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| − | [[Image:DorDor.JPG|thumb|right|'''Rescued feral kittens'''<p>Most feral kittens have little chance of surving more than a few months and are vulnerable to starvation, predators, disease and even flea-induced anemia. Here, kittens from two feral litters are fostered by a domestic mother.]]
| + | The '''Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals''' ('''SPCA''') is any of a number of societies whose operations include protecting and providing shelter to [[animal|animals]] in danger. The SPCA is a non-profit organization that takes in stray animals, and helps them to get adopted. See: |
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| − | A '''feral cat''' is a [[cat]] which has been separated from domestication, whether through abandonment, loss, or running away, and becomes wild. The term also refers to descendants of such cats, but not to [[Wild Cat]]s, whose ancestors were never domesticated. Adult feral cats that were born feral usually cannot be socialized. Adult feral cats that were born in a domestic environment and reverted to the feral state can sometimes be re-socialised. Feral kittens, however, can often be socialized to live with humans if they are taken from a feral colony before they are about twelve weeks old. About 10% of cats cannot be socialised at all due to genetic factors.
| + | * [[American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals]] |
| | + | * [[Royal New Zealand Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals]] |
| | + | * [[Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals]] (England and Wales) |
| | + | * [[Scottish Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals]] |
| | + | * [[Canadian Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals]] |
| | + | * [[French Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals]] (France and Belgium) |
| | + | * [[Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (Hong Kong)]] |
| | + | * [[Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (Singapore)]] |
| | + | {{disambig}} |
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| − | Feral cats may live alone, but are usually found in large groups called [[feral cat colony|feral colonies]] with communal nurseries, depending on resource availability. Many abandoned [[pet]] cats join these colonies out of desperation; these cats can usually be adopted into a new home. The [[average life span]] of a feral cat that survives beyond [[kitten]]hood is usually cited as less than two years while a [[domestication|domestic]] house cat lives an average of twelve to sixteen years. <!--12-14 in UK 16+ in USA but stats are incomplete --> However feral cats aged nineteen (Cat Action Trust) and twenty-six (Cats Protection) have been reported where food and shelter are available.
| + | [[zh:防止虐待动物协会]] |
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| − | [[City]]scapes and [[North America]] are not native environments for the cat. The domestic cat comes from [[temperate]] or hot, often dry, [[climate]]s and was distributed throughout the world by [[human]]s. Cats are extremely adaptable and feral felines have been found in conditions of extreme cold and heat. They are more susceptible to cold, damp conditions than to cold alone. With a need for a diet of 90% protein, many feral cats lack adequate nutrition. In addition, they have no [[self-defense|defense]] against or understanding of such [[predator]]s as [[dog]]s, [[coyote]]s and even [[automobile]]s. The current population of twenty to forty million feral felines in the United States is due, initially, to human interference by environmental introduction and later, by simple human irresponsibility and neglect.
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| − | ==Major Places with Feral Cats==
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| − | ===United States of America===
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| − | [[Image:Girl_kitty.JPG|thumb|right| Some adult feral cats can be socialized, depending on the degree of human interaction throughout their lives; feral kittens have a good chance of socialization and adoption up to about four months of age. This feral cat has had the tip of one ear severed, which identifies it as having been sterilized and innoculated by a [[Trap-Neuter-Return]] program.]]
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| − | In the United States, there is an ongoing debate about how to deal with feral cat populations. There is little doubt that feral cats are extremely effective at controlling or even eradicating small animal populations, and some cite the utility of cats in controlling populations of verminous rodent species. However, conservationists argue that feral cats contribute greatly to the killing of songbirds and other endangered birds, with estimates that bird loss is at one hundred million a year due to predation. However research into the causes of bird deaths has also found that transparent windows constitute the biggest threat that birds face [http://www.currykerlinger.com/birds.htm]. Additionally, it is argued that the resurgence of other small predators such as the gray fox (urocyon cinereoargenteus), fisher or pekan (martes pennanti), coyote (canis latrans), and bobcat (lynx rufus) is a contributing factor in conserved bird deaths. Many of these animals also prey on feral cats.
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| − | While it is widely agreed that the loss of conserved species due to overbuilding and fragmentation of native habitat by humans far exceeds deaths due to feral cat predation, some still feel it is necessary to control feral populations.
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| − | Websites such as The Feral Cat Hunt [http://www.feralcathunt.com] advocate culling feral cat populations by hunting, arguing that it is the most cost effective method of population control. However, a proposal in the state of Wisconsin to legalize the hunting of feral cats in an attempt to reduce their population (April 2005) was blocked by the state's lawmakers. South Dakota and Minnesota allow wild cats to be shot.
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| − | [[Trap-Neuter-Return]] or TNR programs, presented as a humane method of feral cat population control, are facilitated by many volunteers and organizations in the States. These organizations trap and sterilize feral cats as well as providing [[inoculation]] against [[rabies]] and other viruses. Sometimes long-lasting [[flea treatment]]s are also applied before release. Frequently, attending [[veterinarian]]s cut the tip off one [[ear]] to mark the individual as [[spaying and neutering|spayed or neutered]] and inoculated, as these cats will more than likely find themselves trapped again. Volunteers often continue to feed and give care to these cats throughout their lives, unfortunately, it becomes very difficult to domesticate and adopt a feral cat unless it is trapped and socialized before four months of age.
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| − | [[October 16]] is National Feral Cat Day in the United States.
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| − | ===Australia===
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| − | Feral cats have been present in [[Australia]] since before [[European]] settlement, and may have arrived with [[Netherlands|Dutch]] [[shipwreck]]s in the [[17th century]]. Intentional releases were made in the late [[19th century]] in the hope that cats would control mice, rabbits and rats.
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| − | The feral cat has been an ecological disaster in Australia, inhabiting most ecosystems except dense [[rainforest]], and being implicated in the [[extinction]] of several [[marsupial]] and [[placental]] mammal [[species]] but there is no proof to support this view. (Cats are not believed to have been a factor in the extinction of the only mainland [[bird]] species to be lost since European settlement, the [[Paradise Parrot]]; their role in the loss of rare species on [[Australasia]]n islands, however, has been significant.) “Convincing evidence that cats exert a significant effect on native wildlife throughout the mainland is lacking” - Environment Australia
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| − | Folklore has it that some feral cats in Australia have grown so large as to cause inexperienced observers to claim sightings of other species, and subsequent news stories of mysterious animals being sighted. Typical locations for such sightings are south-west Western Australia, and the [[Nullarbor]].
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| − | Control programs are difficult to devise due to the [[nocturnal animal|nocturnal]] and [[solitary]] nature of feral cats, broad distribution in the landscape and continuous additions to the population from abandoned domestic cats. Due to the danger posed to humans handling the animal, captured feral cats are almost always [[Pest control|kill]]ed. Although trap neuter and return programs such as those in the United States are not prevalent in Australia, they are now being introduced in some urban and suburban areas such as [[Adelaide]]. More recently, such programs have been introduced in [[Sydney]] by the "World League for Protection of Animals".
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| − | ===Rome===
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| − | [[Rome]], [[Italy]] is perhaps the place with most feral cats, the total number being estimated between 250,000 and 350,000, organized in about 2,000 colonies, some of them living in famous ancient places such as the [[Colosseum]].
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| − | ==Feral cats and island restoration==
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| − | Feral cats [[introduced species|introduced]] to islands with ecologically naive fauna (that is, species that have not evolved or have lost predator responses for dealing with cats) have had a devastating impact on these islands' [[biodiversity]]. They have been implicated in the extinction of several species and local extinctions, such as the [[huita]]s from the [[Caribbean]] and the [[Guadalupe Storm-petrel]] from [[Pacific]] [[Mexico]]. Moors and Atkinson wrote, in [[1984]], "No other alien predator has had such a universally damaging effect." Given the damage they do, many conservationists working in the field of [[island restoration]] (literally restoring damaged islands through removal of introduced species and replanting and reintroducing native species) have worked to remove feral cats. As of [[2004]], 48 islands have had their feral cat populations removed, including [[New Zealand]]'s network of offshore island bird reserves (Nogales ''et al'', [[2004]]). Larger projects have also been undertaken, including their complete removal from [[Ascension Island]]. The cats, which had been introduced in the 19th century and had caused a collapse in the nesting [[seabird]]s. The project to remove them from the island began in 2002, and the island was cleared of cats by 2004. Since then seven species of seabird which had not nested on the island for a hundred years had returned.[http://www.birdlife.org/news/news/2005/07/ascension.html].
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| − | Feral cats, along with rabbits and some sea birds, are the entire animal population of the remote [[Kerguelen Islands]] in the southern [[Indian Ocean]].
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| − | ==The Cats of Canada's Parliament==
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| − | For many years (tradition associates them with a British garrison of the 1850s), a feral cat colony has existed on Canada's [[Parliament Hill]] in [[Ottawa]]. In recent years, living structures have been built for them, and they are fed by a volunteer who is given a stipend by the House of Commons. Veterinary services are donated by doctors in the city, and most of the cats are sterilized. At any given time, about fifteen cats live in the colony.
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| − | The present Canadian Prime Minister, [[Stephen Harper]], is a cat fan and takes feral kittens into his home to socialize them before they are put up for adoption in Ottawa's shelters. Visitors to his official residence can expect to be asked if they have room in their homes for a cat.
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| − | ==Activism==
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| − | [[Image:Catman.jpg|thumb|Rene Chartrand, a volunteer runs this stray cat sanctuary on Parliament Hill in Ottawa, Canada.]]
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| − | [[Feral cat colony|Feral cats colonies]] often arise from stray or abandoned unneutered cats. The cats breed rapidly and have multiple-kit litters although relatively few kittens survive to breeding age. Often the owners do not have the capacity or desire to care for a large number of cats.
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| − | The conditions lived in by feral cats vary immensely. Some have short, dangerous, unhealthy, desperate lives, in deplorable conditions. Others are welcomed as working cats around factories and farms and while their lives not luxurious, some live well into their teenage years. Cat Action Trust has encountered ferals up to 19 years old; the record age for a feral is 26. Because of the perceived dangers to humans, other species, and the cats themselves, and out of compassion toward the animals, many people, including [[celebrity|celebrities]] such as [[Bob Barker]], campaign to encourage people to spay and neuter their pets and support the humane control of feral cats.
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| − | A growing number of animal societies realize that feral cats are wild animals and should not be judged by pet animal standards. Where the cats perform a useful task or are not a threat to the local ecology, the approach is to trap, neuter and return them to their own habitat, while removing any ill, injured or tameable individuals. <!--HSUS has changed its policy from trap-kill -->
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| − | Unfortunately recent studies published in the Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association indicate that trap-neuter-relase programs are not effective in reducing feral cat populations. These programs cannot be effective unless they manage cats on a population--rather than colony--basis, neuter at least 75% of the cats in the population, and carrying capacity is reduced, usually by reducing the amount of food provided to the cats by humans. Because cats are naturally so fecund, a small number of individual cats that remain unsterilized can cause a TNR colony to grow exponentially.{{fact}}
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| − | ==References==
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| − | * Tabor, Roger, Arrow Books (1983). ''The Wild Life of the Domestic Cat.'' ISBN 0099312107
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| − | * Moors, P.J.; Atkinson, I.A.E. (1984). ''Predation on seabirds by introduced animals, and factors affecting its severity.''. In ''Status and Conservation of the World's Seabirds''. Cambridge: ICBP. ISBN 0-946888-03-5.
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| − | * Nogales, Manuel ''et al'' ([[2004]]). ''A review of feral cat eradication on islands''. ''Conservation Biology''. '''18''' (2), 310-319. [http://www.issg.org/database/species/reference_files/felcat/Nogales%20et%20al.%202004.pdf]
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| − | ==External links==
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| − | * [http://www.alleycat.org Alley Cat Allies] Feral Cat Resource - provides information about how to deal with feral cats humanely.
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| − | * [http://www.feralcat.com/ Feral Cat Coalition]
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| − | * [http://www.cat77.org.uk/ Cat Action Trust 1977]
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| − | * [http://www.catactiontrust.org.uk/ Original Cat Action Trust]
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| − | * Defenders of Wildlife. [http://www.defenders.org/defendersmag/issues/spring03/plightsongbird.html Plight of the Vanishing Songbirds]
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| − | * [http://www.deh.gov.au/biodiversity/invasive/publications/cat-impacts/pubs/impacts-feral-cats.pdf] Australian Department of Environment and Heritage: Overview of the impact of feral cats on native fauna (pdf)
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| − | * lovethatcat.com: [http://www.lovethatcat.com/spayneuter.html List of US spay & neuter programs]
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| − | * [http://www.messybeast.com/eradicat.htm Why Extermination of Ferals is Ineffective]
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| − | * [http://www.messybeast.com/feralkit.htm#Kittens Taming Feral Kittens]
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| − | [[Category:Cat types]]
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| − | *[http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/science/nature_20030623.shtml Feral cats] (BBC)
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| − | *[http://www.animalsaustralia.org/default2.asp?idL1=1274&idL2=1311 Animals Australia]: Feral Cat bibliography
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| − | *[http://www.wildlife.org/policy/index.cfm?tname=policystatements&statement=ps28 Feral cats] (The Wildlife Society)
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| − | [[fr:Chat haret]]
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| − | [[he:חתולי רחוב בישראל]]
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| − | [[nl:Verwilderde kat]]
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| − | [[ja:野良猫]]
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