Baltimore County's High Kill Rate will never go away until the county successfully implements TNR.
Historically Baltimore County officials have resorted to labeling all outside cats as feral cats. As animal advocates we find it important to clarify any and all words being used when talking about the feline population.
According to the Humane Society of the United States a Feral Cat is defined as follows; " A feral cat is the offspring of stray or feral cats and is not accustomed to human contact. Feral cats are usually too fearful to be handled or adopted."
What is even more important is the Humane Society takes the time to expand that just because a cat is outside does NOT mean it is a feral cat but could also be a "stray cat." So we must now define "stray cat." "According to the Humane Society a stray cat is a pet who has been lost or abandoned, is use to contact with people, and is tame enough to be adopted."
What this means is a cat that lives outside is NOT automatically a feral cat. It would be more appropriate to say any cat found outside could either be feral or stray but even more important is TNR does not discriminate. TNR is used on any cat that is living outside!
So why are we finding it important to clarify stray and feral cats? One could say that it is easier to dismiss the well-being of feral cats as they are not seen as a campaign animal therefore they could be viewed in the same light as a racoon etc., thus allowing Baltimore County officials to dismiss the importance of TNR.
Here is a great graphic describing cats ranging from indoor only cats to feral cats. Graphic obtained from Feral Cat Spay/Neuter Project.
Now let's define, Trap, Neuter & Return or known as TNR.
Trap - humanely trapping feral or stray cats.
Neuter - once the cat is trapped, the cat is spayed or neutered, including vaccination against rabies. Finally one of the cat's ears has the tip surgically removed - a universally recognized sign a cat has been spayed or neutered.
Return - after recovery from surgery the cat is returned to the location it was trapped. The cat will continued to be watched over by a caretaker, including providing fresh water and food on a regular basis.
So what is happening to the cats Baltimore County? According to the numbers from 2014, all of the cats brought into BCAS, whether, owner surrender and/or stray, 61% of the cats were killed. While this number is very shocking and hard to comprehend; it is not an uncommon number for those in public sectors who refuse to practice TNR. So what does one do when they unwilling to practice TNR - they practice Trap and Kill. That means in Baltimore County that Baltimore County Animal Service's vans and Animal Control Officers are traveling from Baldwin, MD all over the county to trap outside cats, only to bring them all the way back to Baldwin, MD to be killed after their four day stray hold - funded by your tax dollars.
Why is TNR illegal in Baltimore County? There is no one law that states "TNR is illegal," but rather it is a combination of current laws that allow the county to say TNR can not be practiced. (All of the codes listed were taken from the Baltimore County Code under Article 12. Please click on each individual law to view the entire code.)
What happens if you do not follow these codes? You can be fined! Could you imagine being fined for each individual cat in a colony? Also caretakers are less likely to redeem one of their cats from their colony knowing they can be fined or rather openly revealing to the county you are practicing TNR.
On February 26, 2015, county executive, Kevin Kamenetz announced that Baltimore County would be launching a TNR pilot program. We've yet to see any action that back's up this announcement.
Not long ago RBCAS sent a public letter to the county inquiring about the launch of the pilot TNR program. On April 24th, 2015 RBCAS received a response from Dr. Branch noting the following about the pilot TNR program "My team and I have personally met with local organizations that practice or facilitate TNR in the Baltimore metropolitan area to gain insight on how they operate their programs. Details regarding our pilot program will be shared once finalized."
So we have fully embarked kitten season 2015 and all we have are words..... Will we just have another year of killing cat and kittens?
What can you do to help? Please email you county council representative and county executive about the progress of a TNR program.
We also hope to use the members of the Animal Services Commission to provide more insight and transparency once up and running.
