To help solve the feral cat problem lets ban the feeding of cats.

BANNING THE FEEDING OF CATS

This is often the first thing authorities do when they are faced with a growing feral cat population. To me (endowed with just plain common sense) a compassionate person would NEVER say “just stop feeding the cats, they will go away and we won’t have a problem any longer.”

Well even if this were true (and it’s not) do they ever think "what is going to happen to these poor hapless cats when their food source is taken away?"

The cats will scrounge in our trash which, by the way, is everywhere----outside every store, every restaurant, every fast food place -----millions of places everywhere people throw out unwanted food, and the cats are smart enough to find it. Plus these rich food dumping grounds are huge attractions for pigeons and other birds plus rodents. Many cats are attracted to the rodents as well.

Now, cats can survive by becoming scavengers and they can catch rodents, but feeding them daily good nutritious food would be so much better for their health. The other way (scavenging) is often hit-or-miss for them and sometimes they go hungry, making them more susceptible to viruses and diseases. They will cross busy roads looking for food. Nevertheless they will still go on to breed more kittens. So in all honesty, banning feeding is not only NO solution, it is also cruel and inhumane.

Here is a sampling of the daily news about feral cat colonies and how to control them. And often the solutions just amaze one:

"Many of the domestic cats are dying because they're eating with the feral cats that are being fed," said Wiley. (Well if the cats are fixed and vaccinated and the domestic cats are fixed and vaccinated then there is little chance of disease and viruses and "dying" will not be happening. A well-fed MANAGED colony does NOT spread disease.)

"Fed, Wiley says, by people who set up feeding stations. More times than not at abandoned property sites. Mary says those setting out the food believe they're actually doing a good thing.
"It's not a malicious act," Wiley said.
Wiley admits to at one-time also being a "feral cat feeder." But that stopped, she says, when she found out the dangers. (So what happened to all the poor cats she stopped feeding?
At a feeding station like this one behind me, local residents say when the sun goes down, you're likely to see some 30, 40 cats here, with a host of other animals.
"They're eating with squirrels, rats, mice, skunks," said Wiley. (So what? Although at Alley Cat Rescue we do tell cat feeders NOT to put out too much food, and to pick up after the cats have eaten. But millions of people feed wild animals and birds, and anyway these animals ALSO eat from our garbage….ever go out on trash day and see all the birds eating from the trash?)

Fornario says the town hasn't yet decided what action to take, but is considering feeding bans and implementing a spay and neuter and release policy to try and control the growing number of feral cats.

(Well at least good to hear they are considering TNR, but how can you TNR without feeding?)