During any conversation about cat overpopulation, someone invariably says, If it weren't for the irresponsible cat owners that refuse to get their pets fixed, we wouldn't have this problem."  Our experience challenges this notion -- we're finding that most people truly want to sterilize their cats -- but some simply can't afford it.  Here's a profile of a typical Pet Cat applicant from our last 8 months of applications:

• 72% had annual incomes under $25,000.
• 69% live in rentals or mobile home parks
• 22% live on government assistance

LA Police Enlist Feral Cats for Station Rat & Mouse Patrol

An article from the 12/29/07 Los Angeles Times that we found interesting -- and thought you might too.  (In fairness to its writer, Carla Hall, we've extensively excerpted and summarized it.)

The Working Cats Program of the Voice For The Animals organization are placing feral cats in LA police stations with rodent problems -- just as the group placed cats in the rat-plagued downtown flower district several years ago -- to great effect.  They take death-row feral cats from animal control shelters -- sterilize, vaccinate, microchip and ear-tip them -- cage them at the police stations for 30 days (to acclimate the cats to their new territory and prevent them from running back to their old home) -- and then continue to provide them with daily food and water.

Interestingly, the cats generally don't solve the problem by killing the rodents (although they're game to do so if they catch them).  Rather once the rodents get a whiff of the feline presence, they move on.  Jane Garrison of Voice For The Animals was quoted, "It's the smell of the cat and the cat urine." Less grisly than glue traps -- and usually more effective -- the cats go about their "work" naturally:  They eat and sleep -- but mainly just hide and stay out of the officers' way.  Commanding Officer Brennan was quoted as saying. "It sounds too easy a fix.  But everywhere it's been done, it's worked.  I think Im convinced its a viable program that will help us."

Dear Friends,

We've always known that most kittens come from the many stray and feral outdoor cats -- and that many of them end up as pets in lower-income families.  Our Outdoor Cat Program -- helping property owners sterilize these cats -- seems to be working.  Where we have sterilized managed cats, the colonies have stabilized with no new kittens being born.  But, since starting our Pet Cat Program -- helping sterilize pet cats for lower-income families -- we've learned that these pet cats are also a significant contributor to cat over-population.

In our applicant survey (above), 12% applied for a "family" of cats -- created by a pregnant pet whose kittens could have easily been prevented.  How does this happen?  People naively assume that brother-and-sister cats won't mate -- or if they keep their females indoors and away from their males they won't get pregnant (which of course they can't -- and it takes only one encounter) -- or that their cats can't get pregnant while they're nursing -- or that kittens can't reproduce before 6 months of age.

When the inevitable kittens are born, the caregivers attempt to find them homes -- and many do -- but the fear of more litters all too often results in giving them to a shelter (where most are euthanized) or abandoning them.  Although we have no hard statistics on cat abandonment, we do know from our Outdoor Cat Program that if cats are abandoned they are ones that were not sterilized.  This is the collateral damage of unaffordable spay/neuter -- cats that had a chance at a good home are tossed away simply because their guardian could not afford to get them fixed.  And, sadly, these cats then perpetuate the cycle of uncontrolled outdoor cat reproduction -- or, in shelters, the senseless killing of healthy-but-homeless cats.  This is what we're trying to prevent by providing free spay/neuter for these at-risk cats.  You can help us by posting the enclosed flyer on a public bulletin board.  The more people who know about our help, the better!

Kitty Zimmer