Scientists denounce that animal law complicates the control of stray cat colonies

It is estimated that there are about 4 million cats in Spanish homes, and that every year about 120,000 end up abandoned Several scientists continue to warn of the danger that cat colonies pose to birds and reptiles The Animal Protection, Law and Welfare Law, currently in processing, protects themColonies of urban cats can pose a “problem for the biodiversity” of their environment. Some experts warn that measures must be taken because, as predatory cats, they are destroying the lives of many birds and reptiles, some of which are protected, such as the giant lizards of Tenerife. In addition to these feral animals, there are those who feed them and the leftovers they leave attract rats and cockroaches creating a public health problem. This is what several scientists have denounced again in a statement. And it is not the first time, a few months ago they sent a document to the Ministry of Social Rights denouncing these circumstances. He wanted it to be taken into account when drawing up the Animal Protection, Law and Welfare Law. But they had no luck. In the aforementioned law, in the process of parliamentary processing, Chapter VII encourages the care of what it calls “community cats”, and prohibits “their confinement in animal protection centers, residences or the like, except the necessary actions in the processes of intervention of animals of the colonies for their treatment or relocation”. In addition, they are urged to be fed and expressly prohibited from ending them, what is proposed to control their proliferation is the CER method: Capture, Sterilize and Return the animal. Those in charge of managing it are the municipalities. But this, these scientists denounce, is a problem. At the moment each city council dedicates a budget to the subject and those in charge of capturing those cats that have to be sterilized later are not always experts, but volunteers, which causes unprofessional control. “As a strategy on paper it promises to work but it doesn’t does, perhaps because the control of these colonies is complicated. The truth is that there are more and more cats so it is clear that what is being done is not being done well. Something is not working. Either the method is not working, or it is not they are devoting all the resources they touch, or the people who are dealing with it are not prepared. We do not know, but it is not going well. Perhaps it should be professionalized and the budget they are going to dedicate should be made clear”, explains José María López from FAUNA (Federation of United Associations for Nature and Animals). From FAUNA it is considered that the defense of street felines that is proposed in the draft conflicts with the current laws that regulate biodiversity, and support the 13 scientists who in the journal Conservation Science and Practice state that the domestic cat “is implicated in more than a quarter of contemporary extinctions of birds, mammals, and reptiles worldwide, and is considered the most damaging invasive predator.” Who put the bell on the cat It is estimated that there are about 4 million cats in Spanish homes, and that every year about 120,000 end up abandoned on the streets. And although there is no exact data on feral cats, it is estimated that there are at least 10 million cats loose in fields, parks and cities, according to SEO BirdLife. That is why it is urgent to control the colonies, although nobody is clear about how to put the bell on such an unpopular issue. As long as the law does not enter into force defining the steps to follow, the City Councils demand more budget and aid. The mayor of Animal Health of Ponferrada considered the issue a few days ago “worrying”, in that they do not have enough resources for it. Alcázar de San Juan has delegated the control of feline colonies to volunteer neighbors, also in Vitoria-Gasteiz, given the increase in felines on the loose, the City Council has been forced to increase the budget to 45,000 euros for a job carried out by the Association of abandoned and stray cats of Álava (GACA), APASOS VITORIA, and Esperanza Felina, all non-profit animal protectors. Deciding whether to feed the colonies or not has also hit the streets. In Ronda, the City Council expressly prohibits it under a fine of 500 euros, but the neighbors do not pay attention, that is why this September they began to capture them and some 200 people took to the streets protesting. “The problem we find is that it is an animal that people have sympathy for and it is tremendously unpopular to adopt control measures. In recent years they have proliferated a lot, especially in big cities, because they have food. And those colonies of cats they cause many problems. The Museum of Natural Sciences warned that wherever there are cats on the loose there is a problem of bird predation, they have also warned in Doñana about the danger it poses to reptiles. The cat continues to hunt even if it is fed, it goes on its own But not only that, the remains of food they leave behind attract rats and despite what is believed, cats do not attack rats”, comments José María López. strays They are populations that receive the care of the citizens as defended by the new law in process, but that present a danger to the surrounding birds. As a solution, scientists from the CSIC propose in an article published in Science of the Total Environment the maintenance of colony-free areas, especially for birds that feed on the ground. Another solution could be what they are doing in Castelló, one of the few municipalities with the Department of Animal Welfare and that collaborates closely with the protectors of the municipality. In this area there are a total of 12 colonies and they have tripled the budget dedicated to their control. “In any case, it is a sensitive issue that should be reconsidered, the Law should promote the disappearance of feline colonies, and not stimulate their maintenance. In addition, the The method they propose is complicated, it requires the sterilization of a large proportion of the colony (between 71% and 94%) for several years, which implies an amount of resources that is difficult to afford”, they insist from FAUNA.