community cat sterilizations needed to really start to curbing the free-roaming cat population growth. The alternative? Continue to dump money into an endless pit and continue to drown in cats! Destroying these animals is waste of taxpayer resources! If the approach had any hope of working, stray/feral intakes at the shelter would not be continuing to rise at the alarming rate that they are!
The concept behind TNR is simple. Trap and remove the animal, and unsterilized animals will breed and replace that animal easily because there is less competition for food, shelter, habitat etc. Trap and sterilize an animal, and now the remaining unsterilized cats have to compete with the sterilized one for resources. Sterilize a significant portion in one area and the growth rate will slow. Sterilize enough animals in one area and the population will decline over time. Any unsterilized newcomers have to compete with the sterilized cats. I tell people that have a lot of cats around that they are going to be there anyways. Would you rather have sterilized ones that don't fight, spray, yowl in heat etc. or have kittens? Or would you rather have unsterilized cats moving into the habitat you conveniently provided for them by removing their competition?
Between Mar 2009 - Jul 2009 there were two approximately two dozen new litters of kittens born near the shelter where I volunteer. Many people were feeding the cats but few of them were sterilized. These kittens found there way into the shelter by people who had found theme. Many were sickly, many died, but many made their way into an already overburdened adoption program. Many were added to the existing cat population. I quickly made the connection between these feral cats breeding out of control, the mountain of cats at the shelter, and the embarrassing euthanasia and return rate this city has for cats.
Everyone in the area complained about the cats and the large number of kittens, but no one wanted to take responsibility for them. Property owners were victims and could do nothing but ask to have the cats removed and complain about the pests like bugs and birds which feasted on the food left by sloppy caretakers. Clark County Animal Control has neither the staffing nor mandate to trap cats. Caretakers had all manner of excuses. They were too busy, too poor, didn't have traps etc. to properly manage them. I learned about the county's 10.06 ordinance and decided to TNR the cats myself. I methodically cataloged the cats, where they were being fed and made contacts with the caretakers, property owners, and people who work and see the cats each day. Between 4 different sites, nearly 90 cats roamed and fed from an ample supply of food provided by caretakers who in many instances did not even know other people were feeding the same cats!
Borrowing traps and using spay/neuter slots paid for by donations or county grant money, I trapped and sterilized 3 cats at the monthly July HCWS feral clinic.
In Aug, I trapped 11, and followed on with 4 or 5 cats in weekly slots. In Sep, I trapped 22 for the clinic and followed on with another 9 that week. In Oct. we delivered another 14. At this point we had fixed nearly 60 cats and a significant percentage of the cats, 66% had been sterilized or removed to be adopted.
We have continued to trap the holdouts over the intervening months at this point have TNR'd nearly 70 cats and removed 7 for adoption. Since Oct. Only three kittens have survived and all three have been sterilized and returned. There are still viable male and female cats in the population, but they must compete with the 60+ cats that have been sterilized! This spring and summer we will see, but my trapping partner and I notice that there are visibly less cats than there were last year. There is no magic cure all for this problem but removing the cats provides only a very temporary fix. I must continually monitor and trap newcomers, but the same would be true if the cats had been removed. At least now, I can be assured that these newcomers have to compete with all of the fixed cats in the area for food!
Clearly I would not have invested the time and effort into this project, if the cats were going to be removed and destroyed? Nor would any of the people that helped me. We do a service for the community and save the taxpayers lots of money. How many kittens have we prevented from needlessly ending up at Lied to be euthanized at taxpayer cost? Support Trap Neuter Return, because whether you love them or hate them, we all want less cats!
23 February 2010
In Nov, 2009 Community Cat Coalition of Clark County (C5) volunteers trapped, staged, and transported to Heaven Can Wait Society monthly feral clinic nearly 40 cats from the Thai Buddhist temple in North Las Vegas. Over the next several days, the monks continued trapping and at the end, 57 cats had been trapped, spayed/neutered, and returned to the temple. The Monks were thrilled that the cats would no longer be producing the large number of kittens they had seen in the past. We have remained in contact with the temple and will continue maintaining the virtually 100% spay/neuter rate.
On Friday the 19th of February at about 4pm, the Monks at the temple received a visit from Dale Smock, North Las Vegas Police Department Animal Control Manager. They were told that they would be allowed to have only three cats at the temple or face a $1200 fine if the excess cats were not removed. They were told to round up the cats and adopt them, providing names and address of where the cats went. If this could not be done, the Monks were to trap them with 11 AC provided traps and turn them over to NLVAC. They were told that they have until the 24th of February, Wednesday to begin complying.
Mr. Smock was evasive when asked what would happen to any cats turned over to NLVAC. What he wasn't willing to say was that they would be taken to Lied and virtually all of them would be killed. These are cats that are not socialized to living in homes and are not adoptable as regular pets. The monks see no way to avoid complying and having the cats removed and killed. The ordinance provides for an appeal to the city council, which we are in the process of determining how to file, since the monks were not provided a written copy of the complaint.
The Monks want nothing more that to live in peace with their community. They understand the problems that an uncontrolled breeding population of cats would cause and have been very cooperative in supporting the responsible management of these cats with Trap, Neuter and Return. With continued management of the cats the number is expected to decline as time goes by. This is a fairly isolated property and it is unlikely that a significant number leave there to bother any neighbors. If any of these cats are causing problems for neighbors there are several methods to address these issues that we would be happy to assist with.
If this site were a couple of miles away, in unincorporated Clark County, instead of NLV, the cats would be protected under the very progressive feral 10.06 ordinance! This ordinance has fostered the program which made the spay/neuter of these animals possible. County Animal control provides us with traps for long-term loan, and county grant money is used to spay/neuter many of the animals that we trap.
Trap Neuter Return and Manage is the only proven effective way to reduce the Community Cat population! The goal of our community-based TNR program is to have more sterilized animals on the streets as opposed to unsterilized animals, which will in turn halt the growth of the population. Every time one of the sterilized animals is destroyed, the ratio is going in the wrong direction!
If you would like to contribute money to help with fines or legal fees for the monks and or support the temple cats, send contributions to:
Wat Buddhapavana Temple
ATTN: Temple Cats
2959 West Gowan Road
North Las Vegas, NV 89032-3437
If you would like to make a tax-deductible contribution to the Community Cat Coalition of Clark County:
C5
4933 W. Craig Road #248
Las Vegas, Nevada
89130-2730
UPDATE 2/23 9:00 AM : We will be holding a peaceful protest in honor of national spay day at the Buddhapavana Temple located at Gowan and Simmons from 1 - 5 PM. Come join us and help protect these community cats!
UPDATE 2/23 6:30 PM: We have reached an agreement to meet next week in person to further discuss the case. Please cease any emails or calls to NLV officials until further notice! Thanks a lot to those that did call or write, you certainly got their attention!
On Friday the 19th of February at about 4pm, the Monks at the temple received a visit from Dale Smock, North Las Vegas Police Department Animal Control Manager. They were told that they would be allowed to have only three cats at the temple or face a $1200 fine if the excess cats were not removed. They were told to round up the cats and adopt them, providing names and address of where the cats went. If this could not be done, the Monks were to trap them with 11 AC provided traps and turn them over to NLVAC. They were told that they have until the 24th of February, Wednesday to begin complying.
The Monks are profoundly distressed about this situation. The Buddhist temple is considered to be a sanctuary and all living things that find their way there are cared for and protected by the Monks. This is a sacred duty. Buddhists believe in reincarnation. It is entirely possible for you to come back in the next life as any animal, including a cat. A cat that finds it's way to the temple, rather than say a used car lot, is entirely likely to be a fellow Buddhist looking for sanctuary. Being forced to pick three cats to live and trap the rest to die is a profound affront to their faith. It is on the same scale as calling the priest out of Sunday service, telling him to pick three of his congregation, and then forcing him to nail the door shut on the rest and set the Church on fire.
The Monks want nothing more that to live in peace with their community. They understand the problems that an uncontrolled breeding population of cats would cause and have been very cooperative in supporting the responsible management of these cats with Trap, Neuter and Return. With continued management of the cats the number is expected to decline as time goes by. This is a fairly isolated property and it is unlikely that a significant number leave there to bother any neighbors. If any of these cats are causing problems for neighbors there are several methods to address these issues that we would be happy to assist with.
If this site were a couple of miles away, in unincorporated Clark County, instead of NLV, the cats would be protected under the very progressive feral 10.06 ordinance! This ordinance has fostered the program which made the spay/neuter of these animals possible. County Animal control provides us with traps for long-term loan, and county grant money is used to spay/neuter many of the animals that we trap.
Trap Neuter Return and Manage is the only proven effective way to reduce the Community Cat population! The goal of our community-based TNR program is to have more sterilized animals on the streets as opposed to unsterilized animals, which will in turn halt the growth of the population. Every time one of the sterilized animals is destroyed, the ratio is going in the wrong direction!
If you would like to contribute money to help with fines or legal fees for the monks and or support the temple cats, send contributions to:
Wat Buddhapavana Temple
ATTN: Temple Cats
2959 West Gowan Road
North Las Vegas, NV 89032-3437
If you would like to make a tax-deductible contribution to the Community Cat Coalition of Clark County:
C5
4933 W. Craig Road #248
Las Vegas, Nevada
89130-2730
UPDATE 2/23 9:00 AM : We will be holding a peaceful protest in honor of national spay day at the Buddhapavana Temple located at Gowan and Simmons from 1 - 5 PM. Come join us and help protect these community cats!
UPDATE 2/23 6:30 PM: We have reached an agreement to meet next week in person to further discuss the case. Please cease any emails or calls to NLV officials until further notice! Thanks a lot to those that did call or write, you certainly got their attention!
10 February 2010
When I woke up in the morning, Tommy Boy had eaten all of his food so I loaded him up again. After feeding, watering, and changing paper for 15 cats, I found myself late to go meet Kristina at a mini-storage near the Palms hotel. We got there around 3:30. I setup the drop trap on one side of the complex while Kristina put traps out on the other side. I had my camera and tripod so I setup the camera where I could see the display while hiding from the cats by standing around a corner. It took nearly 15 minutes for the first one to work up the nerve to enter the drop trap. Emily had TNR'd a bunch of cats (15+?) here so many of them were previously fixed. I could see that he was not one of the four I was after on this side. After a few more minutes more of the cats started to appear. A small black cat appeared, and I slowly peeked around the corner with my binoculars to see if it was the one I was after. It was! Now there two cats eating the bait. A second ear tipped cat entered the trap. Fortunately some sound spooked her and she bounded away. I started thinking about spring the trap when I saw one of the grey and white cats checking things out. I decided to wait and he too entered the trap.
Preparing to pull the string I accidentally dropped the plastic reel and it clattered on the ground. I thought for sure the the noise would scare the cats but they sat there unperturbed. I sprung the trap and knabbed all three. We released the previously trapped cat and put the other two into traps. I reset the drop trap, but 30 minutes later there was still no action. We trapped one more from the other end and left four traps behind to be checked later.
Moving
on I met Susan, David and Erika at Nathan Adelson Hospice. They had managed to catch a couple and when we finsihed up there, we had five more bring the total so far this location up to 10. A minor SNAFU occurred as I was convinced that we had left a trap somewhere at NAH, when in fact I had never counted the traps which were left at the storage place! Tricia and Trudy helped me at the White Sands and we manged to trap three more cats. Bobbi stopped the storage place and delivered two more cats. Jean, Denise and Joe had managed to trap 4 more at the NSPCA, including three that I had specifically targetted! Yeah! The total for the night ended up at 14. We staged these cats at the Humane Society.The next day, Monday, I delivered the cats that we had trapped on Sat. night to the clinic and got the checked in. The intention was to have a lot of cats ready to go first thing in the morning. Later Tricia and I took one final stab and Nathan Adelson and the White Sands. At NAH we managed to trap 2 more but had had no luck at the White Sands. Leftover kibble in the food bowls explained the reason. One very wary cat spent a long time checking out the drop trap from different angles while we hid from site behind the vehicles. Just as she about to go into the trap, a juvenile I nicknamed the "crack kitten" came zooming up to her, scaring her away from the trap. The crack kitten got his name when on the first night he ran in circles around the empty pool, never straying more than a couple of inches away from the edge.
The next morning I learned Tara would be bringing in another cat, and that Bobbi had two more. I called Kerry at HCWS to let her know how many we would be bringing in. When we got to the clinic, it was obvious that the 100 cat day was going to be a success! Before Bobbi and I arrived with our 20 cats, they had already checked in nearly a hundred. With so many cats to handle it was obvious that more help was needed so I decided to stay and see how I could help. Initially I changed paper in traps, but Harold soon took me in to do what they lovingly refer to as "The Huckeberry" or cleaning and sterilizing the surgical instruments in spay packs. Having worked years ago in a hospital performing the same work on a much larger scale, I found it quite easy to fall into a rhythm and keep up with the workload. I snuck out for a couple of hours in the afternoon to go see a client. The last surgery finished up at around 6:00 and by the time we cleaned up, and loaded up cats it was after 8 PM. 117 Signed in with 4 "Already Been Neutered" and 1 euthanasia.
Bobbi and I took our haul of 37 cats to the Humane Society office for staging. After feeding and watering all of the cats, it was nearly 10:00 PM. After showing Bobbi some of my videos and BS'ing some, it was after 10:30 by the time I got home and I was exhausted. Doc Henderson asked for 100, and Valley trappers over delivered!
07 February 2010
The last month and a half I've really struggled to be productive at trapping. Bad weather, poor planning, and uncooperative caretakers have all taken their toll on my ability to deliver cats. The final straw came during the trapping for the Jan feral clinic. I had access to nearly 50 traps and a half dozen trappers. We delivered 11 cats and that was only because Angela trapped 8! I spent nearly 12 hours to catch a measly 3 cats. GRRRRR! I was determined that this week, I'd be prepared to fill the 30-40 cat quota we're expected to deliver each Tuesday.
My truck was parked a couple of hundred feet away from the drop trap and I had setup on the hood of my truck a small command center consisting of my binoculars, a spotlight and my spotting scope. I watched ear-tipped cat after ear-tipped cat enter the trap and eat the food. Just as I was beginning to think it was going to be a bust, Princess poked her head out between the fence. My heart started racing as she approached the trap. A car came speeding out of the adjacent business complex and she ducked back inside of the fence. A few minutes later, she cautiously came out and entered the trap just as another cat was leaving. Double checking that she was inside I sprung the trap and got her! I hustled over and removed her from the drop trap.
About 10 minutes later, a crowd was starting to form around the drop trap again. A couple of already fixed cats had been in and out of the trap.but no sign of the other one I was after. Suddenly, a cat appeared on the wall. I looked with my binoculars and saw it was the white and black cat. He jumped down and eyed the drop trap cautiously. Skittish, he decided to run across the street and view it from a different angle. After several minutes, he cautiously approached and then entered the trap. I sprung the trap on him, hustled over and got him quickly out of the drop trap.
Joe B. arrived and helped me setup traps in the wash and stayed to monitor them while I set off to me Trudy and Tricia at Nathan Adelson Hospice. By the time I arrived, Trudy had already trapped one. We setup some more traps and a few hours later, we had trapped a total of seven cats from NAH. Soft-hearted Joe delivered another cat from the NSPCA with a questionable eartip and an injury to his eye. I verified the that he was one that had been previously trapped and then pondered what to do with Tommy Boy. Stone-hearted Mike would have turned him lose in the wash without hesitation. Now though, I had him, it seemed like the right thing to try to get him some antibiotics and hold him for a little while to see if his eye would clear up.
We moved onto the White Sands Motel on the strip and trapped 5 more. We packed up from the White Sands around midnight and I went home with 15 cats, 14 keepers and Tommy Boy. By the time I got everyone food and water, it was 1:30 AM.
(to be continued...)
On Thu afternoon, I received and email from Emily stating that they wanted to do 100 cats the following Tuesday. By Friday afternoon I was calling and emailing trappers to figure out who could help when. The response was quite positive. I printed up some signs to notify caretakers that we were trapping, called some other caretakers and checked out a couple of the sites to make sure the food was taken up. On Sat morning I returned to police up food from the feeder whom I correctly predicted would ignore my sign.
Sat afternoon I rolled out with a dozen traps and the drop trap. I setup the droptrap on the sidewalk outside the landscaping company near the NSPCA. I've done extensive trapping in the is area (it's where I got my start!) and at this location alone, I've trapped 22 cats. There are only a few left to be done amongst the horde. I'd tried unsuccessfully a few times to trap these but to no avail. It was light enough to see well when I started, but at that time there was still too much traffic for the cats to come out. After an hour or so, things quieted down and the cats started feeding from the drop trap. I know these cats quite well, so I knew exactly I wanted to catch. A long-haired calico I called "Princess". She had successfully eluded the summer dragnet resulting in a new litter of five which had to be trapped this fall also! The second cat was a white and black short-hair that was new to the colony. He'd shown up a few months ago and was shy and had resisted previous attempts at trapping.
My truck was parked a couple of hundred feet away from the drop trap and I had setup on the hood of my truck a small command center consisting of my binoculars, a spotlight and my spotting scope. I watched ear-tipped cat after ear-tipped cat enter the trap and eat the food. Just as I was beginning to think it was going to be a bust, Princess poked her head out between the fence. My heart started racing as she approached the trap. A car came speeding out of the adjacent business complex and she ducked back inside of the fence. A few minutes later, she cautiously came out and entered the trap just as another cat was leaving. Double checking that she was inside I sprung the trap and got her! I hustled over and removed her from the drop trap.
About 10 minutes later, a crowd was starting to form around the drop trap again. A couple of already fixed cats had been in and out of the trap.but no sign of the other one I was after. Suddenly, a cat appeared on the wall. I looked with my binoculars and saw it was the white and black cat. He jumped down and eyed the drop trap cautiously. Skittish, he decided to run across the street and view it from a different angle. After several minutes, he cautiously approached and then entered the trap. I sprung the trap on him, hustled over and got him quickly out of the drop trap.
We moved onto the White Sands Motel on the strip and trapped 5 more. We packed up from the White Sands around midnight and I went home with 15 cats, 14 keepers and Tommy Boy. By the time I got everyone food and water, it was 1:30 AM.
(to be continued...)
30 January 2010
Monthly Meeting
Despite the torrential downpour a little more than a dozen folks dragged themselves out to our Jan monthly meeting on the 19th. I'd like the thank David from Nevada Corporate Center for generously allowing us the use of their meeting room. We look forward to hosting other meetings in the venue! Come join us on Feb 25 to meet other cat friendly folks and eat cake! Jan TNR Classes
Our first two Introduction to TNR classes were held at the HCWS Spay/Neuter Clinic on the 9th and the 23rd. 15 students attended these two classes and got great information on trapping, staging, transporting cats humanely. The new Training Coordinator Tricia Brain has jumped right in producing very professional looking training manuals as well as preparing to take over presentation of the training material.Trapper Certification Process
C5 is committed to humanely trapping, staging, and transporting feral cats. As feral cats are wild animals, trappers, stagers and transporters need to use caution. C5 supports a TNR certification process, which is required to be a trapper, stager, or transporter. The certification process includes: * Attending a two (2) hour C5 TNR class
* Eight (8) hours in the field with a mentor
* Four (4) hours volunteering at one(1) monthly feral cat clinic to gain a better understanding of the requirements and processes
Email TNRClass@gmail.com to register for the class. Contact Debbie alyse24@aol.com to volunteer for the clinic. Trapping for Weekly Slots
We continue to attempt to fill 30 weekly slots on Tuesdays for community cats from Clark County. With the bad weather it's proven to be a challenge but with the formation of a number of trapping teams, we hope to get a little more organized and continue to deliver cats. If you'd like to assist in trapping for these slots, contact Keith info@clarkcountyferalcats.org to find a trapper team near you.
Jan HCWS Monthly Feral Clinic
http://kittenpaparazzi.blogspot.com/2010/01/hcws-january-2010-monthly-feral-clinic.html Monthly HCWS Feral Clinic No No's
Please do not bring cats in carriers or non-approved traps. Arrange to get a trap before the morning of the clinic and transfer the animal into the trap before coming to the clinic.Transferring cats disrupts the check in process and you may be asked to step aside while other people's cats are processed. If you need assistance in performing a transfer be prepared to wait and provide your own trap, otherwise there is no guarantee that a trap will be available. Make sure you have pre-printed labels which include the following lines: Trapper, Trapper Phone, Trapping Location, Sponsor, Sponsor Phone. A template is available on the clarkcountyferalcats.org website. If you do not, you may be asked to step aside while you fill out the labels. Make sure you sign a release every time! The monthly clinic is only for community cats that are going to be released back to outdoor colonies. Cats that will be fostered, adopted or rescued in any way are not be brought into the monthly feral clinic! The clinic targets the free-roaming cat population and the vets, vet techs and others who volunteer at the clinic expect to work on this demographic of animals. Cats that are fixed at the monthly clinic receive no paperwork (sterilization/shots), are ear tipped, and are exposed to all manner of parasites and disease found amongst the feral population. If you trap kittens small enough to tame or friendly strays that you intend to foster or adopt, do not bring them to the monthly clinic. Contact Keith at info@clarkcountyferalcats.org or myself if you need to have an animal fixed that will not go back to a colony. HCWS is happy to aid folks and animals who are truly in need. All that is expected is honesty about the animals and what will happen to them.
Public Outreach
Keith and I attended a couple of events for public outreach this month. One was Chris G.'s town hall meeting on fixing County budget shortfalls and the other was the Westley Neighborhood associations monthly meeting. At both events, Keith expressed the advantage of a community based TNR program: why use tax payer dollars to endlessly kill cats when volunteers and resources are available to do TNR?In other tabling event news, C5 will have a booth at the Clark County Library Districts Petstacular event of Feb 27 at the Rainbow library. If anyone is aware of other pet friendly venues where we can have a booth, let me know and I'll try to get us signed up! I've wanted to start tabling at Petsmarts, Petcos, etc. to push more traffic to the TNR Class and get more caretakers to register etc. Several cat adoption rescues in town already have arrangements to run operations out of the locations. I've contacted a couple and I think we can leverage the traffic they already have by having C5 volunteers available to give information about the Community Cat problem and upcoming classes, clinics, etc. If you are interested, contact me with a Petsmart/Petco location near you and the days or hours you'd be willing to spend.
Drop Trap Primer
Information on building and using a drop trap to catch more cats! http://kittenpaparazzi.blogspot.com/2010/01/whys-and-hows-of-drop-trapping.html
Feb Upcoming Events:
Introduction to TNR Class, Saturday Feb 6 and 20 12:00 - 2:00 PM
Heaven Can Wait Society Spay/Neuter Clinic
546 N. Eastern Ave
Email TNRClass@gmail.com to registerHCWS Monthly Feral Clinic Sunday Feb 21 6:30 AM - 5:00 PM
Heaven Can Wait Society Spay/Neuter Clinic
546 N. Eastern Ave
Volunteers needed to aid in checking in cats from 6:30 - 10:00 AM
Email alyse24@aol.com to volunteer C5 Monthly Meeting Thursday Feb 25 6:30 - 8:00 PM
Plaza Tower and Suites
101 E. Convention Center Dr. #P-111Petstacular Pet Fair Saturday Feb 27 10:00 to 2:00 PM
Rainbow Library
3150 N. Buffalo Dr.
Despite the torrential downpour a little more than a dozen folks dragged themselves out to our Jan monthly meeting on the 19th. I'd like the thank David from Nevada Corporate Center for generously allowing us the use of their meeting room. We look forward to hosting other meetings in the venue! Come join us on Feb 25 to meet other cat friendly folks and eat cake! Jan TNR Classes
Our first two Introduction to TNR classes were held at the HCWS Spay/Neuter Clinic on the 9th and the 23rd. 15 students attended these two classes and got great information on trapping, staging, transporting cats humanely. The new Training Coordinator Tricia Brain has jumped right in producing very professional looking training manuals as well as preparing to take over presentation of the training material.Trapper Certification Process
C5 is committed to humanely trapping, staging, and transporting feral cats. As feral cats are wild animals, trappers, stagers and transporters need to use caution. C5 supports a TNR certification process, which is required to be a trapper, stager, or transporter. The certification process includes: * Attending a two (2) hour C5 TNR class
* Eight (8) hours in the field with a mentor
* Four (4) hours volunteering at one(1) monthly feral cat clinic to gain a better understanding of the requirements and processes
Email TNRClass@gmail.com to register for the class. Contact Debbie alyse24@aol.com to volunteer for the clinic. Trapping for Weekly Slots
We continue to attempt to fill 30 weekly slots on Tuesdays for community cats from Clark County. With the bad weather it's proven to be a challenge but with the formation of a number of trapping teams, we hope to get a little more organized and continue to deliver cats. If you'd like to assist in trapping for these slots, contact Keith info@clarkcountyferalcats.org to find a trapper team near you.
Jan HCWS Monthly Feral Clinic
http://kittenpaparazzi.blogspot.com/2010/01/hcws-january-2010-monthly-feral-clinic.html Monthly HCWS Feral Clinic No No's
Please do not bring cats in carriers or non-approved traps. Arrange to get a trap before the morning of the clinic and transfer the animal into the trap before coming to the clinic.Transferring cats disrupts the check in process and you may be asked to step aside while other people's cats are processed. If you need assistance in performing a transfer be prepared to wait and provide your own trap, otherwise there is no guarantee that a trap will be available. Make sure you have pre-printed labels which include the following lines: Trapper, Trapper Phone, Trapping Location, Sponsor, Sponsor Phone. A template is available on the clarkcountyferalcats.org website. If you do not, you may be asked to step aside while you fill out the labels. Make sure you sign a release every time! The monthly clinic is only for community cats that are going to be released back to outdoor colonies. Cats that will be fostered, adopted or rescued in any way are not be brought into the monthly feral clinic! The clinic targets the free-roaming cat population and the vets, vet techs and others who volunteer at the clinic expect to work on this demographic of animals. Cats that are fixed at the monthly clinic receive no paperwork (sterilization/shots), are ear tipped, and are exposed to all manner of parasites and disease found amongst the feral population. If you trap kittens small enough to tame or friendly strays that you intend to foster or adopt, do not bring them to the monthly clinic. Contact Keith at info@clarkcountyferalcats.org or myself if you need to have an animal fixed that will not go back to a colony. HCWS is happy to aid folks and animals who are truly in need. All that is expected is honesty about the animals and what will happen to them.
Public Outreach
Keith and I attended a couple of events for public outreach this month. One was Chris G.'s town hall meeting on fixing County budget shortfalls and the other was the Westley Neighborhood associations monthly meeting. At both events, Keith expressed the advantage of a community based TNR program: why use tax payer dollars to endlessly kill cats when volunteers and resources are available to do TNR?In other tabling event news, C5 will have a booth at the Clark County Library Districts Petstacular event of Feb 27 at the Rainbow library. If anyone is aware of other pet friendly venues where we can have a booth, let me know and I'll try to get us signed up! I've wanted to start tabling at Petsmarts, Petcos, etc. to push more traffic to the TNR Class and get more caretakers to register etc. Several cat adoption rescues in town already have arrangements to run operations out of the locations. I've contacted a couple and I think we can leverage the traffic they already have by having C5 volunteers available to give information about the Community Cat problem and upcoming classes, clinics, etc. If you are interested, contact me with a Petsmart/Petco location near you and the days or hours you'd be willing to spend.
Drop Trap Primer
Information on building and using a drop trap to catch more cats! http://kittenpaparazzi.blogspot.com/2010/01/whys-and-hows-of-drop-trapping.html
Feb Upcoming Events:
Introduction to TNR Class, Saturday Feb 6 and 20 12:00 - 2:00 PM
Heaven Can Wait Society Spay/Neuter Clinic
546 N. Eastern Ave
Email TNRClass@gmail.com to registerHCWS Monthly Feral Clinic Sunday Feb 21 6:30 AM - 5:00 PM
Heaven Can Wait Society Spay/Neuter Clinic
546 N. Eastern Ave
Volunteers needed to aid in checking in cats from 6:30 - 10:00 AM
Email alyse24@aol.com to volunteer C5 Monthly Meeting Thursday Feb 25 6:30 - 8:00 PM
Plaza Tower and Suites
101 E. Convention Center Dr. #P-111Petstacular Pet Fair Saturday Feb 27 10:00 to 2:00 PM
Rainbow Library
3150 N. Buffalo Dr.
Michael White
PresidentHave Drop Trap, will travel...
702-688-0295
Contact Me 
--- @ WiseStamp Signature. Get it now
28 January 2010
Despite the poor weather and the fact that several large projects did not come together for C5 as planned, 274 cats were signed into the clinic with 98 coming in under C5. 265 surgeries were performed with 156 males being neutered and 109 females being spayed. 6 were "Already Been Spay/Neutered (ABS/N)" and sadly 3 had to be euthanized. The check in process went fairly smoothly considering that Debbie, the largest cog in the wheel was unable to be there. Caretakers were lined up as early as 6:30 to drop off their cats. Most people cooperated with the new check in policy, and lined their vehicles up for drop off. Printed labels were provided for those who did not have them and for the most part the check in went smoothly. As a reminder, please don't get to the clinic before 7:00 AM. There are no prizes for being first, and as a practical matter, even if you're first in line, you'll never get checked in before the cats Emily trapped the night before! Besides, you'll probably end up behind Keith with 40 traps or Trudy with 80 and have to sit and wait anyways!
The day started off with a bang as a poorly balanced trap fell off one of the first carts. I saw it tipping off and watched in horror as it flipped over and landed on the ground upside down. No longer secured by the rings, the trap door started to fall open. I rushed over and blocked the door closed with my hand. Quickly grabbing the trap with my other hand I flipped the trap over in one motion averting disaster.
This was the first month that non ring-door style traps were not allowed at the monthly clinic. Seven non-conforming traps and two carriers contained cats that had to be transferred into allowed traps. Fortunately for the folks who brought these cats in, I had exactly the number of traps needed to trade out carriers/traps for them. I learned my lesson this month, and next month I won't be bringing any extra traps with me! Transferring the cats and keeping track of who needed to be transferred back after the surgery was a pain and gummed up the check in process!During the second or third transfer, a cat managed to escape. Without even thinking about it, I tossed a towel on top of him and we got him into the trap without any further problems.
Harold was happy to have a good number. Keith was happy he didn't have to take any heat for any of the cats brought in under C5. I'd like to thank Tricia, David, Susan, David, Matt for helping with the checkin.
I took just enough pictures and video to cut together this little diddy on video. Bonus points if you can name the composer and the musical though really it should be quite obvious ;-)
Finally, even though there were a large number of cats, the clinic went so smoothly that Dr. Henderson and Harold had enough free time to dance to hip hop songs with me while Joanie taped the entire incident. I shudder to think of that video making it into public! Next month, barring more bad weather, the monthly clinic sign-in number will break 320, I'm sure of it!
Michael White
President
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Google Talk: phreephallin@gmail.com
President
Have Drop Trap, will travel...
Google Talk: phreephallin@gmail.comContact Me
27 January 2010
When I first started learning about TNR, I came across this video of entitled "A Drop trap catches more cats!" I watched the video and was impressed with what I saw. I did a little more research and built my own drop trap. After using it to catch well over a 100 cats, I'd like to share what I know so that more people can use this versatile and effective trapping tool. With a good design and construction, proper tactics and patience and you will easily catch the most trap shy cats.
THE PRO'S:
1. Able to trap cats which are trap shy from being previously trapped.
2. Able to catch multiple cats at one time.
3. Able to select individuals out of a crowd.
4. Able to "stand-off", or watch and activate trap from a distance.
THE CONS: My trap is bulky, heavy and difficult to transport. Finding a good spot to place it is often difficult and managing the string can be a pain. Impractical to use in some locations.
THE TRAP: The trap I built is 3'X3' and 1.5' tall. I used 1"X2" lumber which I screwed and glued together to form a box and the frame for the transfer door. The transfer door was fashioned out of a piece of plywood. A crude flap is attached to the back of the trap with hinges. To reduce the weight at the front of the trap, I placed the door in the rear corner. I lined the bottom with weather stripping to dampen the noise of the trap falling. I then attached garden netting using zip ties and rope.
THE WEIGHT and COVER: The weight, a kitty litter bucket filled with rocks, sits on the crude flap in the back of the prevents the cats from being able to move the trap. The cover, a fitted queen size sheet , calms them down when placed over the trap. I bundle it up and keep it with the weight at all times. As soon as the trap is sprung, the cover is immediately available to quiet the cats.
THE PROP STICK and STRING: The prop stick is approximately 12" long. Something like a paint stirring stick would be good, but I usually just used scrap from parts I have sometimes as large as 1"x2". I try to bevel the end that is going to be on the ground so that when the stick is leaning at an angle, the bevel is flat on the ground. I also place a notch on top to hold the trap. With the notch and bevel the stick should be quite stable while holding the trap. Cats have rubbed up against the trap numerous times and I have yet to have one knock it over. I drill a hole in the front part of bottom end and attach the string at this point. Pulling the stick from this point knocks it over quite easily. I also like to pad the stick with weather stripping or tape so that it doesn't make as much noise when the trap is sprung.
The string has to be lightweight without any stretch. Mason's string works very well. Make sure to wind it back up using the reel as opposed to wrapping the string around the reel which will cause it to twist up.
THE TACTICS: I try to cause as little commotion as possible when setting the drop trap up. A slow quiet approach is best if you don't want to upset the cats too much. The trap should sit on a flat surface so that no gaps show underneath the trap. A tenacious cat may be able to wiggle underneath! Ideally, I place the trap so I can view it from the front left quarter (my transfer door is on the right side). This is the best view for me to see if the cat is in and not beside or behind the trap. Normally, I put the prop stick at the front left corner of the trap with notch holding the trap and the string hole closest to me. The bait goes in the very back center of the trap. At this location, any cat that is eating the bait is completely inside of the trap. I usually bait the drop trap with a lot of food to hopefully draw multiples and because with a lot of food, cats will relax and sit down to eat, making them easier to trap.
If I think a cat is especially wary, I might move the prop stick further back to hold the trap up higher. It is also not unusual for me to sit in my vehicle and at a distance of up to 300 feet. A pair of binoculars is absolutely necessary for determining if the cat is actually in the trap or not, especially when lighting conditions are poor. At night, if I want to sit back at a distance, I usually select locations for the trap that are underneath a street lamp or other light source.
Another option is for the person pulling the string to hide out of site from the trap. A second person can watch from a better vantage point and signal when to spring the trap. If you are going to use this system, practice your communication signals before you start trapping. Screwing up the signals is a sure fire way to miss cats that you should have trapped! Another tactic is to setup the trap outside of a window or door, lead the string inside and then watch from inside the building in the dark.
Things other than food will cause a cat to enter the drop trap. One cat sat next to the trap for two hours until the frustrated caretaker went over and shooed her underneath the trap! Laser pointers, hanging feathers, toys and catnip have all been successfully used to get cats to enter drop traps.
SPRINGING THE TRAP: Always ensure that the string is running directly to your position without being snagged on anything. Also ensure that there is little slack in the string and that once the trap is set, you never leave the string or take your eyes away from the trapping area. Once you decide to spring the trap, make sure that you pull with as much force as you can. If I am standing, I will actually walk or run away from the trap while I pull to take up the slack even quicker. If I am inside of a vehicle, I make sure that the string is taut and that I am positioned so that I can generate enough power to spring the trap quickly. Cats are incredibly fast and strong and given even a split second of hesitation, they will find a way to slip out!
As soon as you have sprung the trap, be prepared to move in, cover the trap and transfer the cat out of the drop trap. A fearful cat will batter itself against the inside of the drop trap seeking a way to escape if left uncovered. Covering the animal will quickly calm it down and keep it from injuring itself. Transfer cats out of the drop trap as quickly as possible because a) resetting the drop trap will allow you to trap another and b) until the cat is in the transfer trap, it isn't truly "in the bag"!
TRANSFERRING CATS: My transfer door is secured shut by two bungee cords which are attached to the drop trap. I expose the transfer door by moving the drop trap cover out of the way. I butt a trap (with it's guillotine door open) up against the transfer door of the drop trap. I secure the trap using the two bungee cords and then cover the trap but leave the end uncovered so it looks like an escape route.
Open the drop traps guillotine door. If you are lucky the cat will automatically make it's way into the transfer trap. If you are not so lucky, you may be able to spook it by peeking into the drop trap from the opposite sides. In extreme cases I have used long skinny poles or spray bottles with water to gently prod cats into the transfer trap.
MIKE'S DROP TRAP RULES LEARNED THROUGH MISTAKES!
These are rules that I have come up with based on mistakes that I have made that have allowed cats to escape, or become injured unnecessarily. The injuries were scraped noses and faces which occurred when I was using a smaller, more lightweight design. Since the cats could easily lift the trap they would bang themselves up frantically! Just yesterday, I had to add #1 to the list as I had my first cat successfully wiggle out from underneath the drop trap!
1. Ensure that the drop trap sits flat enough to prevent cats from wiggling underneath.
2. Never leave the string once the trap is set.
3. Ensure that the string is running cleanly to your position without much slack.
4. Watch the trap and be prepared to pull the string at any time!
5. Double check that the cat is actually in the trap (wait till its eating!)
6. Pull with all of the speed and violence you can muster!
7. Transfer cats out of drop trap as quickly as possible.
8. Don't open the transfer door too far if it allows the cat a place to exit the drop trap other than into the transfer trap.
3. Ensure that the string is running cleanly to your position without much slack.
4. Watch the trap and be prepared to pull the string at any time!
5. Double check that the cat is actually in the trap (wait till its eating!)
6. Pull with all of the speed and violence you can muster!
7. Transfer cats out of drop trap as quickly as possible.
8. Don't open the transfer door too far if it allows the cat a place to exit the drop trap other than into the transfer trap.
9. Make sure your materials and design are secure and minimize the chances of injury to the cats.
10. Inspect and repair the trap frequently to prevent cats from being able to exploit a flaw or weakness.
Michael White
President
Have Drop Trap, will travel...
Contact Me
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