Showing posts with label TNR "Clark County" "Trap Neuter return" "Communit y Cats" C5 "Community Cat Coalition of Clark County" "feral cats" "temple cats". Show all posts
Showing posts with label TNR "Clark County" "Trap Neuter return" "Communit y Cats" C5 "Community Cat Coalition of Clark County" "feral cats" "temple cats". Show all posts
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!
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